Appendectomy
 

Can anyone tell me what to expect when my granddaughter has her appendix out? It has ruptured once and formed an abcess the size of a grapefruit. The infection was so bad that they poured the antibiotics in her and drained the abcess. She still has the drain tube. One doc said the rupture in the appendix will heal over and be okay. Three other docs say the appendix needs to come out as soon as the drain tube is finished and the anitbiotics are finished. She is just turning 20 in a few days.

She is pretty tough but she is under the opinion that it will be a day surgery (in and out in two hours), and she will be just fine by that night and back to college classes in a couple of days. I personally think there will be a little more to it than that.

Any input on this? I would be really interested to hear. I know that laproscopely is so much easier than the old way with the big incision.

Anxious for some of you to shed some light on this for me. I am just the old (60ish) granny that does not understand modern times of surgery....so I don't argue. I just try to prepare her to not do it right close to college finals in case it is more than an 'over it all in two days'.

I agree, she will be recuperating for more than a few days.

I still have mine. My son had his taken out a few years ago. He was back to work in a week on light duty for a few days after that.
Tell her to relax and watch some old corny movies.

Thank you. I am thinking everyone of the family (but me) will be surprised that it is going to take a little more out of her than they expect. They think it is just poke three little holes and snip it out. they don't understand pumping the stomach full of air will move the organs around.....and they will be poking and prodding with their tools too. Not too mention a general anesthesia and tubes down her throat....the bloating/constipation. I just read on another site about a lot of people's experiences. She is a tough little cookie.....that is how she went two weeks with so much pain before she got down really bad and decided to go to the doc. I see you are from the PNW...me too, central Oregon. She was in the hospital in Corvallis....not impressed there!

I had mine out when I was in 7th grade, and I'm 60 now so old was I? Too much math for the morning!! I remember being in the hospital for several days. I was sick on my stomach, and I know I had a fever, and my mother said it was more than a stomachache, it was time to see the doctor. And in those days, we'd go to the office, and he saw you in the order you came in. He saw me and sent my parents and me in to the bigger city to see a surgeon and the rest is history. A year later, a younger sister had her appendix out. Two years later, another sister was having the same symptoms and Mom just went to the ER and told them her daughter has appendicitus. Well, how do you know? She said believe me, after seeing 2 other children in three years suffer thru it, I know what appendicitus is!!

My DIL who is 21 had an emergency appendectomy two days ago. They sent her home in 21 hours. Her incision is small, she is sore but on Tylenol 3's for pain. She's a tough one too and just says her insides feel a little shaken and her throat is raspy. I thought I'd be spending some time with her but she's gone to her grandma's house.

Yep! That about covers it! mine was very large and leaking when they took it out so I was pretty sick, and it took alot of time to recover. it was a good three months before I felt anything close to normal. Any time the intestines are moved, it takes a lot to get your system back in working order. As you say if she is a tough little cookie then she will probably try to rsume as fast as possible. Just try to help her with extra stuff at home so she can keep her classes up and see how many of them she can sit on a computer and watch for now.

Everyone is different, she will be affected by the burst prior, but I believe firmly in mind over matter. So if she is going into it with a possitive thought, let it go. She will find out soon enough. No one can tell her, cause everyone is different. I recently had rotator cuff surgery. I heard everything from "piece of cake" to "horrible". For the record, It was horrible! but it just depends on all those "X" factors. The arthroscopy surgerys are, by far, better than the old way. I've had both knees done using that method. One was relatively easy, the other not so much. Different issues with each. You are all in our prayers, and hopefully she will have an easy time of it. Relatively speaking. LOL

It depends on how much scarring there is from the prior rupture. My ex was fine in a few days back in the mid 90's with traditional surgery. Dr. may or may not be able to do the surgery with the scopes. She should explore with her Dr and maybe gynecologist about the adviseability of removing the appendix and old scar tissue while young and healthy and before any pregnancy which might be compromised.

My appendix ruptured in 2001, and I have a 9 inch scar on my belly because of it. Infection caused me to spend a week in the hospital, 3 days of that in ICU. Nothing to mess with to be sure....
Because of the size of my incision, and the fact that at the time we were team truckers, I ended up having to take a week off work, (can't drive on pain meds) and even after that it was dicey for me to drive because my tummy was so sore. Add to that the fact that I don't feel pain like most folks do...

My guess is that she's going to need a week off work at least...tell her not to push it...she'll heal faster if she rests and gives her body what it needs to be able to heal!

I don't know about an appendectomy, but I had my gall bladder out laproscopely and I was back to work part time after 3 days and full time after a week. I think it may take her longer to recover from the infection than the surgery.
Please tell her to take it easy and don't over do. Then she will be in bed for longer.