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Life Update: Good and Bad

Dillon

Well-Known Member
I literally forgot I had an account on here but I see some familiar names here and some new people so I thought why not post about how my life is going.

Back in January I had been offered a job working as an environmental educator/coastal ecologist with a non profit organization where I’ve been involved in various aspects of my job. I’ve been establishing private dune and habitat restoration projects, educating kids and adults about the coastal environmental and leading kayaking tours where people get to learn about wetlands and the coastal environment. I’ve been enjoying my job so much until mid March…

Around the week of the 18th I was sick with strep throat which I haven’t had since middle school. I went to an urgent care clinic where I was tested for it and was given an antibiotic shot. I felt better the next two days and went to work and did my thing. However on a Tuesday night I was having really bad abdominal pain which lead me to believe I was just constipated so I slept the pain off after taking some pain meds. Next morning I run a 102.5 degree fever and I’m calling my supervisor calling out sick. I go to my primary care doctor just to follow up of the complications of strep throat still having trouble swallowing and swollen lymph nodes on the neck. I mentioned I had abdominal pain on the lower right area near my belly button which occurred during the same time I got strep throat but again I kind of ignored it. The doctor was about to send me home since I was told the antibiotics just needed more time to clear the strep infection which obviously wasn’t helping, but after my doctor talks with two other doctors I am then asked if I still have my appendix in me. “Yeah I do, how come?” I said all concerned. Doctor tells me I need to go to the emergency room across the street like now so I decided to drive and walk myself over there while in pain. I had a CT scan done and apparently I had an appendix that had already burst but was encapsulated in the form of an abscess keeping the infected fluid contained. Being diagnosed with acute appendicitis, I had to be admitted to the hospital for a little over a week on IV antibiotics and in the middle of it had a procedure done where I had to have a drain tube inserted in me to get the infected abscess out which I went home with 2 days after the procedure. I go home with the tube in me for a week while being 2 weeks worth of oral antibiotics since I had another infection within the abscess culture called “Streptococcus intermedius”. That infection I was told caused abscesses in the liver and the brain which thankfully that never happens since the abscess never burst into my abdominal cavity.
A month rolls by and on the week of April 22nd I had surgery done to get my still inflamed and dilated appendix taken out.

In summary I’ve been out of work for the past 2 months because of this whole ordeal and now I am finally going back to work this upcoming Monday.

Has anyone ever been in a situation such as this or know of anyone who had appendicitis. I find it wild that strep throat can cause other problems such as appendicitis and other organ damage such as the liver in which the strep infection did damage and inflame my liver for a bit and it was a bit enlarged.

That’s how my life has been thus far but at least I’ve been doing a whole lot better than before.
 
Yes, been there done that. I was attending uni, and for two weeks, l felt sick. I thought l had eaten something really bad. Later, l found out my appendix needed to come out. The professor was shocked l made it two weeks without going into ER. I actually walked to ER because it just wasn't getting better. The doctor immediately figured it out, l was scheduled that day to remove it. Boy, you were so lucky that you immediately went to ER. If you had ignored the doctor's request, it would have not ended well. I did suffer from an infection about a couple days later where the stitches were. The doctor jammed a instrument in that area and it leaked fluid. And then no problem after that.

But your job sounds thrilling. Congrats on landing that position.
 
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That is quite an ordeal, @Dillon. It's great that you have been enjoying your job and hopefully that continues as you get back to it. It sounds like a really great job and I'm glad you persevered through so much frustration and uncertainty during the job hunt you had. Good luck on Monday - will be wishing you good health.
 
Has anyone ever been in a situation such as this or know of anyone who had appendicitis. I find it wild that strep throat can cause other problems such as appendicitis and other organ damage such as the liver in which the strep infection did damage and inflame my liver for a bit and it was a bit enlarged.
I'm sorry about the time off work--hope this works out for you.

When I was young I had the same situation. It was properly diagnosed and dealt with before it became a big problem. Although I'd not suspect any connection, it's interesting that before the surgery I was getting strep throat all the time, but that stopped after the appendectomy.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that I got a real bonus benefit from fixing the appendix. Apparently, it was getting infected on and off for years so I had a very fragile digestive system. Food would randomly make me throw up and feel nauseated. After the appendix came out, I could eat anything and I've had a digestive system since that can take almost anything without complaint.
 
I'm sorry about the time off work--hope this works out for you.

When I was young I had the same situation. It was properly diagnosed and dealt with before it became a big problem. Although I'd not suspect any connection, it's interesting that before the surgery I was getting strep throat all the time, but that stopped after the appendectomy.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that I got a real bonus benefit from fixing the appendix. Apparently, it was getting infected on and off for years so I had a very fragile digestive system. Food would randomly make me throw up and feel nauseated. After the appendix came out, I could eat anything and I've had a digestive system since that can take almost anything without complaint.
I never had strep ever since middle school which was like ages ago lol.
What I had back then was just trouble swallowing and redness in the back of my throat and tonsils. They couldn’t take out my appendix right away back in March as I developed a mild form of sepsis and if I had the appendix removed I would’ve had my colon removed or worse dead so that’s why I was on antibiotics for such a while to clear out the infection entirely. I’m glad my appendix didn’t burst a second time or leaked out anymore fluid when I was sent home the first time.

I was at a hospital which was a medical University and I had a few medical residents who were kind of clueless “oh what’s streptococcus I’m not familiar with that..,” I facepalm in my mind “it’s strep the thing you’re treating me for” which is what I told the student
“oh yeah that makes sense” 🙄

I noticed I am not nauseated either after my appendix removal nor do I have bad upper back pain anytime I eat soft food like rice and I tend to throw it up. I no longer have that problem it seems.
 

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