Surviving a burst appendix for two weeks

• September 05, 2017
• By Paul Newton

I’d put it down to the almonds. The almonds were the only food I’d eaten that the rest of my family hadn’t, so when the doctor explained I had a case of gastroenteritis it seemed obvious what had caused it.

It had been severe. Along with the classic ‘food poisoning’ symptoms, the pain in my abdomen was excruciating for 48 hours. I could not get comfortable in any position, and so could not sleep. I was moaning and groaning around the house.

But then after a few days the symptoms quickly subsided, just in time for my doctors appointment. He prodded my tummy and I had no pain, so put it down to a ‘stomach bug’.

However, based on what I now know, it is more likely that this was a sudden case of appendicitis, with my appendix eventually rupturing after 48 hours and releasing the pressure and pain, but also harmful toxins.

The following week the dull cramping pain in my abdomen slowly returned, with a sharp stitch like pain in the right hand side. But I carried on as normal thinking it was a hangover from the previous week. At the end of the week I went to the doctors again, and without being given a physical examination I was told I had a water infection (!?) and given a short course of antibiotics.

A few days later I had a day out with my son. We went to the cinema, had lunch and climbed trees at Trentham Gardens. It seemed like I was getting better again.

But the next day the stitch and cramping had got a lot worse, plus a fast heart rate and fever meant that I decided to go to A&E. The doctor sent me for an ultrasound which showed an “inflamed appendix”, which was confirmed with a blood test. So my appendicitis had finally been diagnosed, 13 days from the outset. I was booked in for surgery for it to be removed that night. However, due to other emergencies they had to postpone my surgery until the following day. Or so I thought.

In the morning, 24 hours after my last proper meal, I was feeling dizzy so they tested my blood sugar, which was low, so they gave me some glucose gel. My surgeon popped by at 11am, and asked me (rhetorically) “Are we still waiting then?”. He explained that there had been emergencies (I had heard the air ambulance fly in a number of times) but definitely today.

After a long day, by 5pm I was feeling dizzy and tingly in my fingers again; this time my blood sugar was 3.1 mmol/L (which Dr Google says is very low). I was beginning to suffer from the lack of food — I’m a slim build and have literally no reserves! Two more tubes of glucose gel followed at 9:30pm, and a water and glucose drip.

With the purest of sugars being pumped into my veins, I was now on a sugar high and wide awake on literally the most uncomfortable bed in the world. It was an ‘intelligent’ air bed, which inflates and deflates to match your body contours and prevent bed sores. However, what it actually did was inflate to maximum, then slowly deflate until I was touching the hard base. Then the motor would kick in with a thud and re-inflate to maximum. Over and over. I’d have rather slept on a brick floor, honestly.

After finally getting to sleep at 12:30am, I woke again at 2am so took a walk to the nurses desk and asked again if the operation would be today. I had to be quite insistent that I hadn’t eaten for 48 hours! They called theatre, which was still busy, and it was confirmed mine would be moved to tomorrow. So in the early hours I ate the finest microwaved turkey with all the trimmings I’ve ever tasted. My new fast began at 3am.

The day of my operation was Thursday 10th August 2017. The surgeon popped by quite early on and again apologised; I could tell he was as frustrated as I was. But I was called to theatre at 11:30am and operated on. I spent a long time in recovery (I was told that they couldn’t wake me and had to use drugs to bring me back around. I remember that I’d been dreaming of my son), and then was moved back to the ward.

The general anaesthetic finally wore off at 10pm. When you’re asked to describe your pain on a scale of 1–10, you’d usually try and answer somewhere under 5. That night mine was a solid 8. I was taking liquid paracetamol through an IV, codamol and oral morphine. Yet the pain was so terrible across my abdomen and chest I couldn’t move or sleep (I think it was partly due to trapped wind!). Add to this the screaming elderly lady with dementia in a room opposite – they couldn’t do anything to calm her – and that evening was my worst experience ever.

At 1:30am I again asked for a new bed — fourth time of asking. They hadn’t plugged in my air bed when I’d returned from theatre, so I was now lying on a deflated airbed with no support. I was given a new bed with a nice firm mattress, and painfully transferred into it and had a few hours sleep. The day after the operation my surgeon came around in the morning. He explained that my appendix had indeed already ruptured and in doing so had damaged my intestines. They had removed my appendix, but also had to remove some of my small and large intestines, and reconnect them back together. Thankfully, that was the extent of the damage. My body had done a fairly good job of sealing away my gangrenous (yuck, sorry!) appendix from the rest of my organs.

I was discharged from hospital four days after the operation, almost a stone lighter. Recovery over the following few weeks felt slow and sometimes frustrating, but in reality was fairly uneventful. Without going into too much detail, after your bowels have been taken apart and reattached they take a while to begin working properly again! This was the most worrying part of it all, especially because I had been discharged from hospital with literally no advice on recovery, diet or simple things like when it’s safe to drive. So this drove me to Google for advice. However, when Googling it’s easy to get drawn into reading negative stories from people who’d had similar operations and hadn’t fully recovered. This isn’t good for your mental wellbeing! Thankfully, I did also find good advice around eating a low fibre diet until things settled down, drinking plenty of water and keeping moving as much as you can. I also maintained my gluten and dairy free diet, which might have helped ease my body back to normal.

Whilst Googling I also found a medical study from a reputable source which found that the majority of people who have their ileocecal valve removed (it’s a small valve between your small and large intestines, mine was removed) have few health problems in the long run. Reading this helped improve my outlook on my recovery.

One month on, everything is mostly back to normal. I guess I’ll just need to keep an eye on my B12 levels, as this vitamin is absorbed in the last part of the small intestine.

I’d like to thank the nurses and nursing assistants who worked tirelessly caring for me, the doctors, the surgeons, the porters and cleaners from all nationalities. When the lovely nurse from Poland was caring for me on my worst night, I was thinking about what a huge mistake Brexit is and the real risk we’re facing as a country of losing some of our best NHS staff (she was the best nurse on the ward in my opinion).

The NHS also needs more resources. The delay in my operation was not the fault of the hospital staff, but simply caused by the under resourced system. If we all just paid a little more into the NHS, when something like this happens to you or your family (and it’s guaranteed that, eventually, something will), it would have more buildings, wards, theatres and highly trained and motivated staff.

I wrote most of this blog in my hospital bed, mainly to keep track of events for myself (being the most exciting medical thing that’s ever happened to me) but also on the off chance that someone who is in a similar position might read this blog. Take it slowly, eat and drink sensibly, and after a month you’ll be amazed as to how you feel!

Update: 10th August 2018

Today is the one year anniversary of my emergency surgery — time flies! I’ve been surprised in the last few weeks that views of this blog have really taken off, with most traffic coming from Google searches. In fact, if I Google ‘burst appendix’ this blog is now on the first page of results – so thank you for reading.

If you’ve read this blog and found it interesting or useful, or if you’ve been in a similar situation, get in touch at @pnewton84 on Twitter or email me via this feedback form :-)

Update: Recommended book

A book which helped me with my recovery is ‘The Clever Guts Diet’ by Dr Michael Mosley. It’s well written and not overly technical, and helped me understand how the gut works, and what I could do to keep mine happy!

Here it is on Amazon >> https://amzn.to/33GRnBx

Update: 9th January 2020

I’ve had a lot of feedback via the feedback form over the last year from people who’ve been in a similar situation. Quite a few people had a misdiagnosis and had the operation around two weeks after the initial burst symptoms. Some people were treated with antibiotics before surgery. Some people stayed in hospital for a few days after the operation, but some were in for up to two weeks, and had to have a drain for a couple of weeks after that. And a few people said that they were not given good advice on their diet afterwards.

A few people managed to catch the appendicitis before the appendix burst. One person said my blog convinced them to see a GP, so I am glad to have helped in that way!

Most people are now fully recovered, though still get the odd twinge on the side of the operation.

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