The time my appendix burst: a thread

So it all started on a friday. I vaugely remember just a small stomach ache the day before, but it barely felt like anything so I ignored it. The next day however it hurt but it wasn’t any bad pain, just a normal stomachache. I was more focused on my 8 hour shift later

When I got to work, I was out taking orders outside in the drive thru (work at a cfa) and after like 30 minutes I felt like ass. At that point I was thinking to myself like whoah Im sick, like I was having trouble breathing a bit and my stomach started to hurt more

So my manager (an iconic friend) came out and I was like yo please let me go inside and make drinks (for drive thru) like I can’t handle this. I looked like ass so she was like okay. The Drinks position is easy and tucked away from guests so I was like itll be better

After a few minutes making drinks I was like back to dying. Lifting the styrofoam cups felt like lifting a sack of bricks and I fell behind and I could hear my managers talking about me a few feet away. Eventually they were like do you wanna go home and I was like YES

So I didn’t know it at the time but this Friday at work is ehen the doctors said my appendix probably had burst. I lasted less than an hour at work and was sent home where I took a warm bath and headed straight to bed.

That night (and the next few nights) were some of the worst in my life. Now I’ve been fortunate to have a pretty well off life, I’m not rich by any means but I’ve always had a good family and shelter and food. But I’ve had some crappy nights, but these were terrible.

It was like I was in my bed in some pain from my stomach and I was in this little haze. I couldn’t sleep but I felt so tired and was always on the verge of just passing out. I’d pass like in and out of knowing I was awake and then just lying there.

That Sat/Sun is pretty much the same. My mom, a nurse, kept asking me where it was hurting and I always said my stomach. She speculated appendicitis but if it was appendicitis, it would hurt in my lower right abdomen. Since it already burst and was all over, it seems like an ache

I couldn’t eat, drink, use the bathroom, sleep, none of it. I’d just take 2 advils every few hours and walk around in my sisters red blanket with 0 energy to do anything since I couldn’t sleep. I’d just move from my bed, to the couch, and want to sleep but it would never come

Finally! That Sunday night, we saw an improvement! My parents bought this thing that was supposed to make me burp / throw up that my grandmother reccomended. I took it and I told my parents if I drank anymore I’d throw up, so they told me to drink and I threw up.

To a lot of people, throwing up is a good sign when you have a bad stomach ache, it means the bad is leaving my body. I should have known it was worse than the flu or a stomach ache but I didn’t.

What we didn’t know was my bowels (which we use to poo) were clogged and blocked by all the crap my burst appendix leaked through my abdomen. So throwing up was actually a sign I was getting a lot worse. That Sunday night I went to bed still feeling terrible.

Again, I can’t express how terrible the friday, sat, and sun nights were. You feel like crap, felt like you haven’t slept in days, can’t stay “asleep” for more than 5 minutes and your new defenition of sleep is just labored breathing with your eyes forced closed.

That Monday morning, super early, around 6 i got up. I went to my mom who was getting ready to leave for work (a nurse bless her) got mt 2 advil and I asked again like “could it be my appendix burst” and she said maybe, but it was weird my whole bottom stomach hurt.

I went back to bed after I got my advil and finally, FINALLY some relief. I closed my eyes and fell asleep. It was like my body was so tired from no rest, so tired from hurting, It was shutting down a bit and I got to sleep.

I woke up and it was like BAM PAIN PAIN PAIN. Another reason why my mom didnt think it was appendicitis is because I wasn’t hurting. Like I couldn’t do anything like eat or go to the bathroom an dmy stomach hurt, but appendicitis is supposed to hurt a lot more than what I felt.

I finally understood what the pain was like though. Even now I can’t describe it but it was so bad, like I could flex my pinky toe and it would hurt, but when I moved my abdomen I was like wow that hurt a ton. I called for my dad who was home and I was like AHHHH DAD

He came in and I was like “dude we gotta go to the hospital.” Now my dads married to a nurse but he has always been more of the “rub some dirt on it” type of a guy, bless his heart so he didn’t really know how to handle the situation.

My dad was like okay, lets get you up, you can take a shower, brush your teeth, and we can get you in the car. I wanted to be like DUMBASS LETS GO but ik he didn’t understand how bad I felt. It took me no less than half an hour to make it from laying down to standing up

The best we could do is throw a football jersey on me, I had slept with some good shorts on that I could wear out in public, and put on my slides. My dad was carrying/dragging me down the hall and I threw up several times because the pain was so immense.

We made it to the living room and our path we walked was covered with throw up. My dad set me down in a reclining chair and then he starts like pushing it back and stuff and I couldn’t handle it. He just didnt seem to understand my pain and I kept moving and wanted to pass out

I wondered if any of the neighbors saw us walking to the car. I was barely walking, leaning into my dad as he helped me. I could have looked 80 years old and the oversized jersey I was wearing did not help me look any bigger.

Finally we got to the car. My dad asked me, I’ll always remember this, he asked if I wanted him to go get me a cup of water. One of the biggest mistakes of my life, I said no.

Finally, without water or my phone we are on the way. My dad used my phone to tell my mom we were going to the hospital and we left it there, his phone was broken so my poor mom was told we were leaving and tried calling but never got a response. We also had to stop for gas

Finally we get to a small clinic outside of our hospital. My dad told me to wait in the car and he’d get me registered and in line to see a doctor. He does that and then I started to get thirsty so I figured I’d start making my way inside.

I’m hobbling to the doors and thats when I start throwing up again. Before we left when I was still in bed, my dad made me drink a sip of his baking soda and water concoction he thought would help, one of his home remedies because he is old fashioned. It burnt like hell coming up

Later on, my dad told me that some lady inside, a karen, started freaking out about some “kid” throwing up all over outside. Now mind you, I’m almost 17 and when I realized I was throwing up, I hobbled off the walk way into the grass and was throwin gup in some bushes.

My dad told me the lady was saying stuff like how I was going to have to clean it all up and asked why there was a kid there. Now, I’m a sick person in a ton of pain and I’m at the freaking hospital and some random lady who wasnt even working there was flipping her shit

My dad apparently had a few choice words for the lady and came out to get me. At that point, throwing up felt like I was being punched several times in my stomach and I was shaking and my throat burned. I was on a bench outside with my dad, just wanting some water.

Finally, our nurse came and got us and took me to this small examination room and still, no one would give me water. My nurse apparently knew my dad’s mom or something and I wanted to just yell at him because he and the nurse kept talking while I felt like I was dying.

Well after a few minutes when I met the doctor he was like “you have to go to the hospital.” We were at the hospital but not in the ER or anything big, so we had to ride over there because he knew it was serious.

Hobbling to the car, in a ton of painc we saw my grandparents! Apparently when my dad called my mom, and we left our phone, she couldn’t get back ahold of us so she called her parents and they saw the house was empty and found us at the hospital.

I rode with them the short drive to the ER. I looked at myself in the mirror and I just looked terrible, and I was thirsty, I was very very very thirsty.

Finally we pull up outside of the hospital and I get out. Right away someone at the doors was like “do you need a wheelchair” and like I was trying to say yes and not fall over, it was wild. But i got one and was rolled right in.

I got in and had to wait in a line to be admitted, just a little bit of sitting in my wheelchair, waiting, being thirsty, waiting...

We got to my room eventually and got me hooked up to some tubes. I’ve never done drugs but they got me on something and I was like oooh boy this feels nice. Felt like I was floating and lightheaded.

They tell me to pee in a bottle, just kinda confirming maybe if I have appendicitis but apparently there was a small chance I could have had some sort of kidney problem. They said the alternative was sticking something down my d*** and I didnt want that but I couldnt piss

Another doctor comes in though and I take an elevator ride up and get some scans done and it becomes clear, I have appendicitis and it was really bad.

I’ll always be grateful but at that point, I got this huge jug of ice cold water. Like I was dying, I felt so sick, hurt, in pain, everything sucked and so so so thirsty. But in that moment, that first sip, it felt like all my problems were solved and I could go home.

Here comes a small twist in the story. They had people willing to do the surgery, but not people to take care of me really after I was done with the surgery. My mom, who even used to work in this hospital, was in a rage and was near shouting to these people.

At that point, my sister came by, my brother and grandparents, my parents, and my other sister and two friends she was with were with me or in the hall. It was actually nice getting to see everyone.

But still, the surgery was a no-go as of then. They were planning to move me to a childrens hospital an hour north. Like I’m not the biggest guy around but I was 16 years old, like I didn’t need no childrens hospital, but the plan was set.

I was all drugged up, so it actually wasn’t all that bad. The most exciting part was when I heard I’d be riding in an ambulance but it wasn’t one that went fast with a bunch of flashing lights, just a ambulance to transport me. The hour long ride wasn’t actually too bad.

I get to the childrens hospital and it was a little patronizing haha. You had all these paintings on the walls, of flowers, animals ect but it put things into perspective like yeah I’m still kinda a child, I need my parents and I need help.

We get in a room, and we were told I have surgery two hours later. So my mom and I were in a semi-dark room and we were chilling. My dad came a little after we arrived and he brought my phone! A life saver!

He also brought me my stuffed bear, named Diamond. I don’t sleep with stufffed animals but I’ve had diamond since I was born. I don’t like cradle him like I did when I was younger, usually he is under my bed or in between my bed and the wall but I loved having him.

Well we sit, I play on my phone and my parents call people and let tbem know where we were at and how we were doing. As the time grew closer to the surgery I started getting nervous and scared.

The funny thing kinda was like I wasn’t scared of the surgery, I was scared of being knocked out. Like Ik they have to put me under for the surgery but when I heard the terms “knocked out” i think like getting hit over the head with a hammer.

Ik it wasn’t going to be painful, but it was like I half expected my head to hurt a lot when they put me under, so I was reallt nervous when the time, I think 9 pm, rolled around

At that point I had a small hospital gown over me and some boxers on and my mom was telling me to like strip underneath my gown. I was like hell naw, she kept saying like they needed me semi naked for the surgery and I said I dont give a damn when I’m knocked out.

Well, the time comes. I say goodbye to my mom and dad and they wheel me into a room. I remember the stuff above me and kinda remember something in my arm, but mostly just this oxygen type mask they put over my face and like that I was out cold.

What happened then was I had some small incisions. One at the top of my belly button, one an inch away from my left hip bone, and one like two inches down from like where my pants line would be st the beach. They blew my belly up with air and went to workz

While I was out, after the surgeru my doctor told my parents that it was worse than they thought and I would be in the hospital for a while. They put a nose down my throat and wheeled me to my room.

There I am, a nose tube that goes down to my stomach, knocked out, naked underneath a gown in an unfamiliar setting. Tomorrow I’ll talk about first waking up, and my hospital stay

Resuming my appendicitis story!!

So there we were in the Hospital. While I was out, they put a tube down my nose that went down my throat and to my stomach. The tube was taped up at my nose and that was terrible. Picture coming next

Tube down my nose

So when my appendix burst, it blocked my bowels which helps you poo. So now that my bowels were clear, this tube helped clear out my stomach / bowels so I could ease back into pooping, just so like I wasn’t overloading my bowels and straining my body

Let’s talk about this tube. This tube felt so terrible, it was a constant presence while I was awake. It scratched my throat and if I wanted to swallow any saliva, you have to tilt your head at just the right angle for it to go down right.

If you didn’t tilt your head JUST right, you’ll start gagging which moves the tube and soon I’ll throw up and it’s a terrible feeling, throwing up with something not coming out of your throat.

That tube was in for a while and it was terrible. Literally terrible. When I slept especially, I had to keep my head tilted at just the right angle so I could fall into an uneasy sleep as the tube scratched my throat.

The Doctor said I had to walk too! In my hospital, the floor I was in was shaped like a square, with a bundle of rooms in each corner. Picture below. The line is where my room was.

Since I was directed to walk, I got up and walked around the square. It seemed a feat as big as flying because I just found it so hard to walk. It’s hard to describe because I just felt powerless because I couldn’t walk. Every few hours I’d walk once around the square on thefloor

So there I was with this nasty tube down my throat and barely able to walk. I spent my time in my bed, on my phone, a walk every few hours and trying not to gag. Ignoring my tube was the hardest thing because it was a constant bother.

I got my I.V tubes in shortly after arrival. They numb your arm and plug it into your veins. It wasn’t painful and it was giving me my fluids and nutrients.

I knew I was getting everything for my body to continue to function but I still felt dehydrated. My thirst was crazy because I just wanted water. Food? I’m a 16 year old dude, I love eating but food was never on my mind, not once did I ever think about eating. Water was different

With this tube, I couldn’t drink. I constantly thought about an ice cold water. Water from a plastic title, a thermos, drinking from a spring, whatever. It turned into an obsession, a fantasy, it was like water was constantly on my mind.

Funnily enough, before my appendix burst I was never a huge water drinker. I’d drink after sports, I’d drink casually, but I never was a person who always needed a bottle by my side and now even though I was given the hydration, I felt like I had to get some or I’d die.

Water was in a way one of my saving graces. I fell asleep dreaming about water because it helped keep my mind off other things, mainly the tube that irritated my throat. There was one thing I’d always think about before falling asleep.

I’m not a huge comic book guy, but for some reason I remembered that Superman’s bass is like in Antarctica or something. I remember dreaming that I would fly up to the top, cut off the tip of the frozen place, put it in my glass and drink.

I’d replay just being somewhere cold and pretending I had the luxury of drinking water over and over in my head and that’s how I fell asleep and what I dreamed about for a week.

To sum up my situation, I had a tube down my throat that made me gag every few minutes, tubes in both arms, barely being able to walk, and dreaming about water. My situation was not one many would be jealous of.

So my walks were something I came to dread too. Those walks meant in attaching some cords from my machines and pushing around a mobile thing that held my cords around and around and after a few feet I’d be willing to collapse.

Time after time, I dragged myself out of my bed, took a walk, dreaming of water, and trying not to rip my nose tube out of my throat. My nose tube was taped to my nose and I was so scared that my tube would come unattached and they would have to put it back in.

It scared the life out of me, thinking I’d have to put that tube back down my throat while I was still awake. My mom and I found ways to pass the time. Chess, Suduko, and card games. We played a million and one card games. We’d play. One of us would win. Repeat.

It’s not the most exciting thing, but that’s how I spent my days. Trying not to choke, walking, card games, walking, sleeping, walking, suduko, walking. Slowly, slowly, I got better.

I’d like to take this tweet and take my nurses. There was one pair I’d have for a day or two named Rachel and Alex. Another Nurse was this older, Mexican nurse, my favorite. One tall blonde nurse, and one shorter blonde with glasses. They checked in on me and wer eickns

The doctors were actually very pleased with how well I healed. My main doc speculated a second surgery but I didn’t even need that. Let’s talk about my slides too. Thank the good lord when I first hobbled to the hospital I took my slides. They were so easy to put on and then walk

One cool thing my hospital view had was a view of the helicopter pad. I hoped I would never see someone being airlifted, but I did see it land and take off a few times, but it never seemed like it was because anyone was dying. Just a cool view...

I got visitors. My grandparents brought me a video game and football book. My aunt came and brought a sudoko/coloring book. Peep the panda I drew. My other grandfather came with a friend of his. My dads cousin came frequently who worked at the hospital. My sisters, brother eat

My other grandparents came with my brother and one cousin. My sister in law and my niece and nephew. It was a little embarrassing because my nephew is only 9 and he had to see me with a nasty tube and not being able to walk. It wasn’t a good feeling.

One thing I remember is the hospital food my parents always ate. I never wanted any besides the drinks but I liked hearing about them. They had a sushi place and a firehouse subs that replaced the CFA that was there. People were ready to revolt because the CFA left

There was one day where my doctor said he was hopeful he could give the order to get the tube out. I put in so much work, walking constantly to try and help get that cursed tube out. Yet, when he visited the next morning, it stayed in. I was ready to cry.

That was probably my worst day in the hospital, getting the news I had to keep my tube in. I felt so like down. Depressed almost, but the real depression comes later. I was just like crushed because I walked and hoped and still, I was stuck in a situation with no improvement

One time we left my floor and I got to take X-Rays! That was exciting but difficult because I was expected to move and lay down by myself. It was a nice change of pace though to leave that floor and be able to get out.

My great aunt sent a card.

One day, the nurse walked in with balloons. I didn’t know where or who they were from. It turns out, it was my work. I work at a chick-fil-a. They are amazing people. I got a book, a crossword puzzle, a pen, balloons, and a stuffed shark. I named him Douglas.

I texted people and gave them regular updates. My bosses, my friends. Someone once texted me and asked if I could take their shift. I declined.

Lets talk about getting that wretched tube out. I was getting up to 6 walks? Sometimes more a day. I was picking up and using the restroom a lot. They told me to untape it from my nose, and yank it out. That simple. It took me five seconds. And I was free.

I was a little disappointed because my first drink wasn’t water, it was purple Gatorade. My first meal consisted of broth, Gatorade, and jello. Meals following gave me bacon, eggs, pancakes, chicken, small pizza, mashed potatoes, fries, chicken tenders. I barely ate.

Discussions of being sent home started. I was eating and drinking, just a little though. I was walking better than ever and I was using the bathroom without the tube helpin my bowels.

By the time I was ready to go, it felt like I was in the hospital forever, when it was two weeks. My room felt cramped and small and the floor I was in seemed like hell, associating it with walking with was still difficult.

We gave my balloons to a little girl who was next door to me. I didn’t know why she was there but she did cry a lot, poor thing

And finally with my trusty throw up bucket, I was wheeled down to the car where my mom and dad were waiting. I lost 15 pounds. I looked so skinny, I was like a skeleton.

Throughout my stay, I would wash my hair in the sink in my bathroom. I would always be careful and it would be a terrible time every time we did it because I was afraid the water would make my nose tube tape fall out.

I remember having a terrible headache on the ride back, but my head out the window, in the fresh air, outside for the first time in 2 and a half weeks, it was amazing.

Finally I got home. All I wanted was to sleep but my mom insisted I got a bath. For the first like month after I got home I washed the bare minimum because J didn’t want any of my incisions getting water and then maybe risking having to go back to the hospital.

After I got home, we had another problem. I had breathing troubles. I forgot the exact name but it was like a Pleurab Rub something, where it hurt like hell to breathe deeply.

It hurt to breath especially laying down and I had back pains down one side of my back, so I was in a sitting position trying to sleep for a while

My dad enjoys the fake WWE wrestling every Friday night. I remember being propped up and watching with him.

It took a while but soon the pain started subsiding and it all was returning to normal, as normal as it could be. Getting energy back, trying to eat, pain was goin down and my incisions turned into scars.

The first few days getting home were tough, even without the pain I had when breathing. I took regular naps and it was still hard getting my appetite back. My grandma came by and helped my dad clean the kitchen and got my a tiny little white stuffed dog. I named him Smiles

I got all kinds of gifts. Smiles and Douglas. Books. Puzzles. Colors. It was a weird, surreal experience.

My sleeping schedule was ass before the surgery and it for a while was actually decent, going to bed at 9, waking up early, taking frequent naps with no expectations of school or work. It was peaceful. Peaceful.

The friction rub that I had in my lungs gradually got better and I was looking at a new week coming up where I was readying myself to go to school. I wore a lot of hoodies because I felt a little self conscious about how skinny I was.

It was all college classes, show up, do work, and get out. No one really asked about my Absence because no one really talked to each other. My English professor did a small double take when I said here for the first time, he welcomed me back.

A dude in my Macroeconomics class said he thought I dropped out. I thought that was funny.

I don’t remember my first real night of sleep. When my appendix first burst, I never slept. In the hospital I had nurses waking me up every few hours to check my vitals. When I got home, I had more pain that required a sitting position for a while. 3-4 weeks of bad sleep.

But finally it just seemed to happen. Through the naps and long nights of rest, I fell into a deeper and deeper sleep were I was, for the first time in a month, comfortable.

Up until then, my mind was always preoccupied. With pain, my nose tube, uncomfortable feelings, excitement about going home, sleeping. Emotions filled my waking hours. And then it hit me.

I’ve always irl been really laidback, a happy lad with a pretty fortunate life. I’ve never had depression and man, the depression came and hit me like a Mack truck. I was fresh from the hospital and ill equipped to deal with depression.

I’ve never dealt with anything like it. My parents wondered why I didn’t seem to grt better, I felt like crying every moment of the day. My mom said it happened a few times after an extended hospital stay. It was just a terrible feeling.

One English class after I returned talked about Nostalgia and that didn’t help, I just wanted to be little again and be with my mom. But I was at class far away. I called her and literally was so close to having a breakdown at school. Hearing her voice though was what helped.

I can’t even describe the depression and I still think that I was lucky because Idk if my depression was as severe as it could be, or as severe as others. But it was really rough to overcome.

I went to my work a few times, a fast food place, to get food. I still wasn’t allowed to drive or work. People were excited to see me. One night, one of my bosses came and gave me a hug. I like justttt barely made it out of the building with my food before I shed a few tears

Finally, life returned to normal. Worked a bit, started building up my hours. Going to school, driving again. I still dealt with some pain and it was a journey building up my appetite but I got through it. Running again was hard.

I went to the beach. It was still just turning spring and the water was freezing but I swam. I love swimming, I live in Florida and swimming is just one of the best things ever. I swam a lot, it hurt, I had a lot of trouble breathing, but it was amazing.

And then life returned to normal. Still sometimes I have some trouble like doing a lot of sit-ups at a time but my world has returned to what it was before the appendicitis.

And this is it. The end. If you’ve read all of these tweets, thanks for sticking with me It was a rough, really rough journey but I got through it and I’m glad I’m still here and able to share this experience. Plus the bills weren’t too high. Thank you

Okay this will be the last tweet, if anyone has any questions about the experience dm me, if you’ve had an appendix burst too or whatever, I did this thread because I don’t wanna forget it