Of one nasty appendix and one loving God

Hello everyone

Apologies for the lack of activity around here recently. I’ve been stuck down with a major case of the borings. It’s a horrible affliction. Pity me.

Anyway, I now have a story to tell. It’s about my lovely fiancée and her not-so-lovely appendix. I’m going to blog in diary form.

May 18th: Shu-en was on Palm Is. yesterday. She was fulfilling her role as “Palm Island Dentist.” She came home mentioning some mild crampy lower abdominal pain. Perhaps it was the hot chips, she says. Very likely, I suspect.

May 21st: Enjoying life. The weekend is here! Hooray. Cam and Belinda’s wedding: winner. Much enjoyed by all. Shu-en pops a panadol to help her through the day but doesn’t complain at all. I suggest maybe it’s a low-grade viral gastro. She agrees. We host Andrew, Carla, Ben and Pep for dinner and 6 player 500. Much fun for all (especially for the boys who emerged victorious!)

May 25th: Shu-en still complaining of vague abdominal pain. Taking Panadol on a daily basis now, but ran up castle hill this afternoon, so it can’t be too serious.

May 26th: Shu’s pain is increasing today. The poor thing. She manages to make it through the working day but looks a bit worse for wear in the afternoon. I bring her flowers. I examine her abdomen. It’s soft, not really tender at all. Strange, really. Viral gastro should have disappeared a few days ago, and be getting worse, not better. I convince her to take tomorrow afternoon off work and go and see the GP. I’ve been a doctor long enough to know that you shouldn’t treat your own loved ones.

May 27th: Shu-en sees the GP. The GP examines her, runs some tests. She’s had pain for 9 days now. The GP doesn’t think it’s anything serious, so says she will see her next week with the test results.

May 28th: Mark and Carly come and visit for the afternoon. Shu is a bit withdrawn; pain seems to be increasing. Panadol isn’t cutting it today, neither is nurofen. Rachel and Matt come over for dinner. Shu doesn’t eat. Hmm. This must be serious. I examine her abdomen. Her pain has localised to the Right Iliac Fossa. A cardinal sign of appendicitis. It was in the back of my mind for the last few days but appendicitis pain generally isn’t taken away by Panadol; now I’m starting to become convinced. Perhaps a low-grade, grumbling appendix who is angry at the world because it’s been exposed to too much spicy Asian food.

I take her to the Emergency department. Working at the hospital wins a couple of favours. The ED consultant puts a drip in for me. The surgeon comes within an hour. The blood test show a high white cell count. The surgeon agrees; probably appendicitis. We’ll take her to theatre in the morning, they say.

May 29th: We’re awaiting the surgery. Shu’s using morphine for pain now. She spikes a temperature. Hmm. Maybe this is more than just appendicitis. In the afternoon, she goes off to theatre. I get a personal call from her surgeon (who also happens to be a friend of mine). Another perk of being staff. She asks me to come around to recovery. I’m praying it’s nothing serious.

The surgeon tells me it was nasty. The appendix had ruptured. She couldn’t find it. There was a large pelvic abscess involving the right ovary, fallopian tube, caecum and terminal ileum. The ascending colon is inflamed. She gave her a washout and left a drain in. She will need to be in hospital for a week with IV antibiotics. They will have to go back in in 8 weeks time to find out if there is a remnant of the appendix that can be removed.

I feel like I’ve been kicked in the guts. I’ve never had something like this happen before. This shouldn’t happen. I’m a doctor, after all. I should be able to stop this happening. I shouldn’t have missed it. I’m consoled by my surgeon friend that Shu-en had a very atypical presentation and most people would have missed it. I don’t feel much better. But that doesn’t matter. Shu-en is waking up and I have to be there for her.

Shu-en is slow waking up. Probably something to do with the 10mg of morphine and 100mcg of fentanyl they gave her before she woke for pain control. But she is alive, and is in very good hands. We get visited by Mark and Carly. They give us a lot of encouragement. They are wonderful friends.

May 30th: Day 1 post-op. Shu is doing amazingly well. She wants to eat. She isn’t allowed. The metronidazole makes everything taste like metal anyway. More friends and family come and visit. We are so blessed. I still feel like I’ve been kicked in the guts. Probably not as badly as Shu does though. She tells me in no uncertain terms that I’m not allowed to feel guilty. That helps a little. What helps most is that she looks better.

I have a moment of clarity. It doesn’t matter what happens. So long as she is okay. I realised I would do anything to make her better. It was a pretty powerful feeling.

Unfortunately I have to work a night shift tonight. I try to get out of it; unfortunately 4 people have called in sick so there is nobody to cover. I have to do it. At least I can be in the hospital all night in case she gets sick, I guess.

Shu-en’s parents offer to come up to help take care of her. We jump on the offer. The fly up the next day. They are staying with me; my housemate is away at the moment and is kind enough to let them have his room.

June 3rd: Shu-en’s hospital stay has gone better than anyone could have expected. She’s coming home today! Her IV antibiotics have stopped. She can eat. Her bowels work (it’s amazing the things you appreciate after you’re sick!) She is coming home.

June 5th: Shu has been home for two days now. Her parents left today. Her pain is settling down and she is half way through her oral course of antibiotics. Hopefully we’re out of the woods now!

We’ve both learnt a lot through this experience. Shu-en has learnt not to take things for granted; health, family, friends, food, bowel movements. She learnt how much God loves her and how he holds her life in his hands.

I’ve learnt a few things too. I was reminded again, and quite abruptly so, that things are not in my control. I must trust in God. It’s an old lesson. It’s a lesson I keep having to learn. I also learned how much I love my fiancée. In a funny kind of way you don’t really realise it until you’re faced with a situation like that. It was a pretty powerful feeling.

Anyway, sorry for the intensity. It was a pretty intense week. I’m glad it’s over. For those who pray: please pray for Shu’s ongoing health and wellbeing. Chocolates are also welcome.

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