i apologize for the delayed postings, but i have recently recovered from being pretty seriously ill.
here's a nice short-er and sweet-end of how it seemed to go down:
the weekend after my weekend trip to foukoka i essentially spent in a fever haze laying in my apartment thinking i was going to end my days lying in my korean apartment whilst my insides exploded with pain. i wasn't entirely sure (and still am not) what was happening to me. but i do know that friday night i was able to go out with friends and play trivial pursuit at a bar, while coming through saturday morning, shortly after my language lesson, i was overcome with a crazy intense body pain radiating from my abdominal area. i relaxed at home for most of my saturday afternoon drinking coffee, tea and venturing out into the city only once later in the evening to do a little bit of book shopping since i had finished stoker's dracula.
this adventure i feel nearly led to my death in the subway, barely escaping my own demise by a fortunate empty train in which i was able to sit instead of stand my entire 45min ride home.
saturday-late afternoon. back to me going out and getting my books. i arrived at what-the-book in itaewon, hoping to replace my stoker novel with a few classics and contemporary books i haven't read yet. i was still feeling a bit under the weather. some major back pain, fever and fatigue, but i didn't think it would hurt to step out for a couple hours for books and a quick dinner. oh how wrong i was.
after making my purchases i spotted an indian food restaurant just across the street, i was at the time fairly hungry and this sounded delish... not the best idea. i know it wasn't the food specifically because i was already feeling horrible, but it didn't help my situation at all that just moments after i ate, my entire abdomen seemed to explode inside itself, making me look like at mid-3rd-trimester pregnant woman. ugh! at the time i was completely horrified, sick to my stomach, in immense pain and extremely uncomfortable... if i had, had any foresight at the time i truly wish i could have taken a picture of it, because i can assure you i no longer have this problem, and it would be slightly amusing to look at it now.
so stumbling haphazardly through the subway stations through 2 transfers, i slowly made my decrepit way home. the only thing i could think about was lying down and curling into a ball to stop the pain.
later saturday-night. i had made it home... not much to remember from it. i think i was so hazy at some point during my subway ride i must have blocked it mostly out of my memory. upon waking up though, my stomach had reduced in size. though slightly bloated. i decided tomorrow would be the day i visit the dr. since again all i could think about was sleeping.
sunday. i made it (with the help of my friend sam, who helped me find directions) to the hospital, only to be told that i needed to wait till monday so they could perform a CT scan.
back home. sleep. drink. pain. sleep. sweat. wake. pain. puke. pain. sleep. sleep. sleep.
monday. i went into school early, as early as i could. i couldn't sleep really anyways, having fevers and sweats so bad at night. but i had one of the korean sups take me to the hospital, where i was poked prodded sampled and tested in all aspects from head to toe and inside and out.... only to first be told that i had acute appendicitis... (and then eventually when they weren't entirely sure about that... there was some ordeal about physiological fluid, wwaaahh??!!) eeeep!
the general dr wanted surgery asap, but my surgeon instead sent me out of the hospital with only some pain medication, telling me to come in tuesday morning for a WBC. which turned out to be dropping and returning to more normal levels (as found out on tuesday)
so bonus for me no operation.
but i never truly did find out exactly what was wrong with me. i guess it's wrong to question dr.'s in korea or suggest things to do... or to expect detailed explanations as to why they are giving you antibiotics when they should just be taking your appendix out (not that i'm complaining, my insurance didn't cover that surgery anyways). but i suppose i never will find out. I tried obtaining my CT scans and the ultra sound the did on my abdomen, but there were to many hoops to jump and my korean sups were asking very demanding questions as to why i would ever want them, and in the end i just got tired, and wanted to get better. i was so tired of being sick. every night, up until this past friday (so another entire week!) i was still having feverish sweats at night... at first i was worried the antibiotics weren't doing anything, and again i was terrified i was going to disappear into the depths of korea by way of my apartment this time knowing full well that my insides would be exploding in me and being unable to prevent anything, but eventually my cramping stopped a few days after the pills and i stopped getting fevers... and now mysteriously everything... and i feel nearly 100% better.
i don't know if i will ever be able to say it was truly appendicitis, but if it was there's always a higher chance of it coming back, or so i hear... but then again, i was the first time i've ever heard of it being treated with antibiotics.
huh.
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