Appendicitis Cuts Long Vacation Weekend Short

For the last 4-6 weeks  I had been experiencing an intermittent sharp pain in my lower abdomen.  I  never really thought anything of it, dismissing the discomfort for nothing more than indigestion.  Over the last 72 hours this pain finally gave itself a name: Appendicitis.

I flew into Phoenix, AZ last Wednesday for a meeting with Make-A-Wish Foundation, one of my firms clients.  Afterwards, I joined Cindy at the Desert Ridge Spa and Resort to finish out the week with a little R&R.  That evening, the pain came back.  This time, it never went away.  In fact, it got worse.

By Friday morning, I could hardly move.  Even so, I continued to ignore Cindy’s pleas for me to go to the Hospital.  We finally compromised on going to a Urgent Care Center that was located a half mile away from the resort.  It took only 5 minutes for the doctor examining me to discern that my Appendix was  dangerously close to rupturing.  She immediately called an ambulance and rushed me to the emergency room at the Mayo Clinic Hospital.  3 hours later I was in surgery getting an appendectomy.

Thankfully, they were able to perform Laparoscopic Surgery, otherwise known as minimally invasive surgery (MIS). Because of this, I only had to spend only one night in the hospital.  I was discharged at 3 pm today with a prescription of Oxycodon (otherwise known as Percocet-yummy).

Really, the only thing that has not gone well with this challenging experience has been efforts to reschedule our return US Air flight to Boston on Monday as opposed to tomorrow afternoon.  We thought it may make sense for me to have an extra day of recovery before I have to sit on a plane for 5 hours.  After spending over an hour on the phone with 4 different people at the airline, Cindy was only offered coach seats on a Monday flight for a change fee of $1,200!!!!!!!  (In fact, the first customer service representative stated that "US Air does not believe in medical accommodations".)  It goes without saying that we will be leaving Sunday.  US Air, you continue to be one of the worst airlines in the industry.

On a more positive note, I want to thank those who helped me through this very challenging time.  First, I would like to thank the doctor at the Urgent Care Center for her prompt diagnosis of my critical condition and  for doing her part to  fast track me through Mayo Clinic’s Emergency Room which ultimately got me into Surgery quicker.  Second, I owe thanks to the administrators, doctors and nurses at the Mayo Clinic Hospital for providing me with world class care.  You truly are a top notch organization.  Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank Cindy.  Your insistence that I seek medical attention no doubt saved me from a potentially deadly situation.  Your tireless efforts to make sure that my family was informed  what was going on with me as the situation developed meant the world to me.  Finally, your overwhelming love and support gave me the strength to get through the pain of this ordeal.   From the bottom of my heart, I thank you!  You mean the world to me!