In the UK - I was diagnosed with CT confirmed uncomplicated appendicitis and wanted and expected an appendectomy as i understood that to be the most appropriate treatment for me.
The NHS surgeon refused to take my appendix out. He told me “surgery to treat appendicitis is outdated and a mistake of the past and antibiotics is better and the future of treatment”. When I continued to argue for surgery - telling him that neither he nor I knew what was causing my appendicitis nor what condition my appendix would be left in after treatment. I explained that this was important to me as I live on a remote island with no doctor and work offshore as a commercial diver so I needed a definitive cure. He replied that after treatment my appendix would “shrivel up and be cured” and that “there is a mortality associated with surgery, don’t you know” and that the reoccurrence rate of appendicitis after antibiotic treatment is “15%”. I went further - I said I ran a business and had employees so couldn’t afford to risk reoccurrence - his reply was “..the antibiotic treatment option will be like money in the bank for your business.” What he was saying seemed unsupportable to me - the surgeon seemed to me to be on a bit of a one-man-crusade to prove antibiotics was better than surgery.
The surgeon continued to resolutely refuse surgery and treated me with triple IV antibiotics and IV paracetamol - up to 15 infusions pumped into me per day - for 5 days until. The surgeon then discharged me telling me I was cured.. As I was discharged I said to the surgeon “this has all been a bit experimental”. The surgeon snorted down his nose in reply and said “you have no more chance of coming back in here with appendicitis than the average man in the street”. Well that sounded pretty emphatic - but luckily I didn’t believe a word of it….
My GP was horrified with how I had been treated and said “I don’t want you with a dodgy appendix any more than you want to have a dodgy appendix”. He referred me to a big hospital in Glasgow for a second opinion and to get my appendix out - and wrote an escalation letter shortly afterwards. However, that referral (unbeknown to me and my GP) was effectively refused and put on a one year wait list.
Eventually, 4 months later, I gave up on the NHS and borrowed money and paid a private surgeon in Glasgow to take my appendix out for me. That’s when the tumour in my appendix was found that had caused my appendicitis. As a 47 year old a tumour causing appendecitis is not that uncommon, it’s often not visable in scans, and that’s why the appendix is removed, especially in older patients.. Because it was left in me it had gone on to rupture, probably twice, so had become a stage 4 tumour (no longer contained) and appendectomy no longer considered curative..
As a wee bonus - I’ve also been diagnosed with Metronizadol nurotoxicity which was one of the IV antibiotics pumped into me in vast quantities. This has caused persistent and seemingly 2 years later permanent brain injury and possibly peripheral neuropathy.. So the antibiotics option did not work out too well for me.
I’ve subsequently found out that the real-world long-term reoccurrence rate of appendicitis after antibiotic treatment is about 50%.. The 15% the NHS surgeon quoted was hopelessly misleading. In fact it seems the surgeon was fanatical about the use of antibiotics to treat appendicitis. A experienced colorectal surgeon later told me that there is a minority of surgeons out there who are ”evangelical” about the use of antibiotic for appendicitis and in his view a danger to patent safety.
My question is - are other people out there being misinformed about the risks and being treated with antibiotics instead of surgery..? What are you being told..? I’m very, very keen to hear you experiences relating to all ages..