The ordeal started last Thursday. While the pain was still bearable that afternoon, it doesn’t seem to die down as the night falls. At first, we thought I was just constipated. I endured the pain in my stomach for a few hours and really forced myself to sleep, in desperate hopes that by next morning, the pain is gone.
I woke up at around midnight because of the excruciating pain. I shifted positions every three seconds but I can’t seem to find comfort. I tried to sleep through it again but I can’t anymore. I was lazy to get up but the situation left me with no choice. I got up and made myself a hot compress. I placed it on my stomach and after a while, was peacefully asleep.
But then, once the hot compress got colder, the pain started to emerge again. So, throughout the dawn, I made three or four sessions of making a hot compresses so that I could continue sleeping. That sure was a looong day.
I thought it will all be over by the time mr.sun welcomes my next day. But no! I couldn’t stop crying because of the pain, and maybe because I don’t know why my stomach aches and what I could do to stop it. By this time, the pain was not concentrated on the middle of my stomach, but somehow, it found its way to the lower right side of my tummy. Oh, the pain! Huhuhu…
For the nth time, I made a hot compress. And for the nth time, it didn’t stop the pain. So, I decided to take action. “Mama!” Ehehe…
After explaining to her, I found myself preparing to go to the clinic. I ate a Skyflakes cracker but halfway through it, I found it hard to swallow. But I need to eat so I stuffed it forcefully in my mouth. Minutes later, I threw up. (excuse me..hehe)
I got my urine and blood tested and the clinic doctor diagnosed it to be appendicitis.
What?!? While the doctor was explaining, many things are running through my mind. What if I didn’t eat that proven? Will I be operated? How much will that cost? Can I still start my work on March 26? Why is this happening???
I tried to control my tears and told myself how nakakahiya it would be to cry in there. Hehe..I’m such a crybaby!
My father left work early and took off even without having his lunch. After a few minutes, I have packed my bags because the doctor said that I would likely be confined for a few days. Papa arrived home and he and mama talked about what the doctor said. I could still remember Papa’s face. And I still feel tears forming in my eyes with that vision in my head. There was a look of worry and fear in his eyes. He was trying to relax amidst the discomfort. Appendectomy is just a simple operation when you come to think of it but the newness of the situation was alarming, maybe, to him and to us. None of his children had undergone an operation before. I can see that although he, himself, was suffering from his own heart ailments and that situations like this could easily raise his blood pressure, he managed to restrain himself and be the best father that he has always been to us. I needed him and he very well knew that.
The trip to the hospital was a quiet one. Papa, Mama and I spoke a few words during the trip. I was crying at the backseat while I was texting my two sisters of the situation. We didn’t tell it to Jo right away because he was enjoying his day in Enchanted Kingdom that time. My sisters’ replies to me were almost the same. “O, parang masaya ka pa na ooperahan ka a. hehe.” Basta along those lines. I sounded happy pa daw. I just can’t make them worry so I made it seem like a simple thing. The only thing that makes me cry is the burden that I have placed, yet again, on my parents. I am proving myself to be a pain in their necks for the longest time now. And after all that I have caused, they still stuck with me through all these, the more I felt unworthy. It was a humbling experience. Mama is an extraordinary person. Nuff said
We arrived in the hospital at around 2pm but they still conducted a lot of tests to verify that it is appendicitis. I was then scheduled to be operated at around 9pm after all the signs pointed to appendicitis. (Funny thing: the doctor asked me to narrate what I felt during the past day and asked me a lot of questions about how I am feeling that day. He pressed portions of my stomach and stuff like that. He verified that all the signs say it is appendicitis except for the fact that I felt hungry. Hehe… Usually, patients experiencing appendicitis, even though they do not eat and drink before operation, doesn’t feel hungry…except for me…ehehe)
At around 8pm, they transported me to a room near the operating room while they are preparing what they need for the operation. I was alone there except for occasional going in and out of nurses to check up on me or to inject something in my arm or to check their files and my chart. Still an hour before the operation, so I recited my prayers and lay there. I wasn’t scared at all. (Funny thing no.2: I was not scared. I was thinking more of the fact that they are going to see me naked. Wah!!!)
My bed was wheeled to the operating room by 9pm. Nurses were going in and out of the room. Their faces were different from the ones who have injected me with antibiotics and stuff. Shux! How many of them will see me naked? I tried to ignore that thought and relax. I was going to be injected with anesthesia. I was curled like a baby and my back was exposed. A voice told me “Huwag kang magugulat kung may maramdaman ka malamig a. Betadine lang un.” And then, there it was- the cold fluid, wiped n my bare back. The cotton moved as if lining an imaginary square on my back…from a bigger square going to an inner smaller square until reaching a point in the middle…then lining its way back to the bigger square again. After a while, I felt some sort of a pin that punctured my back. They were going to inject in on my spine, they said. Although I felt many pins, mama said that anesthesia is just a single injection. As pins (from what I felt, there were many pins..hehe) were injected, I felt my nerves jolt a little and then nothing. After that bit, the nurses have to assist my legs in straightening up because I can’t do it alone.
A 90-degree-angled, rubber coated ( I think) tube was fitted into a circular opening at the right side of my bed, in line with my chest. Cloth or robe was hung on the tube and it covered my view of my lower body. That was it. They took my memory from then on. Joke! Hehe.
I woke up I think because of the loud conversation my doctor and his colleague were having. I could sense that they have been sewing my wound but I can’t feel it. What I felt was the chills on my arms and neck that causes them to shake rather obviously and funny. hehe… I remembered that an anesthesiologist briefed me of the injection and said that I would feel chills as a reaction of my body to the injection…or something like that. And so, it is normal. But I can’t stop it.
After a while, my doctor tapped my shoulder and said, “O ayan, tapos na.” My bed was then wheeled to the recovery room. I didn’t know how many minutes I was in the OR, though. I was there in the recovery room, still chilling. I thought my parents would come in but there was no sign of them. Yun pala, doc already went to our room and showed my appendix to my parents.
While in the recovery room, I can move my right leg a little but my left leg was still sleeping. I was chilling like crazy! I can’t breathe. Then, a nurse told me to take deep breaths which I did and the chilling subsided but was still there. I tried to move my legs and after a while, the chilling was minimized. When I can almost fully move my legs, I was not experiencing the chills anymore.
When I was wheeled back to my room, Papa, Mama, Mama Dors, Nina and Tito Oscar were there. I think I told them stories about my day but I can’t really remember. I remember wishing that I could eat, though…hehe. I did not eat the from 8am til the night of the operation, noh! Kahit water, di pwede. Oo nga pala, for the first time, na-dextrose ako…hehe. that was in the afternoon when we were already in the hospital.
I was advised just to lay flat down on my bed that night. By 4am the next day, I could sit up na daw and before 6am, I should be able to pee or else, they will insert a catheter (tama ba). (Funny thing no.3 : I was half asleep when the nurse told my mom about that catheter. But when I heard it, I forced myself to pee within the next hour. I have to! I don’t want another thing inserted in my body…Nu-uh!) By 5am, I was able to get out of the bed and walk to the bathroom and peed. My mom was so amazed. It was as if I was not operated daw. Hehe… the wound was still painful but bearable.
My relatives visited me the next day. Parang may picnic sa room…hehe. It was very touching. The nurse told me that I could try walking in the room to get my body stronger. And I did that every after meal. (Yes, I could already eat! Yey!) One time, I was standing beside my bed and walking little steps to places where my IV could hold,and my doctor entered the room. He was happy to see me standing. He was a little surprised but relieved with my recovery. He said that I could leave after a day of rest.
An unexpected but wonderful visit occurred last night at the hospital. It really made me happy. Thanks, hal. Inaway ko pa naman siya kasi akala ko di nya ko pupuntahan. Aba, may surprise pang nalalaman…hehe…Mwah!!!
To all who visited me and supported me thru text, thank you. There were times before when I thought to myself that when I get myself hospitalized, those who knew about it and would take time to visit me really cares for me. And my experience taught me who really cares. Most of all, I knew my family loved me soooo much despite me being bad… 
