Appendicitis and D&E

*This post is for mature audiences only. Reader discretion is advised*

About 7 days postpartum, something happened.

I was still feeling a bit weird in my belly area and was still in pain. I was talking a vicodin and ibuprofen but I was almost out and called in to get a refill and the nurse (quite rudely) explained there was almost no way Dr. Krauss (my OB) would prescribe anymore. I told her I was still in pain but she seemed to not care.

That Monday night I decided that I should not take any pain medicine when I went to sleep. I woke up at 3am in pain. Like real pain in my lower right abdomen. I took my last vicodin and then went back to sleep. Marius woke up at 5am to nurse and the pain was worse, I almost couldn't walk. I took 4 more ibuprofen and tried to sleep. I was almost in tears as I lay there in bed with Jordan holding me. 

The next morning I woke up and it was supposed to be Jordan's first day back at work. It was closing week for the previous fiscal year which means a very big, busy and important work week. As he got dressed for work, I called my OB to talk to a nurse about my pain. The nurse who called me back and after a brief discussion, she concluded that I was 'starting my period' at seven days postpartum. And that the pain/increased bleeding was from that. She advised ibuprofen, rest and to call back tomorrow morning. I hung up, in tears. Jordan wouldn't accept that answer and told me to call back the OB and get an appointment asap.

A lady from church, Connie Adams, was to come over and help me that morning around 9am so Jordan could go to work and I could have a helper. Well, it ended up with Jordan staying with the kids while Connie drove me to an OB appointment around 11am. After seeing Dr. Krauss, she said it could be 1 of 3 things: uterine infection, partial placenta retention or appendicitis. She almost put me on 2 antibiotics and sent me home. Almost. But she left the room and came back, took my temperature (low grade fever) and said, 'I'm sorry but I really think you should go to the hospital to get tests done. I would hate for you to spend all day there for nothing, but I have a feeling you need more than antibiotics.' 

Connie drops me off at the Cape Coral Hospital (where I had just delivered Marius a week prior!) and I cry as I walk to the elevator and to the maternity floor. I waited for labor and delivery triage to call me back. I kept holding my side and just praying I could get called soon. 

A nurse called me back and admitted me. I was to get an MRI and an ultrasound to see what was going on. She took blood, brought a pump for me and pain medicine. Tears streamed down my face the whole time as I thought about my newborn baby at home who needed me. Not to mention my husband who needed to go to work! 

As I sat in triage, feeling lonely, a few calls came from my friends from Ohio. And then, as if she knew I needed her, Connie came in and said she would stay with me the whole time. And she did. She stayed with me almost the entire day, that day. Bless her soul. Connie kept me company, chatted with me, arranged help for our family and advocated for me as a patient, when needed. A true God send. 

The ultrasound showed a potential placenta retention and large blood cots. I then went in for my MRI and awaited the results. My OB calls me (from home, I could hear her kids in the background. I love her!). She tells me I need to have a D&E (dilation and evacuation) in the morning to remove whatever is in my uterus causing an infection. We hang up and I call Jordan to tell him. Right as I get off the phone with him, my OB calls me again and says 'You won't believe this but, you have appendicitis, too. You will need to have surgery immediately but I still need to check with the surgeon.' The nurse comes in, gets me prepped for surgery but then the OB calls back and says that I should be on IV antibiotics for 24 hours before the surgery. 

At that point, I had not had any food for 10 hours. I was in incredible pain in between shots of dilaudid. Jordan came that night to the hospital to see me. I wished so bad that he could stay with me. I would have to stay the night that night and the following night. Which made my stay for my appendix/D&E longer than I stayed for the birth of Marius! We skyped with the Eve's and I ate an entire foot long sub. Yuuuum. 

I tried to settle in for sleep, making sure to set my cell phone alarm for every 4 hours so I could pump and then dump it all down the freaking drain. I couldn't keep it because of the meds they gave me. Womp womp. I could be dosed every three hours with a shot of meds for the pain. Around midnight, I start to feel the pain come back. I call for a nurse for pain meds. I wait for 30 minutes. I call again. I wait 15 minutes. I am starting to cry because the pain is becoming so intense. I call again and through my tears I tell them I need medicine. I text Jordan around 1am that I am really struggling. I call one more time and they tell me a nurse will be in soon. Once nurse Laura came in, I had a mound of tissues, eyes so swollen I could barely open them and I was doubled over in pain.  That night, they had 4 night nurses on duty. They had 4 deliveries all at the same time. There was no one to even come give me medicine! She apologized, over and over and began to comfort me. Meds, check. Clean up my tissue mountain, check. Talk me through the pain until the meds kicked in, check. She stayed with me and talked to me until I calmed down. Bless her soul.

The next day I went in for surgery at noon and came out an hour and a half later, free of my massively infected appendix and blood cots and such from my uterus. They made three incisions. The largest one, where the take the appendix out, had to be cut longer because the size of the infected appendix. Wowza. My throat was mad sore and so dry. My body was pumped full of air due to the laproscopic surgery, which was annoying. And I was coughing a lot. Coughing + recent surgery right near my diaphragm = pain. 

I finally was put on a pain med doser that I could click a button to dispense small amounts, more frequently. My pain was then very well managed and the appendix was out and it felt amazing. During this time, we had ladies from church come and help with the kids so Jordan could come be with me at times during my three day stay at the hospital.

The day after surgery, I got to go home. My Dad and Teresa rescheduled their flight so they could come in late that night. 

When I got home, I still could barely walk. I had to pump because I couldn't have Marius resting on my belly. Whew... that was a time. I am so thankful for all those who helped us. It was a God send!