The other side of the glass

Day 1:
Had a rough nights sleep, went into work and slogged through a day shift. Transported a Patient with ?Gastro and after a bit was feeling a little under the weather. Got home, made a quick dinner, decided to call in sick for the next shift and went to bed. Woke up 11pm with a general abdominal pain, thought 'damn gastro' spent the next few hours trying to ignore the pain.

Day 2:
Around 4 hours after the abdominal pain started and... other... gastro-like symptoms, I decided I'd better pop into the local hospital for some fluids and maybe an antibiotic to clear the system. Get admitted quickly (thanks friends in triage!), am reviewed and discharged a few hours (and 2 liters of fluids to get back to normotensive!) later feeling a bit better, abdo pain somewhat lessened. Get home, abdo pain gets worse.
General trend continue through day, until I notice it's starting to migrate predominantly lower right quadrant. Uh oh. Rebound pain? Damn. Rovsing's sign? DAMN. It's around 11pm and after a momentary contemplation of calling an ambulance (the people at station would never let me live it down!) I make my way back to hospital... ?appendicitis.
I'm admitted VERY quickly (thanks friends in triage!) given the circumstances where I wait for what I know to come shortly.

Day 3:
Come to think of it, at this point I hadn't slept since Day 1. Am reviewed shortly after midnight by a wonderful ED doctor who confirms my provincial diagnosis (why couldn't she just take my word on the Rovsing's sign? That hurts like F*&%). I'm sent to surgery for an emergency appendectomy. I wake several hours later, a few minor scars and, compared to the abdo pain of appendicitis I'm pain free!

The recovery:
Well I hate being limited by what I can or can't do, but hey... That's life. What I have found invaluable from the whole experience is what it's like going through the system from the patient's perspective. It's completely different from what I had expected and I cannot sing praise for the fantastic work the doctors, nurses and fellow ambo's did for me while I was admitted. As part of the Health system I've known how stuffed up the system is for a long time, but to see the system MADE to work by those inside for the benefit of their patient was incredible and once more I am proud to be a part of it.

I'll keep everyone updated with how I go from here!

EMSPA (NSW) Inc.

Lately I've been caught up working for EMSPA (NSW) Inc., an Assocation of Emergency Medical Service Men and Women fighting for the rights and legal protection of their peers.

Suffice to say this has kept me very busy, but has been a very rewarding and educational experience for me. This experience has also made me VERY grateful for my time spent with the Biomedical Society, which at the time was a fun almost hobby like activity - now many of the same principles and legalities are applying (with of course some alterations), the Association is run by Committee and I feel much more at ease with the way things are done thanks to the previous experiences.

Which makes me glad that I took the time when I was younger to do these sorts of things... I tend to be a real work-a-holic, always trying to keep myself flat out doing SOMETHING - at times the weight has made me tremble but so far I've held steady. I've learned my limits - although I push them from time to time to see if they're still there, and it's only when I look back do I realise that by the age of 23, I've already accomplished things that make me proud of how I've lived my life. And I only plan to achieve more and more before I'm ready to hit the grave.

The biggest lesson I have to learn is to take more time aside from WORK to SOCIAL... But more on that another day.

Smile! EMSPA has your back, Brothers and Sisters - and we're all dedicated as hell to make this work!