Emergency 911

One does not always know what is going on, even with evidence of a problem.  Sometimes the evidence at hand can lead to several different conclusions, unfortunately only one can be right.  Such was the case late Friday evening, July 22.  Cherilyn found herself suddenly feeling ill.  The ill feeling led to flu like symptoms throughout the night.  All day Saturday the pain she felt in her mid section was thought to be from the all night flu like symptoms.  By late Sunday we knew things were not getting better and on Monday morning we went to the local emergency room.

After several hours in the local ER, which included a CAT scan and numerous blood tests, we were informed that Cherilyn was having issues with her appendix which would require surgery. Our local hospital is more of a glorified urgent care - the surgeon only works a limited schedule, meaning you only got full treatment there if he was working that day.  We were not that lucky so we had to go to Springfield.  So I drove and Cherilyn was treated to her first ambulance ride.  The new hospital was almost an hour away.

The stay in the new ER was not nearly as long as the previous ER stay.  The surgical consultation  took place within the first hour of being there.  The surgeon seemed very concerned that the surgery was not going to be able to be performed laparoscopically as he felt the CAT scan showed the appendix had burst. Fortunately he was a talented surgeon and he was able to remove the appendix and flush Cherilyn's abdominal cavity all laparoscopically. Cherilyn was in surgery about 2 hours.  She then *enjoyed* a 5 day stay in the hospital.

Many thanks to all the medical staff @ Cox South Hospital! And a VERY BIG thank you to our friends who helped us out with the kids and the dogs and meeting some of Cherilyn's needs while in the hospital.  Feel free to email her for more details. :)

Cherilyn was able to fly in to Myrtle Beach and only miss a few days of our beach vacation.  She has been recovering nicely and feels much better each day, though she is not quite 100% she has been able to enjoy our time on the beach and in Charlotte.