My Appendicitis Operation Experience (yes, 3 cuts on my body)

     OH MY GOSH I was supposed to post this a year and a half ago in 2016 June and here it comes NOW, so a shoutout to my Godlike procrastination level which caused me to have a painful A Level experience. (This paragraph updated in 2017 Dec)

     Let's get to the point now. So, I did appendicitis/appendix operation on June 9th 2016, in South Korea. (And I am back in Korea again now!! TIME FLIES) Before I start, let me give you guys a rough idea on what appendicitis operation exactly is, because to be honest I myself did not knew about it as well. But if you guys already know what that is, just skip all these information in between the stars.

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Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix, a 3 1/2-inch-long tube of tissue that extends from the large intestine. No one is absolutely certain what the function of the appendix is. One thing we do know: We can live without it, without apparent consequences.

Appendicitis is a medical emergency that requires prompt surgery to remove the appendix. Left untreated, an inflamed appendix will eventually burst, or perforate, spilling infectious materials into the abdominal cavity. This can lead to peritonitis, a serious inflammation of the abdominal cavity's lining (the peritoneum) that can be fatal unless it is treated quickly with strong antibiotics.

How Is Appendicitis Treated?

Surgery to remove the appendix, which is called an appendectomy, is the standard treatment for appendicitis.

Generally, if appendicitis is suspected, doctors tend to err on the side of safety and quickly remove the appendix to avoid its rupture. If the appendix has formed an abscess, you may have two procedures: one to drain the abscess of pus and fluid, and a later one to remove the appendix.

Appendectomy: What to Expect

Antibiotics are given before an appendectomy to fight possible peritonitis. General anesthesia is usually given, and the appendix is removed through a 4-inch incision or by laparoscopy. If you have peritonitis, the abdomen is also irrigated and drained of pus.

Within 12 hours of surgery you may get up and move around. You can usually return to normal activities in two to three weeks. If surgery is done with a laparoscope (a thin telescope-like instrument for viewing inside the abdomen), the incision is smaller and recovery is faster.

Source: http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/digestive-diseases-appendicitis

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     And...yeah, so that's↑ what I have gone through. And I think I got my appendix removed by that laparoscopy method because the doctor didn't cut my stomach by 4-inch but instead, 3 small cuts(=incision is smaller).

     So this is going to be the build-up to me going to the hospital to get the surgery. It was a very fine morning on June 8th 2016. I woke up happily, enjoying myself in South Korea as I've not been there for a year and a half (since 2014 Dec). My grandma made delicious breakfast for me, which I ate with no problem. And after that, I went to Gimpo Airport Lotte Mall located near my house with my family, where I ate a Milk Bingsu. And that's when I started to feel some pain in my lower stomach area. So I thought it was just another fucking stomachache so I just tried to endure the pain. After that, I went home and the pain started to worsen and so I was like dying in pain and finally decided to go to the "Emergency medical service" (It's like an emergency service in Korea which operates from evenings till after midnight, and they charge you extra money) at late evening (the pain became unbearable then). I still remember it was so painful that I was literally rolling-on-the-bed moaning in deep agony. It just sucks so much to be in pain, and that stomach pain was really the worst stomach pain in my 18 years of my life. No wonder people say that being healthy is the best blessing in life 😖

I even had the time to take this kind of step picture
a few hours before the disaster happened

The last meal(?) I had before my appendix inflamed; the milk bingsu...

      The Emergency service centre was located at this hospital called "Bumin", so my further check-ups in the following morning happened there. Oh, and basically what happened at the Emergency service centre at the late evening was; the doctor working there suspected that my appendix inflamed, and that I must go for further check-ups in the next morning. And I was like, 'WTF are you serious. The so-called Appendix Inflammation happened TO ME???'
Yup, I realised things could and DO happen to me. And that I am not those main characters in those movies and webtoons who live seemingly less-troubled lives. Before going home to sleep with still-remaining tremendous stomach pain, I received some painkiller-injections which didn't really killed my pain, and the pain was so bad that I even asked the nurse if she could give me a medicine to just put me to sleep, and she was like "Erm no I can't"😕

Bumin Hospital;

although this place has a bad rating on Google,

it is still the place that saved my life so LOL

     I will skip all the long check-ups. Basically, I got an intravenous injection which can be like used to insert different kinds of medical liquids into my body (which was quite painful to be honest), and received many other check-ups.

The check-up rooms looked like these

Some CT(?) room where they inserted some liquid into me and I felt damn dizzy and I was like

'am I gonna die now' lmao

I still had the time to take this #selfie

Intravenous Injection;

you've seen this is crime shows where a killer secretly inserts some poison using this to kill a patient

     After that, I met a doctor that was in-charge of my entire operation. He looked kinda young but the first thing he said to me when he saw me was, "You're 18 this year? You look quite old for your age."(in Korean)! SINCE WHEN DOCTORS HAD such a humor?? And this humorous doctor is gonna cut open my body??? I was honestly feeling quite insecure. Because he was going through my body condition and showing me the check-up results which proved my appendix inflammation, and suddenly he also told me something like, a part of my lung which moves when I breathe in and out is quite weird but he doesn't know why is it like that and he is going to leave it and asked me to "just live with how I am like". WHAT THE FORK??? It's like a teacher telling a student "Oh this kind of question may come out in the exam but I am not sure how to do it so just forget it"! Also, I told him that I have a lower belly so I am shy to reveal it to him during the operation, and he said, "It's okay just live with how you look like."

Honestly I appreciated that he was actually so cool and funny.😄

     After that, I went to do the operation. Yeah, just like that. The whole procedure was so quick that I was asking myself whether things were going on right. My grandma was even more stressed than me during the whole thing cos she is a caring grandma😌

The highlight is, before I did the operation, I was laying on this hospital bed with like 3 intravenous injections on my arms, and a buff-sized male nurse dragged my bed to the operation room via a "special elevator', and I was helplessly looking at the continuous white lights on the ceiling as I got dragged. It felt as if the whole thing was a part of a movie scene where the main character was about to get some serious operation. And there were many thoughts going through my mind, like:

'What if something goes wrong and I never wake up?'

'Where is the porn that I last saved?'

'Will they check my phone and laptop if I die? If yes then bless my privacy..'

'My clean body is going to be cut open now and have scars for life?'

'I am only 18 and I am going to have an operation...'

     The operation room looked like those in the movies and dramas. There was the doctor and like 4-5 nurses. And here is how I got put to sleep. The doctor told me to "inhale it three times" as they put some inhaler(?) on my mouth and nose; and I am pretty sure I only inhaled it two times, and I don't remember anything after that. The inhaler smelled like Soju. My next memory was waking up back at my hospital room, with 3 bandages on my stomach. And everything was just PAINFUL😣

This is an 'added painkiller' after my operation which I could press a button to release some amount into my body if the pain got unbearable. But I was warned that too much usage will get me very dizzy. I used very little of it.

     I stayed in the hospital for about half a day only, and I was told to keep walking around until I fart. And walking itself was still painful to me. Laying down and sitting up was the worst part ever cos do you guys realise we need to use our stomach muscles in some way when we want to sit up from laid down position? So although the hospital bed had this button to move up and become a "chair", I still had to move a bit here and there to adjust myself and consume the absolutely tasteless hospital food and so on, thus the pain was just everywhere. And I am not overreacting😅

Back to my farting point. So, I just couldn't fart no matter how much I walked. So this is going to be embarrassing for myself but I am just going to share it anyways. I had to resort to using enema to force the "fart" out, which may sound like a no-big-deal. But no it was a big deal for me. Because the female nurse that helped to insert the enema into my ass was like some really young, those early 20s nurse. So apparently my ass got seen first by a young female nurse, and not by my future girlfriend (if any). When I received the enema from the young nurse, I just didn't know what to say or feel. It felt like I lost my virginity.

     Finally, urinating for the first time after the operation was the hardest urination of my life as it JUST DIDN'T COME OUT. Like, no matter how much I tried to pee, I just couldn't. So I spent like a legitimate 15+ minutes in the toilet trying to pee, and when I did, my urine was like really dense, it was a really dark yellow in color. Yes, it is disgusting I agree, but it was also the first time I urinated such a color. Well, hey guys, I bet anyone who were to undergo this operation would need to fart (and use enema if you guys fail to do so) and freakin' urinate the disgusting-colored pee as well. This is life man, humans are so vulnerable - they will smell if they don't wash, and they could be hurt easily (mentally and physically). 👦

Please support my bold decision to show the cut on my fat belly button

                                                                                     ↑The stapler bullet marks though↑

     I left the hospital later that day, and took a taxi home where I was more or less done with the major painful moments. I was relieved it was almost over, and that I thankfully survived through it smoothly(?). Once again, I realised the importance to appreciate the everyday lives where we are not in pain, and that being healthy is the best blessing in life. I may not be academically smart, good looking, good in sports, etc. But never mind, fuck all that. I will appreciate that I am healthy most of the days. That is really good enough👍

And since I have undergone such a painful experience; in fact, the most painful experience in my life as of 2016 June, 【I have fallen down so many times and got my knees & elbows bled a lot, I have broken my left wrist bone, I have fallen down and ripped by ear, and so on. But this appendix operation experience was the worst of them all.】 I told myself to take care of my body more by eating healthy food, and drink less alcohol!! ^_^

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I personally think this is a 'million-dollar post' cos it is such an honest blog post😄

Thank you for reading and I hope you guys got a rough idea of how receiving an Appendicitis Operation is like!

P.s. The doctor told me that the cause for Appendix Inflammation is "nothing". There is no reason for the inflammation and it is random.

Regards,

BlackjackBoy