My Fair Share of Being a Drama Queen

This happened quite a while ago when Kylie was only 5 days old. From the day of my delivery up until Kylie was 5 days old, I felt this pain in the lower right part of my abdomen. At first, I did not mind it as I thought it was just a normal pain due to my delivery. But as days passed by, the pain became worse. My mom-in-law was so concerned and suggested that I need to see a doctor. She said it could be "appendicitis".

So together with Jay-ar, I went to the hospital where I had given birth. It was a sunny afternoon of May 1. Since it was holiday, only the general/family doctor was around. I was so ignorant about how serious illness the appendicitis is that I even suggested to the doctor that I might be suffering from it. The doctor pressed the lower right part of my abdomen and asked me "does this hurt?" I said "yes" and I think I exaggerated my facial expression a bit that he assumed that I was in so much pain. Then he came up with his diagnosis and he told me "yes, this could be appendicitis". After that, he told me that I need to be confined for 2-3 days because I need to be operated on the same day. I was so shocked hearing that. I did not know that it was that serious! The doctor explained to me that if it is indeed an appendicitis I was suffering from, he could not afford not to let me go through an operation. That was the only time I realized how serious it is. I told the doctor that I cannot be confined because there is a baby waiting for me at home and that I am breastfeeding her. But the doctor insisted that I must be operated. Then I started crying in front of him and kept on repeating that I cannot do it because my baby needs me and then I cried and I cried and the doctor was consoling me, which lasted for few minutes. Jay-ar was so tough that he told the doctor that we will do what needs to be done.

When we went out of the doctor's room, I was still crying and the other patients waiting for their turn were staring at me thinking what could my illness be. Even until the time when Jay-ar was taking care of my confinement, I was sitting at the waiting area and still crying. I think the doctor was also thinking I was overreacting because he kept on telling me that it will just be a small operation and that many people had gone thru the same procedure. Well, I thought so too. Blame it to PPD. But I had valid reasons to be upset. For one, I had just given birth 5 days ago for crying out loud! My body was then still recovering. Another thing, I was crying because I was thinking of my 5-day old baby girl. I will not be with her for 3 days! For me, that is unbearable. Even though my mom-in-law was there to take care of her, I still felt sad knowing that I won't get to see her for 3 days.

Naturally, before any doctor would cut anyone's flesh for operation, they need to be sure that they are doing the right thing right? And I will not let myself be operated solely based on the verdict of a family doctor, who did not do anything but to press my abdomen and see if it hurts. The family doctor referred me to a specialist who will carry out my operation who, fortunately, was just around the hospital doing some operation.

It was around 6 pm that the specialist doctor was able to see us. He said I need to be CT scanned so we can be sure of what my illness really is. But since the department who will do the CT scan was closed that day, I was scheduled to have it the next day and I did not have a choice but to spend the night in the hospital. So to cut the story short, the next day, I had gone through a CT scan and they found nothing wrong with my appendix. And my illness turned out to be a UTI, which most women who had just given birth suffer from. No need for an operation and the doctor just gave me antibiotic that's safe for the baby because I am breastfeeding. After my CT scan, we just waited for the result then we headed home. I was telling Jay-ar on our way home that I had a big mouth. It was me who actually suggested to the family doctor that I could be suffering from appendicitis and I think the doctor just got worried that if I really had appendicitis and he let me go and my appendix burst, the blame will be on him that is why he really insisted for an operation. Good thing I have a medical card so we did not pay for anything and good thing I only needed to stay in the hospital for one night and one day.

And until now, Jay-ar is still teasing me about that incident - on how drama queen I could be! :)