Absence of Appendix Won't Stop Falcon Fan

Dayons_Den · Post by **Dayons_Den** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:28 am

Is this post a little more human interest than football? Yes. Do I care at this point? No.

The story all begins on Monday night. The Indians were battling the Tigres (yes Tee-grays) on Fox Sports Ohio. My girlfriend/partner/roomate was on the phone with her mother complaining of horrible stomach pains. I was considering calling my mother complaining about horrible stomach pains as well, but then I realized it was just my body's natural reaction to seeing Bob Wickman on the mound in the ninth inning.

Wicky got out of the jam but ours had only just begun. Upon the recomendation of the mother we decided to head over to Wood County hospital at about 10:30pm on Monday.

After the normal sitting, urine sample, then blood tests and then more sitting the Doc came in at midnight with the test results. Between sharp pains and tearing eyes my girlfriend was told that her white blood cell count was more than double what it is supposed to be so a CT scan would be required. This was at midnight.

I immediatly went to call her mother, who lives near Akron to inform her that her youngest child may have to have her first surgery in 24 years of inhabiting the earth.

Around 2AM the CT scan results came back and our fears were confirmed- appendacitus- it had to come out. Now she was under the impression her family would be notified and they would do it sometime Tuesday, but before we could discuss plans the Emergency Surgeon popped in and said

"We are going to need to do this NOW. Do you have any questions?"

Dayons: "Yes, how is recovery time with this procedure?"

Doc: "Well she won't be doing any heavy lifting for a few weeks, she could maybe drive her car by the end of the week."

Dayons: "How about riding in a car, say... for about 6 hours, this weekend?"

Doc: "That would be on the optimistic side, where are you or where WERE you going?"

Girlfriend: "Well we ARE going to the Falcon game at Wisconsin this weekend."

When the doctor left and the fact hit her that she would have to get knocked out and under the knife without the chance to even say something to her mother and family the firs thing she said to me was:

"I am NOT going to miss this trip."

The surgery went well, only lasted about 45 minutes. She was admitted for observation at about 4AM and her mother arrived after a flat tire on the way at 7AM. She was released from the hospital on Tuesday at 1PM and we have been resting and taking measures to ensure a quick recovery.

She woke up today and I think ALL of the anesthetic is out of the system because she was in some real sore pain, but still insists on making the drive on Friday.

Any insights on recent appendix removals would be helpful, recent because it is now a "laproscopic" surgery- three small incisions instead of the big gaping cut.

Tricky_Falcon · Post by **Tricky_Falcon** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:35 am

No helpful insights but I must say you are one lucky guy to have a girl like that.

Go Falcons!

Post by **ZiggyZoomba** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:38 am

What?!?! No photos from the new camera???

Wishing her a speedy recovery and a comfortable trip to Madison!! Don't hit any hard bumps. Maybe rent a big Buick or something!

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:45 am

Do whatever you have to do to hang onto that girl...she's a keeper!

bruejam · Post by **bruejam** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 10:51 am

She got lucky with the laproscopic. I had appendicitis in March. When the doc went in to remove my appendix, he was unable to find it. (Apparently it's fairly common for the appendix to move as it swells.) He had to open me up and search for the thing before he could take it out. (I have since had visions of him using me as a hand puppet while I was unconcisous.) I was in the hospital for two days, even though my appendix hadn't ruptured. I was told not to drive for a week and had to stay out of the gym for 6 weeks.

Although abdominal surgery is never a picnic, I've heard that recovery time and ease after laproscopic surgery is much better than open surgery.

I wish you and your wife the best in the recovery. I've had two knee injuries/surgeries on the same knee, and my appendix attack completely overshadows that pain. I was literally doubled over and in tears before I made it to the hospital, and I like to think I have a high pain tolerance.

One thing made everything worth it after my release: Percocet. Man, talk about a trip that never ends! Anyway, happy trails and good luck. Keep us posted on how it goes.

BGFan · Post by **BGFan** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 11:11 am

Try being evacuated due to a hurricane a few days after after donating a kidney (the old fashioned way, a 14 inch cut right across the gut)....now that's a real treat, let me tell you.

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:08 pm

Flipper wrote:Do whatever you have to do to hang onto that girl...she's a keeper!

Yeah, but now she's broken.

Rightupinthere · Post by **Rightupinthere** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:39 pm

TG1996 wrote:
Flipper wrote:Do whatever you have to do to hang onto that girl...she's a keeper!
Yeah, but now she's broken.

Broken? No. Reconditioned? Yup. As long as the doc offers up an additional 3 month/3,000 miles, she's a steal!

Falcon30 · Post by **Falcon30** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:47 pm

My wife had hers out and the antibiotics killed off everything in h er system which digested food. She spent 4 days in the hospital.

I am glad your sig. other is doing well...have a great, non-bumpy trip!

Ineedbotox · Post by **Ineedbotox** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:54 pm

Glad to hear the gf is okay! That is not a fun thing to go through.

As for the advice on lap surgery recovery, I will tell you, I have had some gross cases where people get infected after laparoscopic surgery & sue their doctor. You can get some REALLY disgusting bacteria that will jack up your body very badly, but it is rare. Just make sure that she doesn't move around more than necessary & DEFINITELY keep her dressings clean, fresh & intact. The best thing to do is follow the dr. recc's to a T on wound care. You don't want to blow that stuff off, because if you do get an infection, it is DISGUSTING. Also, you want to keep her from moving around too much to avoid enlarging the incisions. Generally, the risk of infection from a lap surgery is much, much smaller than with an open incision. But that's not to say it doesn't happen. I have seen the outcomes & it isn't pretty.

But again, y'all will be cool. Be careful & have fun in WI!!!

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 1:42 pm

DD,

Glad to hear eveything worked out! Be patient with the lady...she is one hell of a trooper!

It will all be worth the trip. GO BG!~

always a falcon · Post by **always a falcon** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 3:34 pm

Get her some pom poms and tell her to remain seated and wave the damn things every time we score. Let's hope Omar and Co get off to the start we expect and she can relax during the game.

SOOOO glad she is ok.

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 3:40 pm

Glad everything worked out ok.

Maybe you should contact the Athletic Dept and see if they could get her a seat in the press box/suite so she could be more comfortable?

Just a thought.

buckysportsnut · Post by **buckysportsnut** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 3:21 pm

Actually, you may want to call the ticket office. You may be able to get access to the handicapped seating area. You would have a little more room to stretch out and less chance of getting bumped into. Here is the phone # (800)-462-2343

Of course, we will try to help as much as we can by hopefully not giving her a lot to cheer about.