March 19, 2023,
2:00am I bolt upright in bed with a terrible stomach pain. I thought, I’m dying or this is something really stupid. I moaned and groaned for a few hours trying to find a comfortable position. Branton came home from work at 3:00am to find me laying on the floor. He eventually went to sleep. I did not. Finally at 7:30am I drove myself to the ER and left Branton and Canyon to fend for themselves. I couldn’t even stand up long enough to give them my information. I just yelled it from the fetal position. There is no dignity in the ER.
Luckily, they took me back really fast. The doctor came in and poked me. When he poked that lower right abdomen it was quite painful. They gave me some stomach pain medication. I held off on the morphine in case I needed to drive myself home. I eventually got a CT scan. Sure enough, appendicitis. They said to get comfortable because I wasn’t going anywhere. I would be in surgery as soon as a room opened up.
At that point I got the good stuff, aka morphine. After a few hours and some Bryan Regan I was taken up the OR.
I, thankfully, got some sleep in. About 4:30pm they took me in. Surgery was fast, only an hour. My friend in the neighborhood brought Branton and Canyon to the hospital to drive me home. I was in the hospital all day by myself. I didn’t really think twice about it, but the nurses kept asking me if anyone was coming to get me. Haha I guess it’s abnormal for people to drive to the hospital and have surgery by themselves.
Recover was normal. I went crazy sitting around. I didn’t even get any stitches. Three tiny incisions and some tape was all I had to show for it. My friends and sisters in the neighborhood fed us well for the whole week. I’m very grateful for modern medicine, great family support and wonderful community support.