NHS appendicitis nightmare

[Nolongerokay]

I'm desperate and don't know where else to turn.
My husband (60yrs old) had abdominal pains on Thursday (4 days ago now) and put it down to something he ate. Very reluctant to be struck down by pain, hard worker, so I suspect he's been uncomfortable longer.

On Saturday morning (yesterday at 10am), we went to the a&e when he was doubled-over in pain that was worsening. After practically begging to doctor to do a blood test before they sent him home (they said his vitals don't show elevated pain markers and they'd give him antibiotics just in case it was appendicitis), they found the infection markers very elevated. They also did a CT scan.
The surgery team said he is not to go home and processed him to be admitted for surgery. This was 6pm so we were there for 8hrs at first, waiting around for tests, etc

That was yesterday. They've been giving him morphine every 4 hours for the pain and IV fluids because he can't eat or drink anything before the surgery which was supposed to be last night. Other emergencies came in so it was pushed to this morning. We've waited all day today, no surgery, just lying in the bed. So he hasn't had anything to eat or drink for 48hrs now.

They were hoping the surgery would be tonight before 10pm at very latest but another emergency took his slot so they said it will be tomorrow now. I've been kicked out of the ward and I'm home.

Does anyone have experience of appendicitis in adulthood? Aren't they afraid it will rupture and cause bigger complications? I'm terrified and can't sleep. Aibu to think this is really bad?
What can I do please? Please help!

Your poor husband, I hope he has his surgery soon. This is the state of the NHS sadly, it’s not acceptable though

My sons friend had about the worst case with waiting. He was bumped for a few days, they discovered a reason they were t keen on operating. It dragged out for over a week and was got under control with antibiotics. Went home to be removed at a later date. 6 months on another flare up, went in for removal and a key test was missed causing surgery to be cancelled last min. Much less pain or problem and sent home again after a day. So in summary it appears it’s not fun but it can be managed it appears longer term, if that rests your mind a little.

No experience of appendicitis, but we asked when I was in waiting for an emergency slot for post birth surgery, and we were told IV fluids is fluids only - ie no energy. If the operation hasn't happened by the time you go in this afternoon, it might be worth checking what your husband is getting. If he is only getting fluids then he will have been fasting for over 48 hours by this afternoon which definitely not help how he is feeling! I eventually got approval to eat and drink between 6 pm (when there was definitely no chance of going in on today's list) and something like midnight (when I needed to start fasting again in case I was first on tomorrow's).

I think the NHS is on its knees. My aunt (elderly) was admitted in the morning to the majors ward (finally) with severe abdominal pain and vomiting and then left for hours with no assessment, no support - literally lying on the floor in pain, falling over on the way to the loo, and had a twisted bowel. Then was transferred to another hospital . No surgery til the early hours. It was awful, and really scary that no one was interested in her and I had to keep advocating for someone to come to her.

Oh, I'm so very sorry OP. I'll see if I can get it removed. I hope your DH is sorted soon.

I had a gangerous appendix and it had began to rupture, this all happened in 3 days. Thursday night I went out on a works night out, felt terrible all day Saturday but son was vomiting too so assumed a bug. But then pain started on the Sunday and I was on the floor in agony. But drove myself (god knows how) to out of hours Doc based at the hospital Sunday night who gave anti sickness and said see GP Monday morning.

GP sent me to A&E, bloods showed some elevation in CRP levels but not major. Scheduled for surgery Tuesday, interesting the pain was easing which was scary but this is when it began to rupture. Surgery ended up being converted to open surgery from keyhole as the gangerous appendix was stuck to the abdomen wall and in a real mess. I had some decent pain relief post surgery and was released after 4 days but still on some powerful antibiotics to clear the infection.

Seven months later ended up with a gallbladder removal and unfortunately due to damage caused by gallstones ended up with a major surgery called a whipple which removed the head of my pancreas and re plumbed it all. Honestly I was a healthy 30yr old before all of that! He’s in safe hands, try not to worry. They will be keeping a close eye on him

He won't be able to eat because of the complications and stress digesting food can add to appendicitis - it can cause a bowel blockage so no food is recommended until everything is sorted

Ds had appendicitis during covid.
He was bumped from surgery several times and finally went in 24 hours after he'd been admitted.

He'd at that point not eaten for well over 48 hours, but he didn't want to eat, which I was told was typical. If he's hungry and wanting to eat then he's doing okay.
When ds came round afterwards he ate four bowls of cereal.

Also I very much doubt he wants to eat, I certainly couldn’t eat a thing, couldn’t stop vomiting

Because it’s much more risky if you’ve eaten, but emergencies outweigh the risk. Is he even hungry? I certainly wasn’t but guess it’s a good sign if he is (mine was gangerous and rupturing). I’d not eaten for days but they still insisted on telling me they’d have to put their hands around my throat when putting me to sleep incase I vomited as it was non elective surgery. It wasn’t pleasant as that was my first surgery. Now I love a general anaesthetic!

I had similar - I went in on Wednesday morning and was eventually operated on Saturday afternoon. In that time I had a sandwich on the Wednesday afternoon that I begged from the nurses after finding out I wouldn’t be operated on that day.

I’d had antibiotic treatment before. When a GP says ‘we can give you these strong antibiotics or you can go straight to hospital’ and you don’t want to ‘make a fuss’.

Appendix was removed fine, although they had to switch to open surgery as it was too nasty to remove via the laparoscopic route. I was home Sunday afternoon and no lasting issues.

Mine was open surgery because they weren't sure it was definitely appendix. Recovery was fine, it's a tiny cut.

Also don't worry about him not eating, he won't want to eat anyway.

When I had an emergency appendectomy five years ago, I was a similar age and was told that I was too old to have appendicitis. After scans etc it was decided I needed it to come out and was given the choice of surgery with a skeleton staff that night or fully staffed next day. I chose next day and waited until the afternoon. I didn't feel like eating anyway.
It turned out that my appendix wasn't infected but pre-cancerous and that why it had happened in my sixties.

@return2sender can I ask how far along you were when you had appendicitis? I also have it, I'm 12 weeks and been treated with antibiotics as potential increased risk during first trimester for surgery. Symptoms havnt fully gone tho so I feel I may have to return 😩 sorry don't want to take oVer the thread, HopiNg your husband is sorted today OP!

Not in adulthood but I had to have my appendix out as a child and it transpired that it had ruptured. It was gangrene apparently. I'm still alive! It was INCREDIBLY painful though. But the recovery from the op was quick, I remember maybe a week after running around with friends.
Hope he gets seen soon.

Hi OP - I had a “grumbling appendix” for several years before my appendix were actually removed when I was 40. You can have appendicitis multiple times before it needs surgery, three times antibiotics prevented the need for surgery for me. It’s not well known but is how it’s usually handled now. They prep you for surgery but antibiotics often solve the immediate need so the NHS can prioritise more urgent patients (though I know it feels very very urgent to your DH).

4th time I had appendicitis my appendix was finally removed, largely because I wasn’t in the UK when it happened.

Try to keep calm. To reassure you my first bout I spent ten days in pain but they never burst. Hope it’s okay - send DH my sympathy!!

He probably won’t want to eat straight after his surgery anyway so having the surgery won’t necessarily cure the no food issue.

Hi I was 6 months. It had been grumbling throughout my pregnancy but hadn't realised it was appendicitis at the time, it would come periodically and felt like trapped wind. This was until the pain stayed and I couldn't take it anymore.

I had an MRI scan instead of a CT due to the radiation risk.

Hope you are feeling better soon x

He’s being monitored and hopefully surgery will happen today.

Unfortunately, emergency surgery will always take precedent.

NHS have no staff that’s the problem.

Skilled surgeons, drs and OPD’s can only do so much in a shift. It’s not right that your husband has had to wait so long but it is just the way it is.

We have 1 emergency theatre in my hospital which runs 24 hours a day.

If you're lucky, you come in unwell and there's only one or two people above you on rhe list so you're operated on within a few hours. Recently I've known the list be as long as 10 people.

If anyone who is more emergent comes in you drop down. If there's any change in medical condition the nurses update the surgeons who reprioritise if they need to.

At night there's 1 reg and 1 junior operating and another junior on the wards.if there's anything urgent they have to stop to attend to that.

It's not a brilliant system but it's currently the best we've got.

I had this in my 40s a few years ago. Mine had ruptured so I was on an antibiotic drip waiting for surgery. Despite the urgency, I still had to wait 24 hours for surgery - and they eventually did do it in the middle of the night, so did their very best to keep me from waiting.
It was all awful and recovery was awful but I was fine after a few months.
I sipped water while waiting, they told me that was fine, last thing I wanted to do was eat though! I lost almost 2 stone in 2 weeks.

When somebody is given a general anaesthetic there is a risk that their stomach contacts will come back up their food pipe and them go in to their lungs. If the lungs are flooded with vomit this can cause infection and death.
If immediate surgery is required to save a life this is considered a risk worth taking.
For anything else, they fast.

@return2sender yes that's what mine feels like, I think it's grumbling as just like a niggling pain that comes and goes but hasn't got any worse 🤞🏼 but don't want it to get to the point that it does

Happened to me, admitted and they couldn’t decide if I had appendicitis or an infection to begin with. Turns out it was partial ruptured appendicitis. I think admitted on the Monday prepped for surgery Wednesday but it didn’t happen till Saturday, every day it was nil by mouth then luckily by 6pm in was allowed to eat then nil my mouth after midnight.

As it had start to rupture I had a drain fitted after surgery so had to stay in a bit longer. Loads of antibiotics for weeks after and all good.

This happened to me about three years ago. I did pretend it wasn't happening for too long in retrospect, and was very ill by the time I was admitted (although not in much pain interestingly). I was lucky that the hospital was trialling a new protocol and has a CT scanner actually in A&E, so the cause was spotted quickly and I was operated on very early the following day after presenting at A&E early evening.

I had peritonitis and was in for just over a week in the end. Horrible. But as others have said he's in the right place now, and I hope he's dealt with today. I didn't eat at all for about 5 days in total, pre and post op. That element will be fine as it can be managed in hospital. I had no appetite whatsoever. Not in the least bit hungry. Very strange.