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Ds recovery from burst appendix

26 replies

solomonsfish85 · 27/12/2019 08:59

Have been in the hospital with ds since Christmas day he had severe pain and vomiting they brought him straight in to remove his appendix. Afterwards they said it had already burst.
He was ok yesterday recovering got out of bed and had slight pain like i expected.
Last night was bad he has had painful cramps on and off vomiting again and I'm going out of my mind with worry. 2 doctors have seen him and said it's normal and could be a reaction to painkillers.
My anxiety is through the roof though and I keep thinking the worst will happen he was in so much pain again.

Has anyone any similar experiences with appendix recovery with kids?
He is 14

OP posts:
Nordicwannabe · 27/12/2019 13:48

That sounds awful, and terrifying.

Take reassurance that doctors have seen him and said it's OK. Whilst we are our children's most important advocates - and should always keep open the possibility that mistakes have been made - the doctors do know what they're doing and care enormously.

A friend's son had his appendix out last year. It hadn't burst, but had been left longer than ideal and he was really very unwell with it. He was in hospital for about a week after it was taken out, and had several bad spells with serious pain in the days and weeks afterwards. They thought that the episodes after the operation were caused by adhesions - things sticking together which shouldn't - as the body heals. Then I believed the adhesion gets unstuck. The post-operation episodes were as bad as the original appendicitis, and it was a really awful, scary time for the family. You can't help fearing the worst. But the episodes reduced in frequency over time (several months) and the child (8 years old) is now fine.

Hope your son is better soon. Flowers

Minai · 27/12/2019 14:00

I can only give you my experience of having my appendix removed last year, age 32, although mine hadn’t burst. The first few days were really, really difficult. It felt like it would be a long and hard recovery but then I started to improve really quickly and by 1 week post op I was back to looking after my children by myself and up and about like normal. I understand it is a bit longer if the appendix has actually burst but it is really early days. I hope he’s feeling better soon!

solomonsfish85 · 27/12/2019 14:21

Thanks for the replies guys ismts really shitty people have to go through all this but I'm glad its not totally abnormal to be going through this, it has just been the worst few days of my life and his. I was up all night with him and I had plenty of time through bad pain episodes of his to be thinking the worst. His dad is with him now so I could come home for a few hours and rest.
He looks like a new child again with his dad. I think it's only when I'm there he is bad. They are keeping his off the painkiller they think caused the vomiting and pain so fingers crossed he isn't as bad again.
Thanks so much again for the replies they are a light in the dark at the moment

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singleedition · 27/12/2019 14:38

I had a ruptured appendix a few years ago when I was 17, it was awful and I didn’t really start to feel any better until about 2 weeks post surgery- within that period there were good and bad spells. I remember the surgeon telling me recovery is always harder after the appendix ruptures because of the risk of peritonitis, coupled with the cocktail of meds they stick you on it does take a while for things to settle down and it’s awful when they cramps can be as bad as actual appendicitis!

Sending love to you and your son. Hopefully he starts to feel a bit better soon x

solomonsfish85 · 27/12/2019 14:51

He said that last night when he was getting them that it felt nearly as bad as the pain before he had the appendix out. In our minds it's you had it out why are you still getting pains!
I just feel so helpless and wish i could take the pain from him.
I did think when they gave him the stronger painkiller that itll prob upset his tummy.
They gave him anti sickness injection then and he was like someone high on drugs, I was so scared, poor boy is getting injected left right and centre he is being so brave. I'm the big scared cat then.

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Runnerduck34 · 27/12/2019 14:55

My DD had a ruptured appendix , was initially misdiagnosed by gp as a virus, by the time it was correctly diagnosed appendix had ruptured, was in hospital.for a week, was in a lot of pain and on morphine post op. Took him about 4 weeks to be back.to normal. 2 weeks after operation he had new swelling in wound area, went back to GP was told it was normal unfortunately it wasn't, wound burst with puss - sorry tmi!- and was rushed back to hospital with suspected perentinitis , fortunately infection hadn't spread, this was all over Xmas a few years ago so you have my sympathy. Keep an eye on him, some pain will be normal after op but if you are concerned I'd recommend going to a and e rather than GP , just think they are much more aware of what they are looking at and what is and isn't normal. Though admittedly we were probably just unlucky at GPs. Hope he is better soon.

solomonsfish85 · 27/12/2019 15:19

Sorry to hear you went through it too runnerduck, and it being Christmas just makes it seem all so worse for him. We initially thought it was food poisoning because the pain started to come at him monday night after he was the only one to eat a spicy chinese. But got more worried when he kept vomiting and bad pains. Christmas morning we decided to ring ooh doc and the minute they saw him it was straight to a and e, it burst already before surgery so we were just on time cant imagine if we left it longer it kills me.

They have him on a drip with antibiotics since the op the surgeon that performed on him has just seen him and said it was such a bad one that its normal to feel the pain, and to try eat some icecream again today and walk around a bit.
So grateful for the replies xx

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musicinspring1 · 27/12/2019 15:24

My daughter had a burst appendix when she was 9 - it was awful and she was in hospital for 10 days and didn’t feel herself for a while afterwards - it took a long time. Do keep an eye out for any high temp and pain where the scar is as she got a post op infection and was back in hospital - rare so don’t panic but just to keep in mind xx

solomonsfish85 · 27/12/2019 15:30

Thanks musicinspring. I have all this kept in the back of my mind just in case, I mad the mistake of googling yesterday and scared myself silly. My partner his dad is so much better with all this kind of stuff i really do think of the worst all the time, I feel like such a shit mother, trying to stay positive is so hard and he needs someone strong with him. I put on a brave face but I'm falling to pieces behind it. I just want to run away from everything. I feel selfish now too thinking how I feel when my poor boy is the one really suffering.

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redexpat · 27/12/2019 15:32

Mine was taken out when I was 13. It really hurt afterwards. It hurt more than giving birth. Keep an eye on temp, how many mls of liquid are going in and how much is coming up.

Ronan1970 · 01/01/2020 20:40

How is your son now? Sending good thoughts x

solomonsfish85 · 01/01/2020 22:10

He is home! Hes doing much better. Gradually got better over the last few days.
He's moaning and groaning about silly things so that's a good sign!
Thanks for asking Roman Flowers

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lilgreen · 01/01/2020 22:14

What a rotten Christmas! My DD had an emergency appendix removal aged 4! By the time they operated it had started to perforate and was sitting in pus. She was still spiking a fever for a day or 2 after and we went home 4. After that recovery was straight forward but had a course of antibiotics to continue at home. Hope he’s ok soon.

solomonsfish85 · 01/01/2020 22:18

Ya they sent us home with antibiotics aswel. Has a follow up next week at the hospital so fingers crossed everything will be good!
This Christmas hasn't done well for my nerves I tell you that!
I can only imagine what it was like with a 4 year old. Ds is 14 and he is traumatized from it all Flowers

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lilgreen · 01/01/2020 22:20

Honestly it was the worst experience. I had a 1 year old at home too. We were a tag team so DD was never alone. She’s 19 now and very well since thank god!

lilgreen · 01/01/2020 22:21

Glad you got a follow up. We never did!!

TWD89 · 01/01/2020 22:29

Hi OP

This has only just popped up so might be a little late but my experience with DS15 last year with burst appendix and blood infection. By the time we got him to A&E he was grey, purple lips, violently shivering and shallow breathing. Two hours before he had “a bit of stomach ache”!

The appendix was very badly burst and left pockets of infection everywhere. He had 14 days in hospital, managed three days at home before being in serious pain and going back in for 48 hours.

The pain that comes afterwards is trapped air from the cleaning out procedure and is apparently very common. DS had more pain with this than the original appendicitis!

He had four separate courses of antibiotics and it took around six weeks for the infections to fully subside. He was exhausted for around 6 weeks too - to the point of barely being able to walk across the room. He certainly couldn’t manage stairs and had to sleep downstairs.

It was about 9 weeks before he was close to being back to normal pain wise. But he was still very tired. He missed a lot of school - for a whole term he either wasn’t there at all or was on reduced days - he fell asleep by midday. Every single day.

It took six months for him to no longer need a nap in the daytime.

He lost nearly 2 stone in weight. However he did put it back on in the last six months or so.

It really knocked him out so prepare for what could be a long recovery.

Hope he’s okay soon.

solomonsfish85 · 02/01/2020 19:34

Oh god! You really were put through the wars with all them complications!
Ds is in great form, he had his nurse appointment today to check his bandages and change them,they said everything was looking good!
Iys strange that its mostly teenage boys you hear of having their appendix out. The amount of people that said oh my ds had to have the same

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Aurignacian · 02/01/2020 19:55

My 14 year old son had a ruptured appendix a couple of months ago. He was really ill after the surgery which the medics said was possibly a reaction to the anaesthetic. He was in hospital for a week and lost lots of weight. He’s still not 100% tbh but getting there

Rollonspringtime2020 · 02/01/2020 19:58

Ds had a ruptured appendix less than 6 weeks before his army training start date!!
He managed to get back to full fitness and started as intended!!
Phew!

solomonsfish85 · 02/01/2020 22:16

Thank goodness for that rolling!
Ya you can see my ds has lost some weight aswel. He didnt really have it to lose hes so small and skinny for his age, he definitely has his appetite back hes eating all around him!

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Rollonspringtime2020 · 02/01/2020 22:20

After a couple of weeks ds started gentle walks building up to daily runs with ddog!!

Mummy080815 · 29/03/2023 21:33

My daughter has just had her appendix removed hers had burst and then got sick from the puss.
She's much better but has diarrhea so have to get her checked again

MammyNACE · 27/06/2023 00:23

@Mummy080815
How is your daughter now. My 5 year old is in hospital 4days post surgery. Perforated appendix. Still having fevers, they have changed antibiotics twice now. How long was hospital stay with your DS. How long did she have antibiotics before infection from rupture cleared?

Ronan1970 · 27/06/2023 08:54

Hi there the first thing to say is mine is now 13 and fighting fit and bolshy. It’s such a difficult time and you will be so worried. Sending strength. To answer your questions. Mine was in for two weeks and then discharged then back in for another two weeks. She was on antibiotics for a while I think 2 months., it took time to find the right ones. She has a bad rupture. Send me any more questions you have any time xxxx