Emergency appendectomy after sudden acute appendicitis

Hi everyone it's been a while since I've posted on this forum. Six days ago I've experienced the worst abdominal pain of my life. My flank and lower back area hurt really bad too. My parents rushed me to the hospital and after getting a CT scan they found I had a fully ruptured appendix, which according to the doctors has ruptured for at least a week before I came to the hospital to check out what's wrong with me.

I was immediately scheduled for an open appendectomy at midnight and I was nervous as hell because it was my first surgery ever. I was pretty amazed by how general anesthesia worked tbh. I didn't even reach counting to 4 until it was lights out for me and I wasn't aware of the passage of time in the slightest bit. They woke me up and didn't even realize they finished the surgery because of how groggy I was. According to the doctors, I had the weirdest appendicitis case they've seen in a while. Apparently, it ruptured and sealed on its on own pushing against my lower back.

I stayed at the hospital for 5 days when they initially told me I might stay for at least a week. Thankfully that didn't happen and I stayed only for four nights being pumped by IV abx. This has been a horrible experience, HORRIBLE. I'm still in moderate pain post-op, but I can't complain much. I was prescribed flagyl and cipro for the next 10 days to fully eliminate the systemic infection before my next appointment with one of the doctors after finishing the abx treatment. Fortunately, this has happened in my country surrounded by my loved ones so I felt very comforted, to say the least. I wouldn't wish this experience on my worst enemy that's how excruciating the experience was for me. I'll update this thread if I have anything worth mentioning. Cheers brothers and sisters!

Girlie said...
Aww...sorry to hear this RedEye. But, sounds like the surgery went well...and you are recovering nicely.


Heal well!

Thank you girlie! Yeah I'm healing better than expected as the doctors felt it would take much longer. Now I'm just left with severe depression (I've felt low often before but this is a record low for me), whole body inflammation and achiness.

Wow, a whole week! Glad youre ok.

WalkingbyFaith said...

goshawk said...
Redeye I wonder if all the ABX is causing herxing with more depression

Probably is and the whole body inflammation, too. You might be feeling more pain from herxing than from the surgery.

Did they put you on steroids?

Do they do that after an appendectomy?

ChickenArise said...
Wow, a whole week! Glad youre ok.

I was nauseous for 10 days before the intense abdominal pain came about. Doctors were baffled how I didn't get any abdominal pain weeks before getting acute appendicitis. Having this high of a pain threshold can be detrimental to one's health and I'm lucky in having a strong immune system to keep the infection in check as my white blood cell count was off the charts.

RedEye said...

Girlie said...

WalkingbyFaith said...

goshawk said...
Redeye I wonder if all the ABX is causing herxing with more depression

Probably is and the whole body inflammation, too. You might be feeling more pain from herxing than from the surgery.

Did they put you on steroids?

Do they do that after an appendectomy?

No I didn't get any steroids.

That's good. I didn't think they would...but antibiotics do make sense. BTW the Cipro is an effective Bart treatment...so you may have a herx.
Watch for - tendon pain...and stop taking it if you have it.

I believe with Cipro you should be supplementing with magnesium...hopefully someone will confirm that. It's to help with the tendons.

Girlie said...

RedEye said...

Girlie said...

WalkingbyFaith said...

goshawk said...
Redeye I wonder if all the ABX is causing herxing with more depression

Probably is and the whole body inflammation, too. You might be feeling more pain from herxing than from the surgery.

Did they put you on steroids?

Do they do that after an appendectomy?

No I didn't get any steroids.

That's good. I didn't think they would...but antibiotics do make sense. BTW the Cipro is an effective Bart treatment...so you may have a herx.
Watch for - tendon pain...and stop taking it if you have it.

I believe with Cipro you should be supplementing with magnesium...hopefully someone will confirm that. It's to help with the tendons.

I'm googling cipro damage control right now and as far as I've read I shouldn't be taking cipro and magnesium together at the same exact time as it makes cipro less effective so they should be fairly spaced out upon ingestion.The same goes for calcium-rich foods such as dairy and calcium-fortified beverages. I got tendon pain in my legs when I got the IV abx in the hospital but now it has subsided. One thing that's bothering now is how loose my stools are. I mean it's great not to be constipated and feeling generally lighter, but I can't be going to the bathroom 4 or 5 times a day for a BM. Hopefully this wouldn't last more than two weeks.

1000Daisies said...
Hi RedEye! Wow - so sorry about your ruptured appendix, as that is a very serious condition! One of my kids had a ruptured appendix (and complications from that - multiple hospital stays). He is fine now, but it was a rough few months. It was before treatment for his lyme/etc, and I have no doubt it was somehow related (as a few months previously, he started showing symptoms of lyme/etc).

The doctor gave us pictures of what it looked like inside, and my kid took the pictures to school to show his friends. Hmmmmm......

Afterwards, we did have to modify his diet. But that was only for a few months. They say some people are in and out of the hospital and kids bounce back quickly, but my child had complications and was not an easy road compared to others.

I'm concerned about your loose stools. Please be careful about that. The treatment for the ruptured appendix for my child inadvertently caused c-diff for him. So, if it were me, I'd get that checked out personally. With c-diff, it can be a different but very strong odor associated with the bowel movements.

I am so sorry you went (and are) going through this!!!

Hi 1000daisies appreciate your concern and kind words! Thankfully today my BM was somewhat formed and no smell whatsoever so I'm not worried anymore. I think flagyl is very effective against c-diff so hopefully this abx won't allow that infection to proliferate. As far as healing from surgery goes, the doctors said it would take a few months to get 100% back to normal in term of physical stamina and agility so I need to be patient. Going through a ruptured appendix is pure torture and I'm glad your son is doing great currently.