Writing Club - Appendicitis

Appendicitis

Well, I’m sitting here daydreaming about, what was it?
Oh, yes, it all started at 7 a.m in the morning. “Mom, can I get in the bathtub?”

Mom: “Yes, go ahead. I’m surprisd you’re up so early!”

Me: “Oh, well……Mom, Mom, my stomach hurts really, really bad!”

Mom: “Dad, I think we need to go to the hospital.”

Me: “Mom, Mom……IT HURTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Dad: “Okay, I’ll be right there…I’m getting in the shower.”

Mom: “Not in the shower….We have to go now!!!!!!!!”

Me: “Mom, mom, mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Dad: Ok, ok, let me get dressed!!!!!!!


At the hospital….
Doctor: You better give her something for pain. Then we’ll need to take some xrays.

Me: Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! It hurts!!!!

At xray:
Sam, can you stand up?

Me: Yyesssss!! Ouch!!!
Technician: All right, nice and slow, nice and slow…………..*snap* (pictures taken)

Tech: Ok, just wait right out here. (They roll my bed into the hall.)

Back in ER:

(I throw up ….ugh, I feel sick.)

Doctor: Well, Sam, we think you need major surgery and we have to send you down to Children’s Hospital where they will do your surgery. Looks like your appendix needs to come out.

Me: Oh, boy, I get to ride in an ambulance.

Ambulance guy: “Hey, Sam, if you give me ten dollars I’ll turn on the siren.”

Driver: Don’t pay him, Sam, it used to just be 5 dollars.

Me: Ugh

In the ER at Children’s….

Student Nurse: You can wait in this room. Here are some videos, and you can just yell when you need me. Just yell.

Mom: Sam, do you want to watch a movie. Let’s see there’s Lion King, un, Mary Poppins, and Jungle to Jungle.

Me: Mommm! I don’t want to watch a video. Mom it hurts again.

During the next 4-5 hours, numerous doctors come and go and they all do and ask the same questions:

Doctor: Can you point to where it hurts? Poke, poke….does this hurt? How bad does it hurt? On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad does it hurt?

Me: After a shot of morphine. How bad? About a 7

Doctor: Push, push, push…question, question, question………By the way, what do you want to be for Halloween? My daughter’s going to be a witch.

Me: We don’t dress up.

Doctor: Push some more, poke some more, question some more!

6 pm – Finally they move me out of ER

Nurse: Here is your room you will stay in. We need to get you ready for surgery. Let me get your temperature and take your blood pressure.

Nurse: Here’s a remote for the TV and when you need me, just push this red button.

In the surgery room…..

Doctor: What flavor would you like? Cherry, grape, buble gum, or strawberry?

Me: Strawberry.

Doctor: (putting mask on my face!) All right, when I tell you, breathe three times…..One, two, three

Me: Ouch! Take it off! Take it off!

In the recovery room…….

Nurse: Hi, Sam, how does your stomach feel?

Me: Okay

Nurse: Go get her parents

Mom and Dad: Hi, Sam, feel better?

Me: Sleep, sleep, sleep…snore?

Nurse: I think she needs to sleep.

Back in my room…….

Me: Sleep, sleep……..wake up

Nurse: Sorry, Sam, I need to check your IV

Me: Sleep, sleep……wake up

Nurse: Sorry, Sam, I need to take your temperature

Me: Sleep, sleep……wake up

Nurse: Sorry, Sam, I need to check your blood pressure.


Postscript:

1. What is pain??
Have you ever cut your finger? That’s not pain!
Have you ever stubbed your toe? That’s not pain
Have you ever caught your thumb in car door? Sorry! That’s not pain!
Appendicitis – That’s pain!

2. I’m glad about how it happened. Four days before my mom had gotten a thing from the doctor that was for me to go have blood drawn to see if it showed why my stomach was always hurting. I was very afraid, but when I woke up with “this pain”, I had to do whatever they wanted – I couldn’t fight it.

3. At the time there was nothing good about appendicitis. Now, I don’t think about the bad stuff, but I can remember some good things: Riding in the ambulance, being able to push a buttom and have a nurse come – that was pretty neat. My bed that would go up and down was really cool. And, I got lots of attention! Even Mrs. Richman came to see me!!!!