Our Experience with Appendix Rupture: What You Should Know

One Thursday afternoon, my husband pulled in the driveway early from work. He said that he was sick and that they sent him home. I didn't think anything of it, because our children had been vomiting that week themselves, so I just assumed he had contracted the flu from our kids. He went straight to bed and got up occasionally to vomit. The one thing I found strange, he was spending a long time in the bathroom. Once, I even went in to check and make sure he was okay. I am one that thinks that men tend to overreact when they are sick, heck, my husband has a foot in the grave when he has a cold!

He spend the night up and down in the bathroom vomiting, but the next day, while he still felt a little sore in the belly, he felt much better. He ate a piece of toast and was able to keep it down. He even watched the kids for me while I ran an errand. That night, he decided he wanted some soup, so we made him some noodle soup and he ate a little. I took his temp and it was normal. A few minutes later, he came into the bedroom and put his head on the bed. I thought, "Oh jeez, he has to make me see him sick and needs pity."

Less than ten minutes after that, he collapsed on the floor in pain. He was hollering for help and that he needed a doctor. He ended up banging his head on the wall in pain. At that point, I knew it was serious. I called 911 and called my parents to come sit with the kids. Thank God they were in bed sleeping. They took us to the ER and he vomited up the soup. His temps were fine, blood work showed normal white blood cell counts, x-ray showed like he had gas very bad in his small intestine, then he had a CT scan (which is supposed to show a rupture or appendicitis), and that only turned up again with swollen small intestine. They couldn't figure it out, so they admitted him and had a surgeon look at the CT scan. The surgeon saw the same thing as the ER doctors and told us that they would give him 24 hours, and if the pain didn't ease up, then they would go in with a scope and check out what was going on. About 30 minutes later, the surgeon came back and said that he'd be back that afternoon and they would do the scope then, just in case it was the appendix.

After about an hour in surgery, they found that his appendix had, in fact, ruptured and his belly was full of pus. Luckily, the doctor was able to take care of it with laser surgery, not cutting him open, and said he got him all cleaned out good. He would have to stay in the hospital several days on antibiotics to prevent infection.

We went home almost a week after he had gone to the ER, and I found it odd that they didn't send him home on any antibiotics, but they said he didn't need them. Well, a week later, we were back in the ER and he was in even more pain than when he had ruptured. This time, he was literally screaming in pain.

Our ER experience mirrored that of our last visit. They took him for x-rays, CT scan, blood work, etc. Everything came back the same as the last time, so they just decided to treat it as an infection, and that did the trick. He spent a couple of days in the hospital, and this time, they sent him home on antibiotics.

Even though my husband's experience was not typical, you should be very careful and watchful for warning signs of appendicitis and rupture, because you can die from it! Here are the "typical" warning signs and symptoms of appendicitis and appendix rupture.

First of all, the appendix is a little finger-like pouch at the end of your large intestine on the lower, right side of your body. Appendicitis is when your appendix becomes inflamed and full of pus.

-First signs of appendicitis are pain around your belly button or lower abdomen. As it progresses, the pain goes to the right lower abdomen and becomes more severe over a period of 10-12 hours. The treatment is the surgical removal of the appendix.

Signs other than pain:
-Nausea and vomiting
-Low appetite
-Constipation or diarrhea
-Inability to pass gas
-Swollen belly
-Low fever
-Elevated white blood cell count

Please make sure to consult a physician if you suspect any problem! Better safe than sorry, as I say! Even though it may not be an appendix problem, it could be something else! Don't take pain lightly. Pain is there to tell us something is wrong!