Yesterday, after a week of putting up with fairly severe stomach pain, I decided to take my newly acquired gift of discovering unattractive waiting rooms to another level and head to the Emergency Department of a not so nearby hospital.
Turns out I didn’t have to wait long in the waiting room and after several hours of blood tests (would you believe I didn’t even feel the cannula go in?! I think my fear of needles might finally be over! #silverlining) a CT scan (have you had one before? How weird does it feel when that dye does it thing?!) and some very caring words from the nurses and a coke drinking doctor (which, for some strange reason, made me feel like I was at home), I was given a diagnosis of Epiploic Appendagitis.
For those playing along at home, google tells me that Epiploic Appendagitis is a rare cause of abdominal pain in otherwise healthy patients.
It is caused by twisting of an epiplocic appendage (small sacs attached to the colon…apologies if you’re eating while reading this) or spontaneous venous thrombosis of a drainage appendage vein.
The doctor tells me the pain can last up to 6 weeks, so that’s something to look forward to! Treatment is a course of antibiotics, plenty of rest and a hefty dose of pain killers.
Now in typical Kirsten and co. style, while all of this Epiploic Appendagitis nonsense was going down yesterday, I was waiting patiently for something funny to happen. You know, so I could write a witty blog post about my time in the ED ward.
I tried to crack a few jokes here and there with the nurses, but to be honest, the pain in my left side had beaten me and I wasn’t at my comedic best.
Old mate who wheeled me down to the x-ray department gave me hope when he asked if I’d had a busy day (“Um, not really. I’ve pretty much just been lying here trying not to pass out”) but then he must’ve realised that was probably not the best question to ask and things got a bit awkward so he did my trick of not shutting up for the next 5 minutes and my god that was annoying and made me realise that I really should stop doing that when I’ve said the wrong thing to somebody!
But then, once I was all sorted and sent on my way home, I sent Mum a text message, telling her of my diagnosis, to which she replied, “OMG ARE YOU GETTING YOUR APPENDIX OUT?!”
Um….
And then my brother sent me a text message that went something along the lines of, ‘Just heard you were in the Big H. Hope you’re ok. If there’s anything you need just let me know’
So I messaged him back with, ‘Fairly sure I need $50,000 and a holiday’
His reply to that was LOL, which I’m guessing is code for ‘it’s on its way’
So while the stint in hospital wasn’t exactly funny, the car ride home definitely was!
How’s your weekend going? Been up to anything exciting or funny? Waiting patiently for a wad of cash to arrive at your doorstep any minute now or is that the pain killers talking?!
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