Appendicitis and CV

[FrankT]

I was in hospital with chronic appendicitis when the pandemic was announced. I was given antibiotics to cure the inflammation, but now my biggest fear is going back there. If my appendix goes now, and I have to go back, even if the operation succeeds, I will surely die from complications caused by CoViD! Sometimes I feel it throbbing, and even now my digestion is not good. :unsure: I don't know what I'm going to do.

[Kitkat99]

There is nothing you can really do to stop it. If it happens it happens. Just because you are in hospital though doesn’t mean you would catch anything. You would be on a different ward from covid 19 patients. With different doctors who know how to stop the spread.

Appendicitis’s have been linked to low fibre diets. So you should make sure you are eating plenty of fibre.

[FrankT]

That's if I ever get into the hospital now. It's likely to be inundated. Where are they supposed to operate on me? In a tent?

[Kitkat99]

That's if I ever get into the hospital now. It's likely to be inundated. Where are they supposed to operate on me? In a tent?

In the operating rooms? Covid 19 patients don't require surgery. The operating rooms will still function as normal. They can't just deny people basic health care, think of all the cancer patients that rely on hospitals. Plus if this lock down works the situation in hospitals will get better.

[glassgirlw]

That's if I ever get into the hospital now. It's likely to be inundated. Where are they supposed to operate on me? In a tent?

I don’t know how things work in the UK but pretty sure it’s similar to here, in that they aren’t keeping the CV patients in the operating rooms or in recovery rooms. If you truly need an operation you’ll be able to get one. I think you’re focusing on the “what if’s” more than you need to. Try some positive thinking - “what if I don’t need an operation”?

[FrankT]

Then I'd still have to deal with my digestion problems. Last week my stool was the consistency of mud! Even now it comes in thin, short, but regular toilet trips.

[Gary A]

A removal of an appendix is one of the most straightforward operations a surgeon will see. You would be in hospital a very small amount of time and it’s not like they’re going to have you fist bumping the Covid-19 patients while you’re there.

That’s even if you need the operation in the first place, which is highly unlikely due to them treating the initial infection.

Chill out.

[Pamplemousse]

I'm in the unusual position of having been treated twice for appendix problems; once in November '71 (Bonfire Night!) where antibiotics fixed it and then in July '72, when it burst. Even back in the 1970s it was a straightforward op and I was unlucky enough to end up with a four-inch scar; even back then a good surgeon could keep it down to one inch! Nowadays it's keyhole and you're in and out in no time.

And the worry about contracting COVID-19 in hospital is completely unfounded.

[FrankT]

It is?

[glassgirlw]

It is?

yes.

[Pamplemousse]

Many years ago, some areas had isolation hospitals; I spent some time in one after my burst appendix (I developed an infection in my appendix scar). Nowadays, modern health care has reduced the need for them and besides which, COVID-19 patients will be treated well away from anywhere like general surgical wards.