9 replies to this topic

[GarryB]

Over time I have known some friends who developed appendicitus and had to have emergency surgery to remove the appendix. As a C5-6 quad I started wondering how someone with my injury would know if they developed appendicitus? What would the symptoms be? Since I don't have sensation below the chest I would not feel pain in the lower abdomen. But since the condition would likely become fatal if not treated quickly it would be important to catch it. Has anyone had experience with appendicitus in the spinal cord injured person? Thanks.

[greybeard]

You might notice swelling or a dramatic change in bowel function.

But why limit your worrying to only appendicitis?

There are lots of potentially fatal conditions that could afflict you below your injury; twisted bowel, prostate cancer, syphilis, kidney stones, bladder stones, galloping knob-rot, and a host of others.

Of course you could have all the potential danger sites surgically removed, but that would probably kill you anyway. Best to quit worrying about what might happen, and concentrate on staying as healthy as your broken body will allow.

[GarryB]

greybeard, on Dec 23 2009, 03:51 PM, said:

There are lots of potentially fatal conditions that could afflict you below your injury; twisted bowel, prostate cancer, syphilis, kidney stones, bladder stones, galloping knob-rot, and a host of others.

Thanks - one could keep occupied worrying with a list like that.

[Tetracyclone]

If you get spasms they would go through the roof with appendicitis.

[gordonr]

Pwuff, on Dec 23 2009, 11:54 PM, said:

If you get spasms they would go through the roof with appendicitis.

Very good answer.

Any but the very low lesions (where you have feeling there anyway), Your belly should be like jelly: flacid. relaxed. The first thing a guy looks for with the heavy duty abdominal stuff, like an obstruction or a hole or the apendix, is a tightenning of the muscles. If your abdomen becomes tight, you need to go to emergency.

As Puff says, spasticity. You will likely be squirming around in you chair from the abdominal contractions. But if you are listenning to your body, you may notice the problem before then.

ALso: Temperature. Sweating. Panic. Headache. Abnormal pain around or below your lesion (which is your body telling you that something is not right down there). All of these are indications. And the doctors have some very clever blood tests etc. to nail down the likely problem and imaging machines of diferent kinds to help.

If you are dying, they are supposed to realize it, and they are supposed to be able to figure out why.

If they don't and you feel like something is really not right, trust your instinct and keep complaining until they do find what it is.

BTW this is not that different from the AB. If you get a child complaining of a tummy ache, you have to take it seriously, and the child's reports will not be accurate enough for a diagnosis. So, it will be neccesary to do all kinds of tests to be sure that it is not this or that. Same with an adult. With us, it is just a bit harder. But the principle is the same. Proccess of elimination.

Last time I was operated on, it was for colon polyp. The worry post-op, is that they have accidentally pierced the colon wall. Normally, they send people home expecting them to come back with the pain if there is a problem. In my case, they kept me over night, and monitored other more subtle tell-tale signs, so that I would not have to become really sick before I had the chance to react.

Ah fond memories.

Best Regards,

Gordon

[E-DOG]

Yer gonna start shitting pieces of your appendix.
Big ones.

And it ain't gonna be pretty.

[qbounce]

Galloping Knob Rot, better known as GKR, is preading like wild fire in the SCI community.

A good indication that you might have it is:

When your lucky lady's on top in propper 'reverse cowboy' fashion, and she slides off 'cause something BIG comes loose.

When something MORE than expected dislodges when pulling your catheter out, or your indwelling catheter works great, but there's leaking urine coming from your balls, you might have Galloping Krotch Rot.

When your yanking the chain, and the tip sorta . . . falls off.

When your taking your undies off at the end of a long work day, and your weiner's at the bottom, or IN your bottom, you might have GKR.

[Trinity]

GarryB, on Dec 23 2009, 10:22 PM, said:

Over time I have known some friends who developed appendicitus and had to have emergency surgery to remove the appendix. As a C5-6 quad I started wondering how someone with my injury would know if they developed appendicitus? What would the symptoms be? Since I don't have sensation below the chest I would not feel pain in the lower abdomen. But since the condition would likely become fatal if not treated quickly it would be important to catch it. Has anyone had experience with appendicitus in the spinal cord injured person? Thanks.

I had appendicitis!
My symptoms were....very high fever, nausea and vomiting, feeling like I was going to die (apparently I looked like I was going to die too!), tense stomach (something that hasn't happened for sometime!) an increase in neuro pain and a really odd pain in my shoulder which I was told was referred pain. The body has a funny way of letting you know something's wrong.

[M@CHINE]

i ad my removed, had severe stomach pain low bp dizyness

[GarryB]

Thanks to those who offered helpful responses.