A Cross-Cultural Surgical Experience

On Thursday during a class I started feeling quite nauseous. I got home from class and was very sick for about 6 hours. I had to miss a class, the first time I've missed a class from being sick, since high-school I think. By Thursday evening I felt sure that I had appendicitis.

I'm currently fully covered by the University's insurance. This meant that I was able to call a doctor to my room to check me out on Friday morning. He immediately wrote me a referral to the ER. In Israel you can't just go to the ER for it to be covered. If you go and it isn't actually a medial emergency, then you pay for the visit. If, however, you have a referral, whether it turns out to be an emergency or not, its 100% covered.

My friend Anna went with me to the ER and waited around with me as they started to run some tests. By the time Anna had to leave my friend Alana was arriving to stay with me. Alana and I lived together in Jerusalem 12 years ago and we've remained close ever since. She came into the ER and immediately started asking the doctors why I had been waiting around for several hours and when the tests would be done. Every 15 minutes she would choose a new doctor to hassle and question in order to get the process moving. While we waited though she painted my finger nails!

Finally, about 6 hours after getting to the ER I had a CT of my abdomen. They said the results would take about an hour. Within 10 minutes, however, they came back and said that the preliminary results showed acute appendicitis and they needed to prep me for surgery immediately. Within an hour of that I was in the operating room.

I really like new experiences and there were a lot for me during this whole ordeal. My first home visit by a doctor, my first IV, my first general anesthesia, my first surgery, my first hospitalization. All of those firsts distracted me and delighted me enough that I really didn't mind the whole thing.

There is a lesson that I need to keep in mind for the future though. I have a high pain tolerance and a cheery disposition. Those two things combined to make it look like I was doing fine even when my appendix was in acute distress. Before the CT the doctors kept saying I looked fine and it wasn't a high priority case. Who knows how long I would have been waiting around if Alana hadn't come and been so insistent that they pay attention to me!

I've always lamented the fact that I've paid thousands of dollars into insurance that I've never needed. I feel a little vindicated at this moment because I've recouped a portion of that money, received pretty good medical care, and didn't even have a copay.

I'm home now and excited to see what it is like to have a body that is recovering from surgery.

Oh, and from my recovery room window, I could just make out the Mediterranean Sea! How nice is that!