Appendix Scare: One Year Later.

Next month, September 25th, marks one year since my life turned upside down.

September 25th was the first day I had signs of what could have only been described as a really bad UTI. Little did I know on that day, it was something more. And looking back now, I should have known something wasn't right.

Most of us are girls on here. When we get bad pains in our stomach, nine times out of ten we chalk it up to very bad period cramps, right? Like some of us get such bad cramps, it feels like someone is stabbing us in the stomach with a very dull knife. At least that's how I was. So when I did get really bad pains in my stomach the week prior and the week after my period, I didn't think anything of it. I knew I had a history of ovarian cysts thanks to an ER visit 11 years prior. So I thought it was nothing too serious or nothing I didn't know how to handle.

Even 4 trips to the ER made me think it was nothing. They kept calling this a bladder infection and sending me know with antibiotics. It the 5th ER visit to find out what was fucking wrong....

I had an abscess in my stomach that was 6cm in size. That abscess causes a fistula (a connection) between my bowels and my bladder. So yea the ER doctors were right, it was a bladder infection caused by E Coli. but it wasn't because I was wiping the wrong way or anything like that.

That abscess was were my appendix should have been.

I won't go into detail about my countless hospital stays between thanksgiving through the new years eve. I have a blog about that.

Point of this blog?

I shouldn't be here right now. When your appendix ruptures, it sends an infection into your body that could easily kill you. But my body protected me and walled off that infection. But it caused more damage to my body. And I needed major abdominal surgery to get better.

The point is, listen to your body. If something doesn't feel right, go to the doctor. If you are having horrible pain in your stomach, don't write it off as "bad cramps" it could easily be something worse. This is a lesson I didn't want to learn the hard way. I know I'm lucky to be alive. And I feel lucky to be alive. It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since this started and it's been 7 months since my surgery. Time flies.