Appendectomy

I had a sore stomach on Monday afternoon while going out on my first canoe trip of the season down the Indian River. A beautiful day for a canoe trip: not many bugs, warm but not hot, with water levels high enough. The sore stomach I attributed at first to a lack of food. I got home and had a copule of burgers but still didn't feel well. Perhaps I was coming down with the flu.

I was up every hour on Sunday night because of my sore stomach, a pain in a horizontal band across my mid-section. Still no diarrhea or vomitting. I woke up on Monday and the pain was more localized to the lower right side. I searched for "abdominal pain" on Google and went to the first site on the list. Appendicitis was a possibility but I still thought it might be a flu bug.

I had called a meeting for 6:30 at the church that evening and I thought I'd better show up so I went. At 7:30 it was finished so I went directly to the Emergency department of the local hospital. I got in checked in by 7:37 PM. I managed to catch an episode of Corner Gas on TV before being called in. Into a classic hospital gown, a quick assessment, a urine sample, a blood test, a visit from the doctor, then from the surgeon.

"Looks like you have appendicitis," he said, novel in hand, obviously on call. And off the races I went. A quick call to my wife to pick up the car and let her know what was happening. By 10:15 PM I was being wheeled up to the operating room. The hospital orderly told me the anaesthesioligist would be along shortly and disappeaered. The anaesthesiologist showed.

"That was quick," I said.

"Well, we were all waiting for you," he said as he wheeled me into the operating room. The operating team was all there. They had been on call and I had put a damper on their evening.

After getting me settled in, I was given the anaesthetic and within 20 seconds I was out. Forty-five minutes later I woke up and it was all finished.

I was brought down to a room that I shared with two other men - one was an older man with diabetes. His circulation was so bad that he had to have his toes amputated. The next morning when I woke up the doctor came to speak to him and told him that he would have to his left foot amputated below the knee. I felt queasy at the thought and was thankful that I only had to deal with an appendectomy.

My surgeon came by and told me that my appendix had been ripe and ready for the picking. I spent the resto f the morning at the hospital and part of the afternoon. Less than 24 hours after entering the hospital I was out and home. My experience with the Canadian medical system was satisfactory and fast. Are there really problems with the system? Possibly, but I didn't experience them.

And now I am sore and tired but not much more. A few days at home, watching movies and reading books should do the trick.