One thing I love about that hospital is that they have folding beds for the guardian. I do not know how it is in other hospitals during this pandemic but in the hospital that I have been to, we found out that COVID patients are on a different building so it was a little safer for us. I think majority of us thinks that it is dangerous to go to the hospital during these tough times. Yes it is very difficult and dangerous to be admitted but for sure hospitals would not designate COVID patients with non-COVID patients. Then we also found out that the hospital where I was confined did not have any non-COVID patients weeks before my admission as they were full of COVID patients. They just started accepting non-COVID patients when most of their COVID patients have recovered. Most check ups nowadays are done online. Do not be afraid to consult a doctor with whatever you are feeling. He/she would tell you where to go if you need to be admitted. I just remembered the news about the granddaughter of the shopping mall tycoon here in the Philippines who died due to a ruptured appendix at a young age because she was afraid to go to the hospital because of the virus. She just took pain relievers and little did she know that her condition was very serious and severe.
Ok back to my hospitalization. When we got to the room, our helper slept right away but I still find it hard to sleep because of the pain. I do not know which position to make so as not to feel the pain. I slept in a sitting position with my hand pushing my lower right quadrant. After a couple of hours, my surgeon made his rounds, introduced himself and told me that we are scheduled for operation at 2PM. I was so shocked because I still did not had my ultrasound and other tests to show that it was really my appendix which was the problem. I thought that it will be like during my first operation that my first day in the hospital will be some tests and operation is on the second day but it wasn't.
Before lunch time I already had my ultrasound. I was only able to see my mom coincidentally at the lobby when I was being brought back to the room after my ultrasound. I did not know that my mom was already there. We needed to add another payment before the surgery. She can't visit me in my room because senior citizens are not allowed and even if she is not a senior citizen, she needs to have her COVID tests done before she can go to my room. Hassle right? My friends also wanted to visit me but I told them they needed to take the tests which ranges from Php1500 up to Php8000 (around $30-170) so they backed out. My mom was about to cry when we saw each other. She couldn't be there for me before and after my surgery. I really hate this virus.
I haven't eaten anything for the last 24 hours since I did not have an appetite when I was still at home. I cannot eat because I was scheduled for operation. And I know I still can't eat after my operation. Yes I am on IV but I can still feel my hunger especially when I saw our helper eating my mom's cooking.
The time has come for me to be brought to the operating room. It was very different from the hospital I have been to. It wasn't that cold probably because the hospital was undergoing a construction. A few minutes in the operating room, my surgeon came and I told him if he can make a bikini cut yet he told me that he would be cutting in the middle because they saw something on my on my left side based on the ultrasound results. He said that cutting in the middle will let him check the left side at the same time he will be able to remove my appendix. He asked me who I was with so they can inform him/her about what they are going to do with me. I told him that I was with our helper and he asked where my parents are. I told him that they are at home because they are already senior citizens. So he said that they need not to inform my parents since I will be the one to decide with the operation. I was scared that moment because of what they saw on the ultrasound and the fact that the cut was going to be in the middle. As much as I wanted to have a laparascopic procedure, I cannot because it is very expensive.
Again the first step was to give me anaesthesia. I only met my anaesthesiologist at the operating room. Unlike during my first surgery where I met the doctors day before my operation. But I was able to ask my surgeon a day before if it was a general anaesthesia where I am asleep but he said that it was only regional. When my mom was hospitalized she had regional since it was only her foot that was going to be operated. During my gallbladder removal, it was general so that is what I was expecting with appendectomy. He injected me in my spine which I thought of like an epidural for women who would give birth. I was so nervous when they asked me to turn sideways and to curl like a shrimp. I was thinking about how painful epidural anaesthesia is and how big the needle is as per my friends' stories. Well I think it was different with the spinal as I did not feel the injection.
Few seconds after, I have already felt the numbness in my legs. My surgeon was doing something on my lower half and asked me if I felt something. I said I could not feel anything. He told me to lift my foot but it was so heavy. I was already imagining things on what they were doing to my lower half that time because I could not see it because there was a green cloth above my chests that blocks my view. Naughty mind. LOL.
Then I know that they have started and a felt weird. I felt my world was spinning. You know the spinning wheel where there is a human in the middle and someone would throw a knife? I was picturing that I was like that during that time. My anaesthesiologist asked me if I was ok and I said that I felt a little dizzy and nauseous. He said he would inject something to calm me but after that I woke up in the recovery room already.
As much as I wanted to share the photo that my surgeon toom during the operation, I can't. You might be grossed out by it or you might feel weak after seeing it. I kept on looking at it as I find the colors, the medical instruments and my big cut very amusing. Picture was so crisp but I can also see my fats just like with the meat of the big. LOL. Those are subcutaneous fats. I just learned about it few years back when my parents and I had our diet program. The most damgerous are the visceral fats which are fats that surrounds our organs. Again I will continue My scars story on my next article.
