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Diagnosis - stoned appendix!

Well I had my exploratory laparascopy on Tuesday, the surgeon agreed with me that it would be wise to remove the appendix whilst they were in there to rule it out of any potential future problems.

In my drug induced state I remember the surgeon saying "I think we may have found the cause of all your pain", even though I was apparently green at the time I'm sure my face lit up! He said that stones were found in my appendix which could've been traveling up and down my intestines causing all the pain, sickness etc etc!

It's now three days post surgery and all I'm left with is the resulting pain which is fine. None of my 'usual' morning pain or sickness, have an appetite this morning for the first time in too long and although in pain in the mornings from surgery, I've actually managed to sleep past 7am and have a lay in! This is something that I was never able to do with the pain I used to suffer with!

It's still very much early days but all the initial signs are looking good, taking it one day at a time and so not getting over optimistic but can't help but have a smile on my face! Have got a follow up in 8 weeks time in which I'm hoping to be able to say "I have my life back!".

Wanted to share the news as it's been a long time since I've had anything to shout about! Hope that this message finds you all as well as possible and thank you all once again for your kind words, friendly faces and knowledgeable info, take care.
 
Hi crag .
Thats brilliant if they have found and removed the source of your illness. Excellent to hear some one eventually gettin relief. Hope you have a speedy recovery and be well.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Crag, congrats on getting some answers and hopefully some long-lasting relief from your symptoms! And that's interesting, I didn't know the appendix could hold stones. Did they come from the appendix or from somewhere like the gallbladder? Are they going to analyze the stones to get more info as to where they came form, what they're comprised of, etc? Sorry for all the questions, this is something I haven't heard of before. At any rate, I hope this is indeed the answer you've been looking for and that you are able to get your life back! Best of luck in the future and please pop in from time to time to let us know how you're doing. :)
 
Thats brilliant news...and so much better than a crohn's diagnosis as now you should be 'cured'.
I hope you continue to feel better and get over from the surgery quickly.
 
Hello again everybody in here,

I haven't been on here in some time but hope that you are all in as good a place as possible at the mo.

I deliberately have avoided coming on here as I wanted to wait until my follow up appointment and then report back with good news and thanks! Firstly thank you to all who have offered advice and support to me over the last year or so, it is so so appreciated! I know it's far from easy to offer support when you have your own troubles to deal with and yet you all do so willingly!

Now on to the juicy bits! It's still good news in that I have so much of my life back, I'm finally up to full time working again and feel that I now have some control over my body, although not as much as I'd hoped for! I had my follow up last week and A different surgeon told me it wasn't actually stones that were in my appendix but small, solid pieces of stool. These were then blocking the appendix and causing infections each time it occurred. I knew the copius amounts of laxatives I was drinking were doing nothing for me but never thought about something like that happening!

She also told me I had scar tissue which needed to be removed (never had a previous op except a groinal hernia in 2001) and bowel adhesions which needed to be separated. It was reassuring to hear that something definitive had finally been found but doesn't excuse the fact that I'm still having pain and symptoms which often seem to come out of nowhere. Any symptoms I've described is being put down to post surgery complications so I've to wait up to 6 months and see how I feel.

That's about it really, was a quick appointment as usual and although I have questions I'm happy on the whole! Again thank you to everybody I've got to know on here, you're a truly remarkable bunch of people and I feel that the last year and a half would have been a lot darker place without you.

Eternally grateful,

Craig
 
I'm so happy you came back to update, been thinking about you :)

Do they suggest a cause for the "stones", adhesions, or is it just thought to be one of those things?

Will keep my fingers crossed for you!
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Hi Crag, thanks so much for the update! Glad to hear you're doing better, and hopefully you'll be back to 100% after they fix the scar tissue & adhesion issues. Are you going to have surgery to fix that stuff? Or is it a "wait and see" type of situation for now until the 6 months has passed? At any rate, good luck and glad to hear you're doing pretty well, and I hope you can get completely better soon! Please come back and update us again when you find out more!
 
Thanks again for the kind words, it's always greatly received!

They haven't suggested a cause for anything really; was told that everyone is born with some degree of scar tissue in their bowels and that the adhesions are 'just one of those things that happen'. The only bit that makes complete sense to me is the stool-infected appendix. I regularly pass 'rabbit dropping' type stool so I'm guessing it was one of those little badboys that dropped in there to chill with my appendix and make it infected so!

Cat, they removed the scar tissue whilst they were in there doing the laparoscopy and seperated the adhesions at the same time. There's absolutely no doubt that it's a huge leap forward as I haven't felt anywhere near as bad as the last couple of years. However, I'm still having enough symptoms to keep me on my toes, it's just the severity is nothing like it used to be. I struggled to get breath into me before the pain could be so bad, whereas now it stops me talking and it hurts a lot, but it's easier to deal with after how things were.

I've just to wait now until the surgery settles (up to 6 months I'm told) and see how I feel. If things are the same or with minimal improvement from where I am now then I'll be back at the doc's making a fuss of myself! I'm certainly no expert but am skeptical that my current stabbing pains, throbs, cramps etc could be as a result of surgery as they're not there all the time, but I'm only guessing again!

So glad to hear that you finally have an approval for some kind of diagnostic test Star, hope that the scan sheds some light on your situation, I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for some news!

Also Cat, good luck with the new GI if you decide to pursue that route. It scares me thinking about you doing it so can only begin to imagine how you're feeling, we gotta do what we gotta do though I guess!

Take care and speak again soon
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Thank you Crag! I'm pretty nervous myself about possibly changing GIs, I've been with my current GI since I've been ill. I've got one more appointment with him, on Thursday, so I'm going to see how that goes before I make any final decision whether to stick with him longer or move on to a new doc. I'll keep you posted on what I end up doing.

And wow, that's not good to hear that you're having pain that can stop you from talking. It sounds like an improvement from where you were, but it also sounds like there's still quite a lot more room for improvement. I hope the pains do subside. Nowadays the most pain I have is a dull ache from time to time or crampy pains if I eat the wrong thing. I've been told I'm in remission and I feel about 99% well most of the time (I know I'll never feeo 100% like I did before I became ill so 99% is as good as it gets!). So, hopefully you can get to feeling this well too! Even though it's an improvement, having pain like you described is still not good. I hope things improve a lot more!
 
Thanks for the update crag,
Let's hope as you do notice some more improvement.

Cat- good luck for Thursday. Even if you see another doc and prefer your current one you can always go back to him- he would never know you'd seen someone else.
 

Cat-a-Tonic

Super Moderator
Little Miss H, thank you - unfortunately though, my current GI will almost definitely find out if I do see a new GI. I've been doing some research and have settled on who I'd like my next GI to be, assuming I do leave my current GI. The new GI I'm thinking of seeing, she's a specialist in IBD and specifically IBD in women. She's covered by my insurance and sounds quite promising. But, she works out of the same clinic as my current GI, she surely knows him as a colleague if not as a friend too, they're both in the same computer system, etc. He can see all my appointments in the computer whether they're with him or another doctor in the system (such as my GP) and I believe their system is set up so that they get notifications if another doctor makes notes in my file or if I have an appointment with another doctor. So long story short, if I got an appointment with her, he'd definitely find out and I don't know if he'd be punitive and refuse to take me back if the new GI isn't good. Worst case scenario, if that happens then I'd have to find yet another new GI. (I actually do have one in mind for that scenario too, and she works out of a different clinic although is in the same computer system.) I don't want to bounce around from doctor to doctor, I just want to find a good GI who takes me seriously and can help me in a well-rounded way (treating both the physical and emotional aspects of my illness, and not going down the IBS route). That doesn't seem like so much to ask but sometimes it feels like a monumental task!

Sorry Crag for taking over your thread. Back to you! Hope you improve lots more soon!
 
Location
NY
Crag - Thanks for sharing your story and updates. I am curious, did you have imaging done prior to your surgery? If so, did the imaging show the scar tissue and adhesion?
Thanks again.
 
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