@Beth Gallagher I hate to see you referring to your life as mundane. That means that mine is below mundane and I don't know a word for that unless humdrum is step below.
What a damn day I've had. Husband had barely been home from the CT scan when he got a call from his doctor. Apparently he has ACUTE APPENDICITIS and the doctor told him to go directly to the emergency room. Well, isn't that just peachy?? What a half-assed doctor he is, and won't he be getting a damn EARFUL when this is over with. My husband was in this doctor's office 11 days ago complaining about pain in his abdomen and came home with a prescription for an antispasmodic for IBS. What the damn hell??? What kind of a gastrointestinal doctor doesn't recognize appendicitis??? My husband had to suffer for all this time and could have had a very serious problem if the appendix had burst. I am honestly fit to be tied. So we spent 5.5 HOURS in an ER overrun with coughing sick people where it was standing room only. I was so creeped out. They finally got him into a room about an hour ago and I came home; we still haven't talked to the surgeon. They gave him an IV with fluids and antibiotics and said nothing by mouth tonight, so apparently he's having surgery tomorrow. I'll have to be up early just in case. So that was my Monday.
You're absolutely right I would have thought appendicitis would have been easy to detect during the physical. My thoughts and prayers for successful surgery and speedy recovery.
Not always easy to detect, especially in older folks. The surgery is simple however, unless the appendix has ruptured and peritonitis has set in. Rebound pain in the lower quadrant is usually a sign with elevated white count.
I feel you @Beth Gallagher on this. You would think that any abdominal pain would alert you to question the possibility of appendicitis by a doctor. Question: Has your appendix been removed? or during the examination of the right side of the abdomen, Is there any pain here? I would like to be a fly on the wall to hear you granted that I wouldn't get killed first.
Ok, now I feel like a shit. I suspected appendicitis from what you wrote and started to ask if he still had his appendix. Since he had seen a gastrointestinal doctor I decided for once to just zip it, mind my own business, and quit playing doctor. I had the same thing happen and was sentenced to a night in the hospital for observation. I all my symptoms were improved by morning so surgery was cancelled and it was written off as some one time gastrointestinal occurrence. Years later when I had cancer surgery, the surgeon also removed my appendix and told me that I was just one knock away from meeting St Peter. He was amazed that my appendix hadn't ruptured especially since I did such hard physical work all those years. All the gastrointestinal doctors I had seen in those years never once suspected my appendix was on the verge of rupturing and that was the cause of my occasional abdominal pains. I am sure glad that the hubs is getting surgery today and resolving his problem. That makes me feel better but still I will punish myself for not saying something.
I experienced the same thing with my mom 30 years ago. She was a Kaiser Permanente member. My dad called me while I was at work & said "Mom has pain in her side & I'm taking her to the hospital. When I stopped by their house, she was already home. They gave her gas pills. Her pain got worse & we took her to the ER. Again they sent her home with gas pills. I noticed the swelling on her right side & I spoke to her doctor & asked if he checked her Appendix. He said it wasn't appendicitis. I said it sure looks like it. He said "You're not a doctor, are you?" Later that evening, we took her to a different hospital where they diagnosed her with appendicitis & just as they were preparing her for emergency surgery, her appendix burst, which necessitated a second surgery & partial colon removal. Then, Kaiser sent a bill for $9,500.00 for the "Unauthorized Ambulance Ride" and "Medical Treatment Outside Kaiser's Coverage." I responded to the bill: "Best of luck collecting. You're a wonderful medical facility - for patients who want to die."
Just an update from the hospital... husband is scheduled for laparoscopic surgery at 1:30 p.m. today. I like his surgeon very much and already checked her ratings online. Expect that they will keep him overnight and he'll be home tomorrow. On my way to the hospital this morning, I got within 2 blocks of the facility and my "low tire" alert came on in my car. I pulled into a gas station and did a walk-around; didn't hear any hissing or notice any tire looking low so I proceeded on to the hospital. After seeing the surgeon and finding out the surgical schedule I decided to check the tires and bring my car home if driveable. I didn't want to walk out to the parking lot after dark to a flat tire so I drove home and swapped my car for the Jeep. I'll deal with the tire later. Thanks for all the good wishes, everyone. I realize that this isn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of things since hopefully all will turn out fine, but inept doctors really annoy me. We won't be returning to that gastroenterologist but I will be writing a detailed review of him online. When I told the surgeon that the gastro had sent my husband home with an antispasmodic for IBS, she was aghast. Naturally she couldn't criticize the other physician but the look on her face said it all.