Have you ever had surgery? What for?

Yes I have had one surgery during my teen years. For me at that time it was scary to think of even the word surgery. It was for appendicitis and during those days we didnt have access to the internet as we do today at a flick of a finger so knowledge was limited to what friends, relatives and families said. Some said it was scary and if it bursts then it will be catastrophic and some said, it was hardly a surgery and nothing to be scared off.

For people who dont know, Appendicitis typically starts with a pain in the middle of your tummy (abdomen) that may come and go. Within hours, the pain travels to your lower right-hand side, where the appendix is usually located, and becomes constant and severe. Pressing on this area, coughing or walking may make the pain worse. It has 4 different stages and can get crital in case its not treated in time. Apparently the appendix is a small, finger-shaped organ that comes out of the first part of the large intestine and has mostly no use in the body but if infected or swollen it can really cause a lot of trouble even leading to death in some rare cases if it bursts.

Now I know this but at that age and time I had no clue and to top this all off, even the doctors couldnt diagnose after all the tests, which stage was my appendicitis at as my pains were not constant and sometimes negligible. My elder sister was supposed to get married that winter and hence my father and myself took the call to get operated even when we were not sure of it as we did not wnat any mishap during the celebrations. It would have been a big dampner to the whole marriage ceremony especially considering the Indian festivities which takes place in these iocassions. The indian marriange is a full fledged 7-10 day extravaganza with so many things at stake not to mention the fun behind it all.

Hence keeping in mind all that we took the hard pill and went ahead with the surgery. It was a 3 day affair at the local hospital at my hometown. The first day was scary when I was admitted and the next day was the surgery. i had my friends and families from all across visiting me at the hospital with fruits and flowers to wish me luck and share their blessings. Being in a large family has its own merits. Finally the time came and the day, when I went into the surgery room. I like all had thought to be brave enough while my heart was beating super fast considering I was just a teenager and had never seen an operation table before. I was given local anasthesia and I just remember the first inhale and then I woke up a few hours later in my hospital room with a lil pain in my right lower stomach due to the 4 stitches I had from the surgery. I was in pain and has nausea although happy that I had survived the surgery although now I know, its not a major one at all but different times have different impressions. I was discharged the next day after the clean up of the wound and was asked to keep coming back every 2 days for the dressing change.

About a week/10 days later, I was all well and healthy again with the stitches removed and I feeling completely normal again although the scar remains to this very day reminding me of what had happened at that time and what I had gonbe through. the memory still surfaces everytime I see the scar or when anyone asks me about it. I now know how naive I was but to say the least it was very scary thinking of it at that time. The word Surgery was and willalways be scary.

I made a promise at that time to myself to ensure that I live healthy and fit to the entent of age I can so that i dont have to hear the word ever again. Till date I have lived on that promise and I hope to continue this till the last breath and hope for the best always…

I am 46 now (about 32 years later) and that was my first and last ever surgery so far. That was me and this is my story…