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!