In the ER. I was given a bed and some medication. When the pain didn't go away I was given more medication. I described my symptoms as well as I could, though I feel like my medicine-related Indonesian vocabulary isn't quite where it needs to be. They asked a lot of questions. One of the doctors asked me if I liked eating spicy food, actually his exact words were: "do you have hobby to eating much chili?". I was confused by this question but later found out that many Indonesian's believe that appendicitis is caused by eating too much chili, as the chili seeds fill up the appendix. Next, a nurse came to ask some questions.
"Are you married?" she asked with a very serious look on her face.
I told her I wasn't and she left. Right after she left I realised that she wasn't really trying to ask about my marital status but more about the likeliness of me being pregnant without saying the words. A few moments later, a doctor came in.
"Excuse me, I have to ask you a personal question. I'm sorry." He said. I felt a little confused that he was apologising, a normal part of being a doctor is asking personal questions right?
"I just wanted to ask if you have had sex?" He asked awkwardly. I almost wanted to laugh because it seemed funny to see a doctor struggle to ask such a basic question. I convinced him that I couldn't be pregnant and he left still looking like he felt quite awkward.
The pain continued. By now it was a reasonable time of day so I messaged my friend Joy and she came to the hospital (I have good friends YAY!). The doctor told me I needed to have an ultrasound. I was in a lot of pain but it seemed like there was a long wait. A nurse came and asked Joy to go with her. Apparently, she tried to get Joy to pay for my hospital fees up to that point. This is what annoyed me the most about the hospital. Firstly, they weren't set up to deal with patients directly and they seemed to rely on you having family there to sort out payments and wouldn't communicate directly to me as the patient. They repeatedly asked me where my family was during my stay and opted to communicate to my friends (who mostly aren't fluent in Indonesian) rather than to me. And secondly, the importance on the payment- they wouldn't do much until someone had paid for it even though I couldn't really leave without paying anyway. Eventually after a lot of confusion, they agreed to let me pay for my ultrasound later.
I went in and took the test. I guess it was a normal ultrasound, but I'm not really sure. It was kind of cool to see all my internal organs at least. The ultrasound man pushed really hard on my stomach with the probe and then would say stuff like "does it hurt here?" but I think it would always hurt because he was pushing really hard. He did find the problem with my appendix and sent me away with a cool photo album of scans of inside of me.
After that, I had to go pay for my test. It seems ridiculous that I was in that much pain and they still had me go to the front counter to pay for my scan. When I went back to my bed in the ER, someone else was already in it. I was told to go to another bed.
I was in so much pain, possibly the worst pain I have ever felt and I have 8 tattoos and have had a root canal without any anesthetic (yay for Indonesian dentistry), so I know real pain. Joy started talking about some stuff in an effort to distract me from the pain. She was talking about boy stuff. I was trying to think of something encouraging to say to help her with her boy problems. Instead, I vomited.
Not long after that, I was told that I would need surgery. I responded by acting very strong. I definitely didn't cry and certainly wasn't begging them to let me go back to Australia to have my surgery. Eventually (after a lot of encouragement from friends) I agreed to have surgery in Indonesia and was admitted to hospital. The hospital gave me a cute welcome pack with random stuff like a mug, toothbrush, comb and a thermometer.
I was in so much pain, possibly the worst pain I have ever felt and I have 8 tattoos and have had a root canal without any anesthetic (yay for Indonesian dentistry), so I know real pain. Joy started talking about some stuff in an effort to distract me from the pain. She was talking about boy stuff. I was trying to think of something encouraging to say to help her with her boy problems. Instead, I vomited.
Not long after that, I was told that I would need surgery. I responded by acting very strong. I definitely didn't cry and certainly wasn't begging them to let me go back to Australia to have my surgery. Eventually (after a lot of encouragement from friends) I agreed to have surgery in Indonesia and was admitted to hospital. The hospital gave me a cute welcome pack with random stuff like a mug, toothbrush, comb and a thermometer.
After that, Joy had to go to work and there I was in the ER still crying like a baby and waiting for my bed upstairs to be ready. Random people kept staring at me which made me even more uncomfortable. I had some colleagues from work come to check on me and I was waiting for my friend Intan to come and see me. The doctors and nurses kept asking me why I was crying. I guess I was worried because I don't really trust the doctors here. A few months ago I was trying to find an explanation for a stomach pain. The doctors seemed to get the diagnosis completely wrong and one doctor even told me I had a high temperature when my temperature was 36.7 degrees. I wasn't really confident in the doctor's abilities.
Finally, I was moved upstairs to my bed. I was in a room with 6 other people and they all seemed to have a million guests visiting each of them. It was not very comfortable. I hadn't had any gall day and now I wasn't allowed to because they wanted to do the surgery that night. I felt freezing cold and terrified about the idea of having surgery in Indonesia. My friend Intan visiting was a welcome distraction but I felt much more worried soon after when I met my anesthesiologist. She seemed extremely arrogant from the moment she walked into the room.
"Do you have a stomach ache?" she asked me.
"No I don't anymore." I answered
"If you don't have a stomach ache, then why are you having surgery?" she asked.
"I don't know... I think the pain only stopped because of the medication"
"Did it hurt here?" she asked while pointing to her lower stomach
"No the pain was up higher" I answered showing her where it had hurt earlier.
"But the appendix isn't up there. Why are you getting your appendix out then?"
"Why are you asking me this? I'm not a doctor." I asked frustrated.
"Okay, later I will put a needle in your back before the surgery." she said.
"What? Why do I need a needle in my spine?" I asked
"Don't worry it doesn't even hurt" she said and left.
I wondered why she said this because her visit only made me more scared about the surgery and dread the idea of a needle in my spine.
Later, not long before my surgery, my friend Oliver visited. It was good because I had someone there right before the surgery. He left when the nurses came in to shave the lower half of my body (which was super weird as well). Then, I was wheeled into the surgery room.
I felt like there were a lot of people in the room but mostly they were nice. As I mentioned before, I have 8 tattoos and most of them are related to Indonesia. The nurses helping to prepare me for surgery were quick to notice them. One of them sang "Garuda di pahaku" (garuda on my thigh) dramatically after seeing my tattoo of Garuda Pancasila. Next, someone noticed the tattoo of the map of Indonesia which is located exactly where my appendix is.
"Your tattoo is right where we need to cut! What should we do?" a nurse asked.
"Well, you can't really cut from the back, right? So I guess you will cut though my tattoo." I answered.
"But your tattoo might get ruined" he said
"There's not any other option really." I said.
I saw the anesthesiologist from earlier come into the room.
"Hello!" she said "I'm here to give you that needle in the back." It almost felt like she was enjoying making me scared.
The nurses rolled me onto my side to prepare me for the moment I had been dreading. The anesthesiologist noticed a tattoo on the side of my body.
"Oh nice komodo!" she said "you like Komodo island?"
"That's a crocodile!" I said truly worrying about her intelligence if she couldn't even identify a picture of a crocodile.
"It's Surabaya!" said one of the nurses "there's a shark and a crocodile. It's Suro-boyo!"
The anesthesiologist next noticed a tattoo on my back.
"What's this?" she asked reading the words of my tattoo "It sounds lebay!". (lebay means something like over the top or excessive)
I found the way she was talking to me so rude.
"So what if it's lebay?" I said as she put the needle into my spine.
Soon the lower half of my body was completely numb and I couldn't move at all. I heard the doctor and nurse discussing where they were going to make the incision. I wondered why I was still awake.
"We should start here at the bottom of Sulawesi, cut below Kalimantan towards Sumatra" I heard someone say. I'm glad my tattoo gave made things easy on them. Soon I could tell from looking at the reflection in the light above that they had made the incision.
"Can you feel anything?" asked the anesthesiologist.
"No. Can I just go to sleep now?" I asked. It seemed like a better idea than having to talk to her.
"Soon" she replied.
The next thing I remember was waking up. The first thing I saw was my appendix. A nurse was holding it with some tweezers right in front of my face.
"Look how big your appendix is!" he said energetically.
"Oh, yeah... that's nice..." I said sleepily.
I was moved to a recovery room where my friends entered not long after. I felt so relieved that I was alive and all I could do was laugh. The doctor soon made my friends leave and I tried to sleep a little.
Soon, when I was able to move my toes a little, I was moved back to my hospital room. Joy was there waiting for me. I was so relieved to see her. Because I couldn't move, the nurses had to basically roll me into the hospital bed which was actually pretty funny. Joy had brought all the important things someone needs in hospital: some clothes, socks, a book and most importantly some Tim Tams.
I was woken up many times during the night for tests and stuff. I remember one lady who came into my room.
"Do you want a bath?" she asked.
"What time is it?" I asked sleepily.
"4:00 AM' she replied.
"No one wants a bath at 4:00 AM" I said and fell back asleep.
When I woke up in the morning, I asked a nurse if I could eat and drink yet. Soon I was given some soggy rice to eat. The hospital food was awful. I asked the nurse if I could eat some chocolate instead but she said told me just to eat soggy rice and porridge for a week. I decided against this because from what I read online I should resume a normal diet after 24 hours and also because soggy rice is gross.
That day, I had a lot of visitors. I got sent flowers from work and my housemates also came with some flowers. My other housemate brought me food (which was amazing). In the evening Joy came with our friend Billy and our housekeeper Parmi. Parmi started crying when she saw me even though I told her that I was fine over and over. She seemed very worried about me. I had kept my appendix in a jar to show her because the day before she had suspected that my pain was caused by "eating late" and I wanted to prove that it wasn't.
My mum said that it was gross that I had my appendix in a jar but I was determined to keep it forever. Mum said that it wouldn't be allowed into Australia which made me imagine myself at customs trying to argue that I had it with me the last time I flew to Australia (although it was inside me then) or that they had to let me bring it because it was Australian made.
Finally, I was moved upstairs to my bed. I was in a room with 6 other people and they all seemed to have a million guests visiting each of them. It was not very comfortable. I hadn't had any gall day and now I wasn't allowed to because they wanted to do the surgery that night. I felt freezing cold and terrified about the idea of having surgery in Indonesia. My friend Intan visiting was a welcome distraction but I felt much more worried soon after when I met my anesthesiologist. She seemed extremely arrogant from the moment she walked into the room.
"Do you have a stomach ache?" she asked me.
"No I don't anymore." I answered
"If you don't have a stomach ache, then why are you having surgery?" she asked.
"I don't know... I think the pain only stopped because of the medication"
"Did it hurt here?" she asked while pointing to her lower stomach
"No the pain was up higher" I answered showing her where it had hurt earlier.
"But the appendix isn't up there. Why are you getting your appendix out then?"
"Why are you asking me this? I'm not a doctor." I asked frustrated.
"Okay, later I will put a needle in your back before the surgery." she said.
"What? Why do I need a needle in my spine?" I asked
"Don't worry it doesn't even hurt" she said and left.
I wondered why she said this because her visit only made me more scared about the surgery and dread the idea of a needle in my spine.
Later, not long before my surgery, my friend Oliver visited. It was good because I had someone there right before the surgery. He left when the nurses came in to shave the lower half of my body (which was super weird as well). Then, I was wheeled into the surgery room.
I felt like there were a lot of people in the room but mostly they were nice. As I mentioned before, I have 8 tattoos and most of them are related to Indonesia. The nurses helping to prepare me for surgery were quick to notice them. One of them sang "Garuda di pahaku" (garuda on my thigh) dramatically after seeing my tattoo of Garuda Pancasila. Next, someone noticed the tattoo of the map of Indonesia which is located exactly where my appendix is.
"Your tattoo is right where we need to cut! What should we do?" a nurse asked.
"Well, you can't really cut from the back, right? So I guess you will cut though my tattoo." I answered.
"But your tattoo might get ruined" he said
"There's not any other option really." I said.
I saw the anesthesiologist from earlier come into the room.
"Hello!" she said "I'm here to give you that needle in the back." It almost felt like she was enjoying making me scared.
The nurses rolled me onto my side to prepare me for the moment I had been dreading. The anesthesiologist noticed a tattoo on the side of my body.
"Oh nice komodo!" she said "you like Komodo island?"
"That's a crocodile!" I said truly worrying about her intelligence if she couldn't even identify a picture of a crocodile.
"It's Surabaya!" said one of the nurses "there's a shark and a crocodile. It's Suro-boyo!"
The anesthesiologist next noticed a tattoo on my back.
"What's this?" she asked reading the words of my tattoo "It sounds lebay!". (lebay means something like over the top or excessive)
I found the way she was talking to me so rude.
"So what if it's lebay?" I said as she put the needle into my spine.
Soon the lower half of my body was completely numb and I couldn't move at all. I heard the doctor and nurse discussing where they were going to make the incision. I wondered why I was still awake.
"We should start here at the bottom of Sulawesi, cut below Kalimantan towards Sumatra" I heard someone say. I'm glad my tattoo gave made things easy on them. Soon I could tell from looking at the reflection in the light above that they had made the incision.
"Can you feel anything?" asked the anesthesiologist.
"No. Can I just go to sleep now?" I asked. It seemed like a better idea than having to talk to her.
"Soon" she replied.
The next thing I remember was waking up. The first thing I saw was my appendix. A nurse was holding it with some tweezers right in front of my face.
"Look how big your appendix is!" he said energetically.
"Oh, yeah... that's nice..." I said sleepily.
I was moved to a recovery room where my friends entered not long after. I felt so relieved that I was alive and all I could do was laugh. The doctor soon made my friends leave and I tried to sleep a little.
Soon, when I was able to move my toes a little, I was moved back to my hospital room. Joy was there waiting for me. I was so relieved to see her. Because I couldn't move, the nurses had to basically roll me into the hospital bed which was actually pretty funny. Joy had brought all the important things someone needs in hospital: some clothes, socks, a book and most importantly some Tim Tams.
I was woken up many times during the night for tests and stuff. I remember one lady who came into my room.
"Do you want a bath?" she asked.
"What time is it?" I asked sleepily.
"4:00 AM' she replied.
"No one wants a bath at 4:00 AM" I said and fell back asleep.
When I woke up in the morning, I asked a nurse if I could eat and drink yet. Soon I was given some soggy rice to eat. The hospital food was awful. I asked the nurse if I could eat some chocolate instead but she said told me just to eat soggy rice and porridge for a week. I decided against this because from what I read online I should resume a normal diet after 24 hours and also because soggy rice is gross.
That day, I had a lot of visitors. I got sent flowers from work and my housemates also came with some flowers. My other housemate brought me food (which was amazing). In the evening Joy came with our friend Billy and our housekeeper Parmi. Parmi started crying when she saw me even though I told her that I was fine over and over. She seemed very worried about me. I had kept my appendix in a jar to show her because the day before she had suspected that my pain was caused by "eating late" and I wanted to prove that it wasn't.
My mum said that it was gross that I had my appendix in a jar but I was determined to keep it forever. Mum said that it wouldn't be allowed into Australia which made me imagine myself at customs trying to argue that I had it with me the last time I flew to Australia (although it was inside me then) or that they had to let me bring it because it was Australian made.
The next day, I was told I was allowed to leave. I woke up early because I was excited about going home. I had a shower, got dressed and got all my things together. Then, I waited and waited. Apparently, you can't leave the hospital until your insurance has cleared and those sort of things seem to take forever. The nurses weren't paying much attention to me and I had nothing to do except play on my phone and that was definitely boring. I was hoping to leave before lunch time so that I could eat some normal food but sure enough at 12:00 PM they brought out some soggy rice and fish. I decided not to eat it. Instead I made a cup of tea and when the nurse wasn't looking, I did a Tim Tam slam (biting the ends of the Tim Tam biscuit and sucking the tea through it to make it all melty on the inside). Much better.
That afternoon, I finally left. I left behind the weird questions, the old ladies in my hospital room, the soggy rice and my appendix jar. I had some siomay and did other stuff besides playing with my phone. It was definitely great to be home.
Mostly, my recovery was smooth aside for some bloating that made me look several months pregnant like in the picture above. I actually got worried that I was somehow pregnant but luckily I could check the photo album I got after my ultrasound for proof. The scar between Sulawesi and Sumatra is healing well and my tattoo is definitely not ruined. The best thing that came from this all it that now no matter where I go in the world, a part of me will always be in Indonesia- my dear appendix.
Mostly, my recovery was smooth aside for some bloating that made me look several months pregnant like in the picture above. I actually got worried that I was somehow pregnant but luckily I could check the photo album I got after my ultrasound for proof. The scar between Sulawesi and Sumatra is healing well and my tattoo is definitely not ruined. The best thing that came from this all it that now no matter where I go in the world, a part of me will always be in Indonesia- my dear appendix.
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