Acute Complicated Appendicitis

The man is suddenly stricken with severe abdominal pain that deteriorated overnight and ended up at the A&E at 6.30am. He had developed complicated appendicitis. The appendix was perforated and there was a risk of peritonitis. He got the emergency surgery required. 

It was a textbook laparoscopic appendectomy done. I was relieved. Thankfully there wasn't any peritonitis. But an abdominal drain tube was needed because he was at risk for postoperative intra-abdominal abscess (IAA) formation. Daily blood tests, a follow-up X-ray and an infusion of antibiotics were par for course. A simple case of appendicitis and laparoscopic appendectomy required maybe a 2.5 day stay at the hospital. For the man, we're looking at minimally four nights.  

The post-operative fever hit as scheduled and spiked to 40°C. It came down and returned, and finally broke after 12 hours. He rejected all the food the hospital sent in for meals because they were seriously horrid. He had poor appetite, and preferred his food to be brought in by yours truly. While he had about 200ml cups of soups and tablespoon-full portions of say, spinach and tofu, he really couldn't eat much for two days. His first slightly more substantial meal was eaten only on the third day post-op, along with a first decent night of sleep.

I'm not the best cook, but I can produce edible food. And I have the mind space to do some sort of quick and utilitarian cooking. I'm concerned about the man, of course. But I'm not too worried and I'm not stressed. He is in the good hands of the medical team. My capacity to bear such 'emotional' loads is quite high. I work with old folks at hospices and I always take palliative care patients under my wing if they needed a social worker. This isn't different. I can compartmentalize very well. What more, I have a Smol Girl who needs me more than the man does.   

Bananas and eggs are a tremendous source of needed potassium; he had plenty of that. He didn't want the IV of potassium chloride. That is ridiculously painful with horrid side effects. Brown rice and yoghurt helped to settle his topsy-turvy digestive system. The fever stayed away. He slept better and began to eat more. Whewwww. 

N had made yong tau foo for herself, and made extras. She insisted on keeping a box for us. She delivered it and added a big bag of fruits too. Awwwww. She didn't have to go through all the trouble, but she did. There were plenty for both the man and I to eat over two meals. I packed some for the man's dinner. He was hungry and ate it all up. Post-op Day 4 marked the first day he ate proper (small) portions of lunch and dinner. 

With some bits of sleep and normalized portions of meals, he's doing so much better. His surgical drain tube saw 50ml today. The lowest so far. He needs to get that down to under 25ml. I'm hopeful that he can go home before Monday comes around.

N's yong tau foo added on to the dinner box of brown rice, lean pork and nai bai.