A Day in a Year in a Life / Day 314

10/November/2015, Day 314.  Tuesday.

Happy Anniversary Sweetie and Grump!

This is turning out to be a very weird week indeed!

Old Grump came home from work at noon yesterday, feeling ill.  He took a nap, got up briefly around 6:00 pm and picked at his dinner, then went back to bed, sleeping soundly until this morning.

He awoke still feeling cruddy, with the same irritating sharp pain in his lower abdomen that he felt Monday morning.  Mind you, this wasn't excruciating, roll-up-in-a-fetal-position-and-lay-crying-on-the-floor pain, just mildly disturbing.  No big deal, right?  However, since he decided not to go to work, he figured he may as well go see a doctor to make sure nothing more serious was going on.

At our local walk-in clinic, we can make online reservations so you don't have to sit in the waiting room for an hour or so.  So Grump went online, filled in the reservations form, and for the description of the problem he was having typed in, "pain in lower right abdomen".  Immediately a screen came back informing him to call 911, and go to the emergency room RIGHT NOW.  It also informed him that he would be barred from using the online reservations screen for 24 hours.

Well poop!  Waiting at the walk-in clinic is an absolute cake walk compared to the excruciating waits at the emergency room.  But Grump and Sweetie decided it was the proper thing to do, so after Sweetie dropped Kuya off at school she came home for the Old Grump, leaving Dodong with Lola.

Is This Man (Physically) Sick?

When they first got to the emergency room, (after an excruciatingly long wait, of course), the first set of tests run on Grump were only slightly off kilter, but the second test showed definite signs of excessive inflammation in his abdomen.  Uh-oh.  A CT scan was ordered, and sure enough, Grump's appendix had gone bad.

Phooey!  Now he had to have it removed!

Appendicitis is nothing to fool around with, so the procedure was scheduled for that day.  Grump was put on a hospital bed and prepped, and the next round of excruciating waiting began.

Grump Waiting to be Cut

They had not wheeled Grump off to the operating room before Sweetie had to leave to fetch Kuya from school, so off she went.  As it turns out, Kuya had a dental appointment, so he had some adventures of his own, his first set of dental x-rays, to be specific.

Kuya Being Primed for Dental X-rays

Poor Kuya!

Sweetie was able to pickup Kuya, take him to his dental appointment, bring him back home after it was over, and drive back to the hospital and STILL arrive in plenty of time before Grump's operation.  (Did I already tell you that emergency rooms have excruciatingly long waits?)  She was met there by Mama Sue, who earlier had arrived to keep Grump company while Sweetie was away tending to Kuya, and whose presence was a HUGE morale booster.  (Those who know Mama Sue don't need for me to say this!)

Eventually Grump did have his operation, and it was a success, although what should have been a simple 15 minute deal, (pull out the misbehaving appendix), turned into a 45 minute not-so-simple ordeal, because the stupid appendix had already begun to spew puss into Grump's abdomen, which of course had to be cleaned up.  (And we wonder why emergency room wait times are so long?  Emergencies can't be held accountable to a timetable!)  But the good doc finally finished removing and cleaning up what needed removed and cleaned up, Grump was stitched back together, and still under heave sedation he was wheeled into a recovery room, where everyone had fun asking him silly questions as he attempted to get his brain functioning again.

A Heavily Sedated Grump, Trying to Remember What Planet He Lives On

Grump was wheeled back into a waiting room, and settled in for a long night, as he was to spend the night, "under observation" there.  He wasn't at all tired, as he had spent lots of time sleeping since Monday morning, which is a good thing, as every two hours or so all through the night someone, (nurse, nurse tech, orderly, God-only-knows-who-else), would knock, enter the room, and flip on the lights.  The unfortunate news is that Sweetie, who WAS tired, (very tired), spent the night with him attempting to sleep in a big soft chair, and so she did not get much sleep at all.

A bright light in all this darkness was that our friend Auntie C., who works at the hospital, stopped by in the evening to check on Grump, and then went down with Sweetie to the cafeteria to buy each of them a hamburger and milkshake.  Grump hadn't eaten much since Sunday night, (he didn't eat much Monday, and only had half a bowl of oatmeal today), so he really appreciated the food, as did Sweetie!

Show Me the Way to go Home!

 What a lovely way to celebrate an anniversary, huh?