A look back~

A little over a year ago, my Kimmie was hospitalized for appendicitis. About 3 weeks ago, for a class assignment, she was asked to write about an event that changed her life/wouldn't be forgotten. To my surprise, she chose to write about her experience. What follows is her essay about the whole experience - from her viewpoint. Enjoy!
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"My Appendectomy"

Something as simple as a stomachache turned into a painful experience for me. It was springtime, and I thought my stomach hurt because my sinuses were draining. When I went to school Monday, the pain gradually got worse, and during seventh hour I could barely walk upright or do any class work. That night, at 10:30 P.M., I woke up in so much pain that it made me scream, which woke up my mother.

My mother rushed me to the Emergency Room at Willis-Knighton South. We checked in and waited for what seemed like an eternity. Mercifully, at 1:30 Tuesday morning, the staff finally took me back to a room and examined me. A few hours later, the doctor had two thoughts: I either had appendicitis or was having bad cramps. They made me drink a very nasty liquid before they could do a CT scan. Finally, at 4:30 A.M., I had a CT scan. By 6:30 A.M. I was in a private room. Soon afterward I began running a high fever, and the E.R. doctor called a surgeon to perform an appendectomy on me. At 10:30 A.M. Dr. Byrd, a surgeon, came to meet me and explained how he was going to remove my appendix. I don't remember much about the operation because of the medication the nurse had given me. After surgery, my mother told me that when the surgeon began operating, he discovered that my appendix had ruptured. This made the operation complicated, and they then had to flush out and put a drain into my abdomen.

When I woke up in my room at 3:00 P.M., I was feeling better, but didn't know why I a drain coming out of my abdomen. Due to the drain, I had to stay in the hospital until Friday when the drain was removed. I was happy when the nurse took it out, but it was not a pleasant feeling. As a matter of fact, it was very painful (worse than my appendix rupturing). I'll never forget my appendectomy because I will always have three tiny scars to remind me of this dreadful experience!