Out of Commission... Again

On Sunday, GT Climbing took a day trip up to LRC. I hadn't been feeling well from a constant stomach ache since Friday, but I didn't want Jonathan to bail out on the trip to take care of me. So I dragged my butt out of bed at 6am and hoped the tummy ache would pass over the course of the day.

We met at ORGT with some of the old gang (Dallas, Marina, Conces, etc), some of the new gang (Carlin, Perry), and a handful of beginner climbers. It was a big group of psyched climbers.

Once after warming up on the Firecrack boulder, I sort of deviated from the crowd. Jonathan went to coach the beginners and I went to find Man Hands. As always, I never seem to be able to find Man Hands, and instead find myself at The Chronic (V7). I have a love-hate relationship with The Chronic as the beginning moves always flow well for me, but the last move to the jug always seems out of reach.

The Chronic. Eyes on the prize. Next time, maybe. Photo credit: Jonathan

The rest of the group went to work on The Sternum, just a few feet away. Perry and Conces got the send on the Sternum. And Marina is getting SO close. Really excited for all of them. Shortly after, we made our way to the Super Mario boulder. New guys Carlin and Perry quickly made the send for Super Mario (V4) and began to work on Red House. I worked on Spank the Baby (V7) nearby with some friendly strangers. It was silly because my short beta was 2 moves shorter than the tall people beta they were using. I stuck the throw twice, but promptly peeled off into the tree behind me. It will go next time.

Perry spotting Carlin on Super Mario

I was also able to pull some cool moves on Spanky (V8). However, I didn't make it very far. We weren't entirely sure about the beta and kind of just tried different moves. I only got 4 moves in. Jonathan came up with some new beta I can try next time I give Spanky a go.

Locking off for the next move. Photo credit: Carlin

After we headed home, my stomach ache started feeling worse. When we got back to Tech, Marina (who is EMT-certified) checked out my stomach. We didn't really pinpoint where the pain was coming from, but she suggested I go to the hospital if it started to feel worse. We said our goodbyes, and headed back to my apartment. My roommate Radhika, also checked out my stomach and suggested I go to the hospital in case it was appendicitis or twisted ovaries. So, at 11pm on Sunday night, Jonathan drove me to the ER at Piedmont Hospital.

It was slow. It wasn't until about 2am on Monday morning before they got around to giving me a CT scan. Around 4am in the morning, the doctor told me she couldn't see anything wrong with the scan. She proceeded to apply pressure to the four abdominal quadrants, which we pinpointed the pain to me coming from the lower right. In the end, she decided to prescribe painkillers and discharged me at 6am.

Jonathan drove us to the CVS across the street at 6am. At this point, walking had become difficult for me without pain. After a walking a few steps, I would curl into ball on the ground to combat the pain. After prescribing the medicine and driving back to the apartment, I proceeded to vomit twice into the bushes in the parking lot.

At 5pm Monday, the pain was becoming unbearable, so we rushed back to Piedmont ER. Nina, the lady who saw me in triage this time, was furious they had sent me home that morning at 6am. She tagged me as "critical" and proceeded to get me into a room in a couple hours. However, things slowed after Nina left. They repeated a CT scan at 11pm, which proved to be too late. According to the scan, my appendix already ruptured. Did I mention the doctor from the night before visited me and apologized? She said it wasn't her fault. The previous scan looked "funky" and they couldn't tell it was my appendix. I only wish they put me on watch, instead of sending me home...

At 2am, Dr. Davis performed surgery on me and removed my appendix and found out that my small intestine looked infected. At 4am, the surgery finished and they finally moved me into a room... where I stayed the last 2 nights.

2/3 of the surgical cuts made by Dr. Davis.

Walking hurts. Frowning at the mysterious cold sore that appeared after surgery.

After speaking with Dr. Davis this morning, the verdict is: rest for 1 week, no strenuous activity for 2 weeks, and no climbing for a minimum of 4 weeks.

Thanks Jonathan and Mom for being by my side the last few days. I love you guys so much! Thanks to Donald and his girlfriend for the beautiful flowers and lovely visit. Thanks everyone else for their kind wishes and checking up on me. Here's to hoping for a fast recovery.