Jami's appendectomy!

So: Tuesday was Thomas's last concert with the Philharmonia, and as Jami had seen the same programme a couple of times, it was my turn to go and watch.  But as the hour drew nearer, Jami started complaining of a stomach ache.  "I'll be okay" she said, encouraging me to go, but as she was immobile and doubled-over by this point, I thought it unwise.  In fact, in short order we decided she should go to the emergency room.  This she did, at the time still able to drive herself, and will regale readers with tales of what she witnessed in the FIVE HOURS she waited to be admitted.  (Like the randomly shouting man who threatened to soil himself... and then did so.)  They kept her in overnight, giving her morphine, and ran every test known to them, but could only report that she seemed in remarkably fine fettle.  So, emboldened with false morphine-confidence, she came home at about 8 AM, turfing me out of bed with instructions to go and get the various prescriptions they'd given her.  So I did, and she scarfed down the various pain-killers and anti-nausea drugs and attempted to sleep off whatever it was.

Didn't work.  Flash forward to Thursday and the pain is only worse and she hasn't eaten anything since the first visit and can barely hold down water.  We decide that another emergency room visit is probably in order, and this time we'll do it at 1:30 AM (this morning, although it doesn't seem like it) so that (a) it would be a lot quieter, and (b) both kids would be asleep and I could drive her, as she was totally incapable of driving by now.  Well, the emergency waiting room was indeed blessedly empty and she got admitted immediately and they could set about hydrating her and pumping her full of blissful narcotics.  I left about 3 AM satisfied that they wouldn't let her go until they knew what it was and had done something about it.  When I left, the prevailing theory was that it was her gall bladder.  (The only positive test the first time was for gallstones, but minor, non-inflamed ones, not enough to be causing this much pain.)

So, 10 AM rolls around and I get a text from Jami: it's appendicitis and she's being prepped for surgery!  Joanne (her mother) went to sit with her and texted me an hour or so ago that she'd finally come out of surgery and the doctors informed her (Joanne) that the appendix had already turned gangrenous!  So, if we'd actually waited, as we were planning, and gone to the Gastro-Intestinal expert they told us to go to on Monday, she probably wouldn't've made it.  Yikes.  Currently she is sleeping it off and isn't supposed to be awake until tomorrow morning.  Note to self: take Jami's "stomachaches" seriously...

 Update: Jami called from her room at about 7:50 PM saying where the hell was all her stuff?  For some reason Joanne had removed everything - clothes and, more importantly, 'phone  and dropped it off here.  So I took it to back to her (along with several books and the puzzles from today's paper).  She's pretty heavily sedated and there's a big hole in her midriff with a cup attached that collects various oozes, so I don't think she'll be doing much reading for a while.  All the lights were off in her room, and I doubt she wants to be photographed for a while, so here's a picture taken from her floor of the hospital (the same one Frederick was born in).