I went to the oncologist last week for my 3 month scans and received the best news!! On the way home from the doctor, mom and I stopped to eat a bite for dinner at Jim N' Nicks. While eating, I started having severe stomach pain. My back was also hurting, and we guessed it was from sitting in waiting room chairs and being on a MRI table for over a hour. We hoped I would feel better after sleeping that night. I hurt all day Friday at work. I went into one of the RN's office and told her my symptoms and she listened to my stomach. She had no idea what was wrong either. After work, I went out to eat with Scott while hiding my pain. I didn't want him to know that I was sick AGAIN. Saturday morning I felt a little better and went to work at a health fair at an elementary school close by. The pain would come on strong and then go away for a few minutes. I honestly thought I was having contractions and about to deliver a baby. I always joke that I am at my 10 month pregnancy weight since you are supposed to gain only 20 pounds during a pregnancy and that's how much I want to lose. I called my mom after the health fair and told her I was still in pain. I went home and went to bed. I had to tell Scott what was going on, and I even told him I thought I was about to have a child. IT REALLY HURT!! After the Auburn game, I jumped in my Jetta and drove myself to the emergency room. Scott was yelling at me for being stubborn. I wouldn't let him go and miss football. We got into a horrible fight, but I just wanted to see a doctor and get relief!! I called mom and she met me at the ER. The ER doctor said that the CT scan showed I had an acute appendicitis and ovarian cyst. They thought it was the cyst causing the pain and told me to follow up with my GYN on Monday. We left and I was in pain Saturday and Sunday. I got a whole lot worse Sunday and had new symptoms like vomiting and other gross stuff. I called the GYN emergency line and got an appointment in B'ham for Monday morning. I showed my GYN the ER discharge report, and we discussed my symptoms and had an exam. He immediately said for me not to eat or drink anything because he was sending me to see a surgeon to have my appendix removed. I went down stairs, saw the surgeon, and was in surgery 2 hours later. I was freaking out. After the pain of knee surgery, I have said several times that I NEVER want to have surgery again. The memory of knee surgery was so recent and I remember the pain very well. I guess it's a good thing that my appendix pain was so bad because it made having surgery a little bit easier. Scott came in a hurry, and I got to see him before surgery. The surgeon told my mom and Scott that I would be in surgery for 45 minutes and only have a small incision inside my belly button. Well, the surgery ended up being over 3 hours and I have 4 incisions. The appendix was infected but the infection had moved into my colon and a part of my colon had to also be removed. I was supposed to stay in the hospital over night, but I ended up staying for 5 days. I am at my mom's house now still trying to recover. Like with my last surgery, she has time to be off from work and can help me get around. Scott has already missed so much work from being out this summer. I also get tense at the thought of Junior accidentally jumping on my stomach. I plan to stay here through the weekend and go home on Monday. I'm not allowed to work for another week. I also can't lift or do anything other that walk. This surgery has been MUCH BETTER. The pain is not near as bad and the recovery seems to be much easier. I'm barely taking any pain medicine. I should be back to normal in another week!!
Victoria and I representing WIC at the health fair
Flowers from my sweet co-workers (I removed the picture. I couldn't get the picture to turn and my OCD is really kicking in since I can't clean for 2 weeks. I cried today about not being able to clean.)
My surgeon, Dr. Tapscott
