When I arrived at the hospital, our doctor said, "Let me guess, you have horrible diarrhea." I answered, "Nope. I actually have not gone to the bathroom all day." Her face changed, and she reached over to my stomach and pressed down on my lower right side, and I cried. She turned to the nurse and said, "We have to get this boy an emergency ultra sound, now." So I was sent in a tuk tuk to the nearest ultra sound clinic (twenty minutes away). The tuk tuk ride was awful... I cried every bump of the way. When we got to the ultra sound clinic, they did not want to see me, because I did not have an appointment, but they decided to let me go ahead, when I laid down on their floor... I guess they got that it was serious. During the ultra sound, the doctor was curious why my whole abdomen was in pain, so I explained that I had waited all morning and had been clinching in pain so much, that everything hurt at this point. She soon found out, clearly, that it was my appendix, and I rode back to our normal clinic with the ultra sound pictures. When I got there, our doctor gave me pain killers... THANK YOU, GOD, FOR PAIN KILLERS! I was like a new person. Kelsi and I went on to the surgery clinic which was about thirty minutes away, and they began doing the prep for my surgery. This involved a heart test (healthy heart, check!) and blood pressure (good blood pressure, check!).
I have never had surgery. This one was not a "knock you out" surgery. They gave me a shot in my spine, and I slowly went numb from the chest down... and it was the. most. terrifying. experience of my life. I grew up with three brothers, and we used to wrestle. Whenever they would gang up on me and pin me to the floor, I would have a sudden burst of adrenaline and break free, because I hate being pinned and not being able to move. As I felt my legs going numb, I freaked out. Not just a little freak out... my arms went numb because I was hyperventilating, and the anesthesiologist asked me if I would rather be knocked out for the rest of surgery, which of course I said yes to, but alas it was too late. It is a horrifying feeling to slowly lose the ability to move your body. Suddenly, your toe itches, and you can't move against the others to scratch it. The surgery itself was only about forty minutes long, but the anesthesia lasted for seven hours. I laid in a bed not being able to move, and was told that I was not allowed to sit up for twenty-four hours, not that I could.
After the surgery, I slowly gained feeling as the night went on, and I found out the joy of catheters. Halfway through the night, I finally asked the nurse to just take it out, because I could not sleep, and it seemed to not be working. I was right, it was not working properly, and he pulled it out... I'm gonna go ahead and type that again real slow so you get the picture better... he ppppuuuuullllllleeeeedddddd it ooooooooouuuuuuuttttttt! And after the longest second of my life, I slept for the rest of the night soundly.
The next adventure came the next morning, as I was transferred back to my regular clinic for post op. The nurse came in, and Kelsi asked when we were going to transfer, as most of the staff could not speak English, and we were eager to get answers about recovery time and when I could eat (I had not eaten since Friday night). The nurse picked up the phone, and then hung up and said, "Ok. We go now. Get up." I had not stood up since my surgery the day before, and now I was walking down three flights of stairs to a taxi, while holding my IV in the air. We then road in a taxi to our normal clinic. Here's a picture:
Once we got to our normal clinic, things got a little more comfortable. The staff speak better English and it is just more familiar. What I then discovered is that our doctor believes in using as little pain medication as possible during post op--"so that the patient doesn't over do anything." And when you have had a catheter, you find yourself in a situation in which you weigh how much you have to go to the bathroom against how much it is going to burn. I waited as long as possible, and finally, when I could not hold it anymore, I went, and I screamed, and I bashed my fist against the concrete wall.
It is now Tuesday, and I have two more days of recovery in the clinic before I can go home. Kelsi and the girls have come to visit me everyday in the morning and then at dinner time. I am ready to go home, and get back to normal life, as this weekend was a very painful one. I guess I should give some kind of reflection on this.
A lot of people take 1 Corinthians 10:13 out of context. They say, "God will never give you more than you can bear." I want to clear up that this verse is firstly speaking on temptation. God does not allow us to be in a position in which we have no choice but to fall to temptation, but He gives us a way of escape. This verse is not speaking on pain and suffering. I had a discussion with a friend once and we decided that we believe that God gives us more than we can bear all the time, purposefully. If we were able to handle all the pain and struggles of this life, we would never come to Him. This weekend has been the most painful weekend of my life, and because of that I drew near to God. When I was scared in surgery, I sang my favorite worship songs, and it calmed me down. At night, when I couldn't sleep, I cried out to God to give me rest. As I have been missing my family and my house, I ask God to be my sufficiency.
We all have a choice when faced with difficulties in life. We can choose to take them and say that God is either not good or not in control or we can take them and say, God can make good of this, and I trust that no matter how terrible things are, He is always in control and will one day set all things right. I am certain that there will not be appendicitis in Heaven, and I am certain that when God created Adam, He did not plan for him to have it, either. Disobedience and separation from God have caused these pains, and I long for the day when I will be free from my sin and reunited with God.
For now, please pray for my recovery, as I am still in quite a bit of pain, and I miss bedtime routine with my daughters and evenings with my wife.
BecauseHeLives,
Micah.
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