Please Refer to Appendix A

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OK - I'm pretty sure everyone knows I had appendicitis and had to have my appendix surgically removed. I think that the episode of sickness I had a few weeks ago was related to this as well. This weekend, I woke up on Sunday with intense pain in my abdomen. I thought it would go away on it's own, but it didn't. I took some Pepto Bismol and tried to find a position that wasn't incredibly painful but there was none. I took a hot bath to try to ease the pain. No luck. I threw up and all I could think was, SERIOUSLY? this is happening again?? I finally got dressed and Gabe took me to the doctor and just sitting in the waiting room was horrible. They examined me and sent me to the ER. I got to the ER at 5 pm. Tests were run, lots of waiting, more tests, more waiting... Finally at 7:40 they tell me it's appendicitis and they will be around shortly to take me to surgery. I think they didn't take me to surgery until around 9.

I got to go home the next morning. I felt fine until the vicodin they gave me at the hospital wore off. Gabe went out to fill the prescription and they wouldn't do so - genius doctor forgot to put my name on the prescription. Call the doctor - NO HELP, of course. Call the pharmacy, the snotty little brat says to me, "Um ya, if you're really in this much pain, maybe you should try 9-1-1, instead of bothering us." We went back to the hospital and finally got me some happy pills.

Right now, the pain is less intense, but it's still there. And there's been an added problem - because of how I've been laying, sitting, and walking to nurse the pain in my front, I've caused a lot of back pain. I can sit up at a computer for a little bit at a time.

Janica took me to the doctor today, where I was informed by a smelly man in a Hawaiian shirt that I can't return to work until June 8th, being that the soonest they allow people to return to work is two weeks after the surgery. This is a problem. Even if I hadn't used any sick time prior to this, taking two weeks off of work would exhaust my allotment (10 days). I'm hoping that I can acquire permission to work at home on some assignments, so I'm still able to earn - plus, I'm BORED. I'm bored and lonely and all I want to do is go outside and play. I'm stuck inside with Flaggy though, yelling at me to fill her bowl.

If you would like to know more about Appendicitis and how it could affect you, continue below (information and picture from WebMd):

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.

Sometimes a pus-filled abscess (infection that is walled off from the rest of the body) forms outside the inflamed appendix. Scar tissue then "walls off" the appendix from the rest of the abdomen, preventing infection from spreading. An abscessed appendix is a less urgent situation, but unfortunately, it can't be identified without surgery. For this reason, all cases of appendicitis are treated as emergencies, requiring surgery.