Then and Now, Part 2.

I almost wish I hadn't used the title "Then and Now" for my last post because it would be awfully fitting for this one...

Then: Thursday AM: I'm sitting at my dining room table getting some homework done and bomping along to the Newsies soundtrack on Grooveshark (don't judge.)

Now: Friday AM: I have 3 bandages on my stomach, no appendix, and some narcotics in hand.

Things can change pretty fast, eh?

It all started Wednesday morning. I woke up with some intense stomach cramping that I wrote off as normal period cramps (sorry, males). I took some Advil and thought I was okay until the pain came back with a vengeance in the evening. After one very restless night of tossing and turning, I woke up on Thursday morning still feeling a lot of pain in my stomach. I talked to my mom on the phone for a bit and decided I would just wait for it to pass and not take any action. But a couple hours later, my gut reaction (har har) told me I should go to the hospital just in case it was something more serious.

I drove myself (probably not the best idea, but no one else was home) to the hospital and it was quickly determined that it was indeed something more serious than your run-of-the-mill stomach pain. I called one of my friends and he was kind enough to come sit with me for a long time while everything was being figured out.

Fast-forward several hours... after a CT scan and some bloodwork, I was informed that my appendix needed to be removed. In an hour.

Needless to say, I was scared. I was about to have impromptu surgery and my parents were many states away in Massachusetts. Thankfully, I have some wonderful friends who filled in for my family. Two more friends came down to the hospital and all three of them stayed there until I came out of surgery. They held my hands during pre-op and helped calm me down during post-op, because apparently I had a panic attack when the surgeon took me off the anesthesia. The details of it all are hazy in my mind, but I do remember a lot of yelling, crying, and hyperventilating. Not sure exactly why that happened, but I am so, so thankful that my friends were there for me throughout the whole thing. Going through it alone would have been a serious challenge that not even my self-professed independent self could have handled.

Now I'm home, getting a sneak peak of what my life might be like in 70 years. That is to say, moving very, very, very slowly, taking 5 minutes to get out of bed, and ingesting lots of drugs. But the most important thing is that I'm safe and healthy. I'm in good hands with friends and family and everything is going to be okay.

Lastly, thank you SO much to everyone who send me an encouraging or concerned tweet/message in the last 24 hours! It really meant the world to me.

**Edited to add this little PSA**

If you have weird stomach pains, DO NOT hesitate to go to the emergency room! Even if you think they don't fit the standard symptoms for appendicitis, get them checked out just in case. My stomach pains felt like period cramps and were not localized over my appendix- it was my entire lower abdomen. The only reason I was suspicious that they weren't your average cramps is because 1. it wasn't around that time of the month and 2. they weren't lessened by taking a lot of Advil.

Removing an infected appendix is one thing, but having an infected appendix rupture inside of you is a much more messy and dangerous ballgame. You do not want to have to deal with that. Listen to your body!