- Comparative religion (3)
- Culture & society (75)
- History (28)
- Notable Quotes (18)
- Personal story (13)
- Politics (32)
- Science and faith (114)
- Uncategorized (44)
- January 24, 2012: Evolution in Excel
- January 11, 2012: Steno's Applied Science
- January 9, 2012: "Love" in the Bible and Qur'an
- November 6, 2011: The Problem with My Spouse
- October 23, 2011: Mind Brain Controversy
- August 26, 2011: How Old Is The Earth?
- July 31, 2011: The Problem with Embracing All Religions
- July 8, 2011: Why do you call God your father?
- June 1, 2011: About Being Basically Good
- May 1, 2011: Lizards and the Law
Blogroll
Chat
- January 2012
- November 2011
- October 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
Ruptured Appendix
I know it’s not good to go more than a week without posting to a blog, but I have a pretty good excuse. Wednesday night was a rough one, and Thursday morning the abdominal pains were so bad I asked my wife to drive me to the ER. X-rays revealed nothing, so why had my intestines shut down? It was Monday afternoon before exploratory optical surgery revealed a major abscess and a ruptured appendix. Yes, I could well have died, as many have told me, but that’s not the most amazing part. Apparently, when the appendix ruptured and began to abscess, parts of my intestines moved over to block off the infection from the rest of my body. Then a fiber began to form that knitted the intestines into the new position, so nothing could seep past. This reduced my pain (confusing the doctors), and prevented the infection from quickly spreading throughout my abdominal cavity, which likely would have been fatal.
Now for the truly amazing part: What my body did was above and beyond the standard call of duty. That the body would wall off infection is not unknown to doctors, but think about the context. This is an infection response that cannot be described in terms of chemical processes. Notice that the description above speaks of the event as what the body did in response to a need. That’s the only way to make sense of what happened. That can only be done from a Design position. There is nothing in evolutionary theory that can explain response to a need. The best evolutionary theory has to offer in explanation of the immune system is that natural selection would preserve good things; not cause them. And in my case, as with many others, the body’s good response was not needed until past child-bearing years. The whole immune system is a huge enigma to evolutionary theory.
December 12, 2007 at 9:49 pm
your story is amazing … went thru sth similar
I was seeing an acupuncturist for about four weeks to treat a supposed small intestine / ileocecal valve issue (he established that). The ileocecal valve is located right next to the appendix. Tuesday before Thanksgiving 07 I saw him for a treatment and the very next day I suffered from a fever and pain in my abdomen. I initially thought it was a bad case of IBS and called his office to inquire. He suggested to take acidophilus and Vitamin C.
The pain never went away and I called his office again on Monday after Thanksgiving. He suggested I come in. I was in no shape to do this, but drove the 40 miles to his office anyway. He insisted it was a missing enzyme, tested me with biofeedback to establish which enzyme would be best for me and sent me on my way with the remedy. I had explained the location and severity of my pain. He simply shrugged it off. This is a man who has 35 years experience and claims to be the guru of acupuncture – Dr. Sunderlage of Elgin, IL. Yet, he was unable to pick up the usual symptoms of appendicitis. Where does that leave biofeedback and acupuncture? Sometimes we simply need a Doctor!
The pain got more and more excruciating. The next morning, I finally could not take it anymore. In the wee hours, my boyfriend took me to the ER at Chicago’s St. Joseph Hospital. I cried and moaned in agony, I needed assistance walking. I would have done anything for the pain to go away. The Doctor suspected an appendix problem right away. I was given some pain killers and prepped for a CT Scan. In my agony, I had to drink a big bottle of white liquid for them to see my abdomen on the scan. I hurried up drinking the liquid. I wanted to move on and get rid of whatever was bothering me. The pain grew more and more intense.
The CT scan confirmed a ruptured appendix. I was getting nervous but somehow felt relieved that we knew what the issue was. Within an hour I was in surgery. The anesthesist confirmed the surgeon had 25 years of experience and knew what he was doing. I begged the Doctor to put me out right away. I could not lie there much longer. Never in my life had I experienced pain like this.
A couple hours later I woke up in the recovery room. I was freezing and felt weird. After about an hour they put me in my room. Shortly thereafter, the surgeon paid me a visit and told me my appendix case was the worst in ten years. The appendix must have burst a couple days back and it was free-floating in my abdomen. It had also blown a hole into my colon which made stool leak all over my abdomen. A couple hours later and I would have been in ‘septic shock’ and all help would have been too late.
The surgeon just shock his head, wondering why I had waited for so long to come in. I explained the situation to him, mentioned the fact that I thought it was IBS and the acupuncturist story. He could not understand how I handled the pain for so long.
I expected to be out of the hospital within a few days, but the surgeon warned me I’d be there at least four or five days. I ended up staying for five days. Five days with lots of pain and discomfort. For three days I was given morphine for the pain. I suffered from fevers for two days. Fever as high as 103.5. Anti-nausea medicine, Morphine, Anti-biotics were given intravenously and Tylenol by mouth to lower the fever. The Morphine gave me psychedelic dreams and visions. I did not sleep on that stuff. Every time I closed my eyes, I was transported to another planet. It got kind of annoying after a while, but it surely helped the pain. A drain was also left in my abdomen, puss drained out for seven days.
The second day in the hospital, I called the acupuncturist (on Morphine) and informed him about what happened. He acted dumb, but admitted he should have picked up the typical symptamology for appendicitis. In the meantime I have written a letter to him, asking for a refund for his near-deadly treatment.
Only days after the surgery I realized how close I was to death. I am grateful and lucky to be alive. I ended up in a great hospital with wonderful care – thanks to my boyfriend who reacted quickly.
Now, two weeks after the surgery, I am still hobbling around, but getting stronger. Total recovery is six weeks. I can’t lift anything over 10 lbs, can’t work out. I am trying to gain the weight back that I lost in the days after surgery. My appetite is only slowly coming back. It is amazing what kind of grief a little appendix, a remnant from the past, can cause. Remember, sometimes a real Dr. is the only one who can help. Natural medicine is great, but it nearly killed me. If surgery is needed, only Western medicine can help.
If you ever suffer from a pain in the lower, right corner of your abdomen – go to the ER right away!
December 13, 2007 at 10:03 am
Thanks so much for your story, Susanne,
The recovery definitely takes a while. You may be interested in my further post on June 28, ‘07 (http://academicfreedomblog.org/2007/06/28/the-unacceptability-of-insufficiency/), and the comment that “m” contributed there.