For the last 10 days I have been recuperating from an appendectomy.
For such an occurance for a 50 year old, it called for a biopsy which
turned out to be non-cancerous.  They did a "bikini" cut in case I stut
down Boracay in one of those neon colored briefs.  I called the episode,
the "Revenge of the Dalag" since I caught 3 "Dalags" or Mudfish a day
before.  Jest aside, it made me realise the frailness of life and the
meaning of trust in the Lord Jesus.  As I was given the sedative for the
operation, I felt at this point, I could no longer trust myself for
anything, and everything was now in the hands of the surgeon, who was
then under the control of our God. It was the end of my decision
making.  I realised that this is the same position we are in when we put
our trust and confidence in our Lord Jesus to be the one who will give
us eternal life and control our life, only this time it is for the
surgeon to remove my appendix.

    For you who have not had the experience of appendicitis, it started
at 9 pm as a severe gas pain.  After several "Tum"s and no relief, I
tried to sleep off the pain. I came in and out of sleep the whole night
until the following morning at 4:30, when I decided to cash in on my
wife's patience and care for me, and asked her to drive me to the
hospital.  By this time, the pain had subsided, but moved to the lower
right part of my abdomen.  With the severe tenderness of my lower
abdomen, they suspected either UTI or appendicitis. The Emergency Room
staff took a blood analysis and a urine test.  The blood test showed a
high white cell count, meaing I was having an infection, and a negative
urine test ruled out a Urinary Tract Infection. I didn't have any fever,
and I had good appetite, which were not indications of appendicitis.
They decided it was appendicitis, and advised an operation immediately.
I only had two questions for the doctor; "Can I make it to my son's high
school graduation 1 week later? and When can I play golf again?" The
answer was yes, and in 3 weeks I can play again so he operated on me at
2:30 pm the same day.  I was only hours before it would have erupted.
The biopsy showed it was "gangrenous" by the time of removal.

    An interesting sidelight to my appendectomy was due to EQ's
convincing story about the very painful effects of the catheter, I tried
my best not to go through the same ordeal.  After the operation, I did't
feel anything hanging down my legs and I was so glad to know they didn't
stick a cath into my _______, remembering EQ's description of his
ordeal.  The problem was due to the spinal anesthesia, I forget how to
"pee".   All through the night, the nurse kept asking me if I had peed.
Each time she asked, I would go to the toilet and try, and boy, did I
try!  My bladder became full, fuller, and by daybreak, "fullest", with
no remedy.  I had forgotten how to pee. I had a choice of a female or
male nurse to stick it in.  The choice was obvious, I didn't want a
female see a full grown man cry.  Anyway with a lot of KY jelly and
Xylocaine, I went through the experience much below my expectations of
pain, or EQ's convincing story. So for you who will be subjected to this
experience, the pain is worth the relief afterwards.  I filled the
bottle and wetted the bed besides.  Then they took out the catheter, and
it was this agonizing experience which greatly motivated me to learn how
to pee before my bladder again goes  "full, fuller, and fullest."
    By this time, all the nurses were aware of my dilema and each
narrated their experiences on how their patients eventually learned how
to pee. For you doctors out there, I started to think that peeing is an
involuntary action, and the body does it naturally without consciously
me trying.  I was confused whether it can be learned, or I just do it
unconsciously. What is it anyway? By midday, one of the nurses said,
"try to open the shower and listen to the sound of rushing water."  I
listened to it for an hour, made all sorts of "shuuusssing" sounds (same
sound my father would make to make me pee when we went into public
toilets as a young boy), hot and cold compress, and finally stepped into
the shower itself and with rushing water down my legs, I FINALLY LEARNED
HOW TO PEE. Then I realised, I had learned from a bad habit of mine of
polluting the shower after a game of golf, and that same feeling taught
me again the process of peeing. It didn't end there, as I was worried I
might forget how to, since I just learned it.  Therefore, the second and
third time were anxious times as well.
    You must be bored by my experience by now, so I'll let you get back
to reading your other mails.  May God bless you all and spare you from
appendicitis, or its post operation experiences. Best regards
Raymond Dan
 
 

thank you for the beautiful account of your appendectomy.
it does get scary when you have to undergo a spinal
anesthesia and at our age. i know. cause i too had to put my
trust in the Lord, not too long ago.  I remember praying
that i will not be a vegetable after the operation.

i am also thankful that my problem after the operation was
not that i forgot how to pee.  but more on i forgot how not
to. (Actually, i just did not have any control of my bladder
because of the anesthesia).  at least i didn't have to
undergo painful (?) removal of the catheter.
boyet and ed u. also did not mind it too much.  but i think
they had a different nursing choice.

ana can also be thankful that it was not eq who had the
appendectomy. or we would have an 8-part saga that she would
have to keep uploading into our webpage.

but, we won't mind hearing of your post-operation
experiences.  i think our batch i now in that stage where
health news is THE news to read.

manny
 
 
 

benjie
 
 
 

Butch