Over the years I have heard sneers at philosophers who gaze at their navels in an ivory tower. Why an ivory tower? Maybe the lighting is better. I don’t know about you, but my belly button is a cute little “innie” and it would be hard to look at it properly without proper lighting.
But my contemplation of the navel is more mocking than philosophical. I recently had a laparoscopic appendectomy. My abdomen has a couple of small bandages on it: left side, right side, and a small cut above my belly button so the surgeon can poke around, find, and remove my inflamed appendix.
I didn’t see this coming.
I felt a bit tired and nauseous over the weekend. When I ate pizza on Saturday night (a treat from my usual healthy diet) it felt like a lump of lead in my stomach. I blamed it on overeating and my age. On Sunday I felt lethargic. On Monday, when I had chills, muscle aches, and a fever that hit 101.5, I thought I had the flu. I took it easy, drank water and took ibprofen for the pain. Since I am a reasonably healthy woman and do not have any medical problems, I do not have a general practitioner.
I have a couple of good friends who are doctors, one is Carol, an OB/GYN, and the other is Andrea, a naturopath. When I have medical questions I talk to them. On Tuesday my fever was down to 100, muscle aches were gone and I had a bit of energy. My appetite wasn’t great, but I managed to eat yogurt, some fruit, and some soup, so I knew I wasn’t in danger of consuming myself.
My two doctor friends said that I should stop procrastinating and find a regular doctor who could treat me. Doctors should not treat friends and members of their own family. He knew his advice was sound. I promised to find a family document from the list provided by my health care provider. However, when you’re sick, it’s hard to get an appointment for a new patient, so it’s best to have a doctor on board. Also, when you are sick or in pain, it is difficult to understand a health provider’s website.
I learned this the hard way.
Tuesday night I still wasn’t feeling well, but at least I didn’t have a fever anymore. I called the nursing hotline. I had completely different symptoms than the day before. The nurse asked questions and listened to my answers. I thought she would tell me to take two aspirin and call in the morning. Instead, she said that I should see a doctor. I told him I didn’t have one. She said that she would go to the ER or ER the next morning. Ever the optimist, I asked her if she should still go even if she felt better, and she said that she absolutely should. I was already tired, so I thought I’d go to bed, go back to the health provider’s website in the morning, and find out which urgent care center would accept my insurance.
Which brings me to my second piece of advice; know which hospital and/or urgent care accepts your insurance BEFORE you need it.
Around 4am Wednesday morning I had abdominal pain in a band-like region on the front of my stomach. I went to take an ibuprofen, but I read the label and it said it could cause stomach bleeding. No ibuprofen for me. I tried browsing my health care provider’s website and finding an urgent care that would accept my insurance. I couldn’t figure it out, nor could I find a customer service number to get help. Again, this information may seem easy to navigate under normal circumstances, but I was alone, in pain, and frankly, scared. I contacted my OB/GYN friend Carol (who was out of town) and she told me to call the nurse help line again and ask where she should go. I knew the nurse wouldn’t have this information, but I asked her, she put me on hold, called customer service, and found a location near me. A great example of nurses going the extra mile!
I kept thinking that my problem would be solved with antibiotics, but I went to the ER. I didn’t call first. I got there at 7:15 am They don’t open until 8. This brings me to my third thought. Not all urgent care centers are available 24 hours. Again, these things pay to know ahead of time.
I waited in the parking lot for 45 minutes, but once I got in, everything went pretty quickly. The doctor poked around my abdomen and it was tender. In my infinite wisdom (hrmph) I had searched about appendicitis on the internet and since my pain did not reach the navel and I did not have the classic symptoms, I ruled it out. The doctor wasn’t as dismissive about the possibility of a misbehaving appendix. And even if it was, SOMETHING wasn’t right and my pain had lasted long enough. He ordered a stat-CT scan. I didn’t even have time to pee all the dye they gave me to drink when they told me to go down to the ER. It was my appendix.
I let Carol and Andrea know that I was on my way to the ER. Carol tried to convince me to have someone drive me. But she had already driven to the urgent care and CT scan center, so I was sure I could drive myself. I got lucky on this one. I did it well. But in retrospect, that wasn’t a smart choice. Don’t do like me. I was lucky. You may not be. Even if no one is available to take you, call an ambulance or even a taxi. Don’t drive yourself.
Once in the ER, things went fast. I had planned to call my sister, Tina, and my daughter, Alicia, later. I didn’t want to worry them. I thought I would have plenty of time to call. Wrong again. But luckily for me, Carol called my sister and daughter and they were both with me while she did my pre-op tests etc. Having my family there meant more than I thought. In addition to moral support, Tina had a better handle on our family medical history and she is very good at remembering details. Alicia is always calm in a crisis and she was there for practical matters like taking care of the bunnies and letting my friends know what happened.
Once I had painkillers on board I felt pretty good. With Tina and Alicia as the audience, I managed to crack some jokes and tell them some stories. I don’t know if I would have been as brave if I had faced all of this alone. Even with the drugs, I would have spent less time exposing the staff to my unfiltered drug-induced sense of humor and more time caring. So another idea, don’t go into surgery without telling someone. If nothing else, it’s reassuring to know someone is waiting for him when he wakes up from the operating table.
The 45 minute surgery was a success and I am recovering very well. My good friend, Lauren, took me home and made sure she had what she needed (soup, ginger ale, etc., recipes, etc.). I go back to work on Wednesday. I’m not sure why I got appendicitis. I think it is a mystery for most documents. But that does not mean that I have not learned some things that I would like to pass on to you:
• Know which hospitals, doctors, pharmacies and urgent care centers accept your insurance BEFORE you need to use it.
• Find out about urgent care hours. Not all are 24 hours.
• Do not try to diagnose your own symptoms through webMD, especially if it is something that could be fatal, like a ruptured appendix.
• Do not drive yourself to the hospital.
• Let your friends and/or family know if you are not feeling well so they can monitor you.
• Never assume your problem is minor. Flu-like symptoms often mask more serious conditions.
Looking back, I would like to say how grateful I am to the doctors, nurses, and support staff who treated me. They were the best! I would also like to thank my family, friends, and co-workers. They beat me like champions.
While I have to admit that I’ve been contemplating my belly button more than usual in recent days, this unexpected event has made me contemplate a few other things as well. Do not wait for an emergency to react, be prepared in advance. It will save you time, money, stress, and maybe even your life.