does chronic appendicitis exist?

[Ms_Makita]

Here I go again looking for answers! at 16 was told I had IBS,wasnt too bad nothing I couldnt handle or tolerate..have some bad days constipated or the big D with cramps but didnt hit me like what im having now for last 7 months,usually had relief after bm, now its severe abdominal pain,belly button area, low left and right side pain,,sometimes radiates upper area and pelvic/rectal pain,stabbing pain,not crampy.Lost almost 60lbs,metal taste in mouth,heartburn,bloating,bad nausea,hair loss,appetite loss due to the pain (was on ensure but just now starting solid food..nothing agree's with me)bm's alternate,fever and night sweats,trapped gas (i havent been able to pass gas in months)alot of bowel noises and rumbling.After bm still continue to have urge to pass gas or stool but cant,Many trips to er,nothing can be found wrong,but this mimics appendicitis or  sometimes partial bowel obstruction,few times a month wake from sound sleep with "gassy diarrhea attacks" feel clammy/sweating/ feel like im gonna die.In April was in hospital for 3 days for this pain.Have had many procedures,tested for porphyria,celiac lactose intolerent,sprue,negative,mercury/toxin poison now.waiting on results.Many catscans,pap/pelvic exams,and ultrasounds,
Colonscopy-normal?,gi noted on biopsy some inflammation,said its ibs.
endoscopy-normal
hida scan-gallbadder is ok
laparscopy-no endometriosis
kidney ivp-no stones
I'm 28 and use to be active,I had to quit my job (cosmetologist) because most of time I cant even stand up,any ideas or similar experiences appreciated,ty (:

[Gilgongo]

I had chronic appendicitis for YEARS when I was a teenager (I'm 33 now). I would have these attacks of abdominal pain every once in a while. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me. I don't think I had most of the symptoms you described, but I had LOTS of abdominal pain. Anyway, they did exploratory surgery and took out my appendix and said it was "acute" (meaning, I think, ready to burst).

Years later, I mentioned to a doctor that I had had chronic appendicitis and they said "That doesn't exist!"

I later mentioned it to another and they said it did exist. All I know is that I had it. After my surgery, I didn't have another attack of the abdominal pain.

I hope this helps!

[Ms_Makita]

Alot of dr's debate if chronic exist,I believe it does,but having laparscopy in Aug to check for endometriosis,nothing showed up.Dr said he had good look and appendix said it looked fine.Since then symptoms and pain are worse,no infection from surgery.
    I've talked to few ppl who had chronic,dr said appendix look fine,only to find few  days,weeks,months later was getting ready to rupture.Scary eh ? Its alway lower right side,appendix area,sometimes radiates to left,never goes away or eases up,its really weird! and frustrating..7 months like this is taking its toll! I switched to new dr who is willing to get to bottom of this..whew! go for barium x-ray tomorrow,hopefully that will reveal something and get an answer for whatever this is.(:

[marsh29]

I have a similar problem,  i went for a run in august this year quite a tough run and immediately when i stopped i had a sharp pain in my lower right side.  When i got home the pain got worse i couldnt sleep and a doctor came to see me at 3am and gave me some immodium and told me to go to the doctor in the morning.
My gp in the morning said my appendix area was very tender but didnt think it was about to burst and told me it was a stomach infection which should clear up in a few days, which thankfully it did.
Now 2 months on i have started getting dull pains in my lower right side again, where my appendix is, and occasionally sharp pains which are eased when i have bowel movement.  i have been to doctor yesterday and i am having blood and stool tests done, he said basically rumbling appendix does not exsist.  I wish it was my appendix and personally to me it feels like it is, as i am really scared now that i may have something a whole lot scary like, bowel cancer or crohns disease!!
any help or wisdom about my symptoms greatly appreciated

[apple660]

are you diabetic and have you been checked for helicobacter.

[sporty1]

Have you been tested for Crohn's disease?  The reason I ask is that with irritable bowel syndrome there is NO inflammation and the fever, night sweats, right sided pain and waking up to go to the bathroom are not normal are classic Crohn's symptoms.

You have had a pretty extensive work-up and I'm not sure if you have had this test called a "small bowel follow through".  This is where you drink barium and it shows your small bowel.  The most common site for Crohn's pain to hit is the ileum, where the large and small intestine meet and many times the dr. can't get a colonoscopy to that spot.   There is also a camera pill that you can swallow that shows the small intestine.  Good luck and I hope you find an answer soon =)

[angellmarie]

I have to say that this forum was a lifesafer-literally. I want to explain my situation and I hope that this helps other people who are in desperate need of help.

Two months ago I started having horrible pains in my right side. I thought that I was just having problems with an ovarian cyst because I have had problems with them in the past. After about a week of really intense pain it started to get worse and I decided to go to the ER. When I got there they immediately started telling me that it was probably appendicitis but they needed to do some testing. They did a CT, full blood work,Ultrasound, urine work-up and gave me pain meds through an IV. The doc said that the ultrasound showed that I had a uterun fibroid but that it was very small and that it would not be causing that much pain. She gave me the option of staying a day or two for pain control. I left that night still in pain and frustrated because I didn't have any answers. After another two weeks of pain I went to my OBGYN who had done a surgery on a ovarian cyst before. She said that she would do a laproscopy even though she didnt think she would find anything. I said I wanted to wait and see if the pain went away. The pain got progressively worse. I have never felt so much pain in my life and I was completly unable to walk or work. I would be fine and then I would have a pain attack and it would literally send me down to the floor crying. Five days after my visit with the OBGYN I called her and begged for surgery. I had the laproscopy two days later. She took pics of the ovaries, appendix and the area around it. She said that everything looked good and she wasn't able to fit anything. I came out of surgery very upset after learning that nothing had been done to help me.

I then spend another two weeks in horrible pain and finally decided to find the answer myself. I spent hours upon hours searching the internet comparing my symptoms to those of others with similar symptoms and stories. I found this site and a few others that seemed to talk about almost the exact same thing I had been dealing with. I thought that I had chronic appendicitis and I decided that I needed to find a doctor that would not only listen to me but would do elective surgery on me. As most of you know chronic appendicitis is very hard to diagnose and to get doctors to agree with that diagnosis. I took about 25 pages of reports and info showing that other doctors had seen this same type of thing with others.

I went to my family doctor and I described my long situation, the info I had found on line and my family history. In 1985 my mother had almost the exact same situation and she ended up going to the mayo clinic where a doctor had said that he wanted to take the appendix out just to see if that was it. She was instantly better after having the appendix removed. I explained this to my family doctor and she said she had seen a couple cases similar to this and she referred me to a surgeon.

I went to the surgeon the next day. I brought all the test results from the ER, the pics from the larposcopy, the OBGYN's surgery notes and all the stuff I found online. I explained the whole situation while he listened and his answer was that there was absolutely nothing wrong with my appendix. I asked him what he thought it was and he had absolutely no answers and no other tests for me to do in order to find an aswer. After explaining about my mothers situation (she was with me) he said that her doctor was a bad surgeon and should have had his license taken away because he had made a bad decision. I told him that if he wouldnt take my appendix out that I would find another doctor that would so it wasnt going to stop me, it would just cause me more pain and time. After arguing back and forth he finally threw his hands in the air and said that he would take my appendix out but he was completly against this and that it would not fix anything. His comment was, "if I am going to start taking out organs that are not having problems why dont I just go in and take our your gallbladder and anything else I see while I am in there." I then said, "why the hell dont you, maybe I will feel better then!"

I was scheduled for a laproscopy appendectomy three days later. He came to see me before surgery and kept repeating that this was a waste of time and money and that nothing was wrong with my appendix. After surgery he came out and spoke to my parents and said that the appendix was perfect and that this was NOT the problem at all. I would be in just as much pain as I was before and we had wasted his time.

A week later while recovering at home I noticed that I had NOT had the pain anymore and that besides healing from surgery I felt much better. I called the doctors office to get the results of the pathology report from my appendix. I was so happy to hear the results that I started to cry while on the phone. The report showed that part of the appendix was hemmoraging and was leaking pus and fluid into my abdominal cavity. The lymph nodes were very swollen and that it appeared that I had ACUTE APPENDICITIS probably a month or two ago but that it had somewhat resolved itself. The pain I was feeling was not only my appendix swelling but the fluid being leaked into my body. I almost fell out of my chair when the nurse told me that based on the report I was very lucky that I had the surgery when I did. She said that I would have ended up with it rupturing and having a serious infection which could be deadly. She said that if would have only been a few days or weeks until I would have really been in bad shape.

So, I find out that after the ER told me I was fine, the OBGYN had taken pics saying it was fine and the surgeon who took it out told me it was fine, IT WAS NOT FINE AND I HAD ACUTE APPENDICITIS FOR ALMOST TWO MONTHS!!!

I have a post-op appointment with the surgeon next week and I can not tell you how excited I am going to be to tell him to go to hell and that he needs to listen to his patients.

I wanted to share my story with you because it is so frustrating when you know that something is wrong and nobody will believe you. Through this ordeal I ended up in the ER four times and got the same answer every single time- your fine, go home. Please take your health in your own hands and fight for your rights. I am happy to say that it has all ended well, but there was no reason for me to go through two months of excruicating pain and suffering because nobody would listen to me.

If anybody needs any advice or would like any more info from me please feel free to write me. It is because of this exact site and a few others that I was able to diagnose myself and search out the right answer. I could have died because nobody listened to me, they just blew me off. I hope this helps other people. By the way I am a 26 year old female. I think that doctors also dont listen to the compaints of women as much or they automatically assume that its a "womans problem". I had two surgeries in two weeks because of all this ordeal. BUT finally I am feeling great.

[SanSan2287]

Hi!

I am inspired reading your story.
About a year ago, I had a very intense pain in my right abdomen - it started off as a light pain just above my left pelvis which aggravated (not to an uncomfortable level) when I would be sitting (at work), and after 3 - 4 days, the pain became worse to point that on one day, the pain was unbearable - I could barely walk and while lying down could not turn to either side without the support of my arms.
I went to the doctor and after pressing the point of pain (right abdomen - near the naval) a few times, diagnosed it as appendicitis (the pain intensified whenever he pressed it). He told me he is confident that it is appendicitis but suggested I do an ultrasound the next morning to double check. In the meantime, he recommended a pain killer.
The next morning, the pain was a lot lesser, and upon taking the ultra sound, there appeared to be no appendicitis. I decided not to go through with the appendix operation. Over the next few days, I got my period, and the pain disappeared.

However, since then, I have had a constant pain in my lower back that extends to my front lower abdomen/pelvis and sometimes radiates to my thigh as well. The pain comes and goes and becomes worse now during the first few days of my period. There are times that there is a slight pain at the same point on the right abdomen where it was hurting that one time when the pain was very severe.

I have assumed it is a muscular pain because it is a back pain, and I am not comfortably able to bend to my left as I am to my right. (the pain is on my right lower back). Accordingly I have visited many Orthopaedic doctors, and have gotten multiple explanations (weak muscles, scoliosis, etc) But with the pain in my right pelvic never completely going, I keep wondering in the back of my head that maybe my appendicitis never went away.

I am wondering if you came across any such cases when you were doing your research?

I realize your comment is from 2009 and it is nearly 9 years later now that I have come across this - but I really, really hope to hear back from yoU!

[casualgal]

Long story short.. I too had cronic pain for over 5 years, had all the tests in the world all normal and negitive. Finally had exploratory surgery and my apendix ruptured on the table for the 7th time. The Dr. discovered that over the past 5 years it had ruptured but healed itself to my stomach. He couldn't explain why it just did. I was never more thankful all my pain was gone. Good luck and never take " theres nothing wrong" til the pain is gone.
vickie

[linex]

I had the same problem in the past three years, starting with uncomfortable feeling in the upper abdomen, then nausea, vomiting, and the pain going down in right lower abdomen and around navel. Symptoms are resolving in maybe 48h. I had those attacks almost every 3-4 months in past three years, but with time they got very mild so usually when i get to the doctors they thought it's maybe ovulation, or some ovary cysts, urinary infections, kidney stones etc. I've done bunch of tests (CBC, urine, ultrasound, MRI) which showed nothing, everything was fine, but i still had pain, and starting to believe maybe I'm hypochondriac. Anyway month ago i had the attack, with severe pain, never felt like that before, with vomiting, high temperature, in the end my appendix got perforated and i went for an urgent surgery. Fortunately everything went fine, perforation was blocked by surrounding intestines so it didn't make any complication, i feel good now. Anyway everyone who has the same symptoms i am recommending you to take a seriously the problem, make some tests, at least CT scan, because consequences may be very serious.

[Beth4122]

Your story is SO similar to mine.  A few months ago, my husband and I were camping deep in the woods in a pop up camper, two dogs, two kayaks, two bikes.  I spent the weekend walking the dogs, biking, kayaking almost 24/7.  The night before we were to leave, I woke up with excruciating pain on the right side.  Thought I had just pulled a muscle and decided to suck it up until we got home in the morning.  A five hour trip after my husband had to pack everything up and drive 2 hours.  I was curled up in the front seat with a pillow.  I could hardly walk for a week and was in major pain, but never thought to go to a doctor.  Took some aspirin and pain went away.
A couple of months later similar symptoms reappeared again.  I had a gyn appointment and mentioned to my doctor who thought I had just pulled a muscle, too.  Took aspirin and pain went away.
But even people at work told me later that I always seemed tired, not quite right.  A month after the second episode, I was at work and had a strange feeling on the right side.  Not quite pain, but didn't feel right.  I went home, and within an hour was doubled over in excruciating pain.  Long story short, ended up in ER with acute appendicitis.  Had a laporoscopy and woke up in ICU - the appendix had been leaking and was ready to rupture.
As a final note - I explained all my symptoms to the doctors and colleagues at work (I work in a health oriented environment) and ALL of them said that the previous incidents were unrelated.  I don't believe them and am sure that I experienced chronic appendicitis.  I am 8 weeks after surgery, and have no pain and lots more energy.  Interesting thing the doctor told me was that he had a hard time finding the appendix.  It was shorter and stubbier than expected; about half of the normal length.

[pjwing297]

i have had pain in my stomach for almost 5 years now and every one call me crazy they think i am making all is pain up and when i go to the er they think iam there for drugs  they are wrong i have chronic appendicitis and ibs but what hurts most is the side where the appdix is

[dex9915]

It seems to me that doctors think they sell all know all. I am 39 years old. I have had painful intercouse for over a decade. Five different doctors in the past 12 years told me that only a hysterdectomy. I also had the severe pain in the right side along with a dull burning pain. I was told it was endometrosis, overian cysts, and just in my head. One doc said he could cut the nerves going to the area. So feel nothing instead of pain. No thanks.I finally had a hys, ovaries and all at the age of 35.  

Yesterday, I saw my gp. I had not told her of the painful intercourse. At this point in my life, I thought I had to live with it.I went in for the abdomin pain. I explained my symptoms. Then, I told her of the painful sex. She just looked at me. She said she thought I have chronic appendicis. I just looked at her. Apparently, she had a similar experience herself years ago.

I about cried. I am blessed to have found her. All these years of pain, surgery, and frustration could be over. She said now the problem is finding a surgen to take out my appendix. I am concerned he is going to think we are both crazy. He'll wonder how I could be dx without running every new test in the book. I've had them all before. all coming back normal.

I have had the colonoscpy, barium test, CT, laproscopy explorotory before. The only thing I was told I had was IBS. I am very fortunate to have the husband I've got. I probably would have been divorced long ago. I was lucky to have my daughter.

My point is don't give up. Don't settle for answers you are not comfortable with. Don't stop with 1 dr's dx. Don't let them tell you, It's all in your head. I was at my end when I had my hys. I had a lot of depression. I didn't feel like a complete woman. It's taken it's toll, but I finally see light at the end of a very long tunnel.

[yr_kiara]

hi i think i have the same symptoms as yours, is it possible to tell me where i can find that doctor? thank you

[troubadour]

Yes, chronic appendicitis does exist, I had it. Essentially I had unexplained abdominal pain and a few acute episodes over the years which somehow resolved by themselves. In the last months, though, I was having RLQ pain right after eating and randomly several times a day. The partially blocked appendix was found after upper GI X-ray with small bowel follow-through, and was confirmed by Doppler ultrasound two months later. The chronic appendicitis was confirmed at surgery (appendix was long, scarred, filled with fecal matter, and had adhesions).
The story is long, see more details here, towards end of thread:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Gastroenterology/roundworms-Ascaris--elevated-monocytes--eosinophils--abdominal-pelvic-pain/show/1369187?personal_page_id=903718#post_6249026

and pictures here:
http://www.medhelp.org/photo_collections/list/13948?personal_page_id=903718

and here:
http://www.medhelp.org/photo_collections/list/15453

Good luck, best of health to everybody.

[Kung_Pao2]

Oh my ! I want to hug you because you basically gave people an great deal of insight about a test they need to take to help determine the cause! I too have been so sick I cannot even  begin to tell you my life has been upside down.. Started with pressure in my stomach pressure under my rib cage, nausea, chills fever dizziness, sleep deprivation from the pain.  rash on my face , sometimes  pressure on the right side sometimes lower right quadrant .  The GI specialist didn't find anything so he told  me maybe I  have anxiety ..I'm semi retired and young  I have zero anxiety! . I was diagnosed with  SIBO ...seriously my symptoms seemed way beyond SIBO.  I kept seeing more DR.ND chiropractor that maybe my alignment was off, I saw  energy workers, Ayurvedic dr.Chinese med dr  you name it I saw them!! Until my relative who is an surgeon MD  suggested a Upper GI Baruim with a Follow Through and poof the answer appears Appendix ..It took almost eleven months to figure it out and I actally read that appendicitis is caused by protozoa  I wish I could recall the exact species  it is two words and that it  can be easily cured. Can you IMAGINE That ? Just what if you went to the ER /DR only  once and they checked you for that and gave you some pills and it kills the protozoa. WOW/ ,Most doctor have no idea it seems so unbelievable  the pain and suffering ...the time and energy that some of you poor people have suffered my gosh ,  my heart really goes out to you! I'm so done with all the pain and suffering .  Once they nailed it I was at the end of my rope well I was happy that it was finally over

[a_g97]

I have a 7 yr. old nephew with similar symptoms, extreme abdominal pain followed by vomiting then fever on episodes of once or twice a year until this weekend.  He is in the hospital at this time with episodes every 4 hours or so.  The pain and fever is relieved with medication.  Once the medication wears off, another episode starts.  

Doctors cannot find a cause since all tests including blood work look normal.  They are ruling out appendicitis since they claim that medication would not ease the pain if it was appendicitis.

Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you.    

[MaciesMom]

Don't let them rule out Chronic Appendicitis.  All tests, ultra sounds, CT scans, etc. look normal.  Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, performs surgery on cases every month that other doctors pooh-pooh as non-existent.  The laparoscopic surgery to remove the "normal" looking appendix can provide almost immediate relief, with pathology reports following a few days later to confirm/deny diagnosis. My friend's 10 year old daughter suffered severe pain for 15 weeks, not helped by home-town doctors, then slept through the night after surgery at Cleveland Clinic.  For some reason part of the gastrointerology community refuses to acknowledge chronic appendicitis.  

[wirenut71]

I am having the same problem with my son. LRQ pain for YEARS with no diagnosis. Some days he is OK, others he can't get out of bed, pain is usually worse early am to about lunch time. He has had several ~oscopies including the camera, 2 CTs both normal, barium, gastric emptying, etc. all normal and his ped GI wants me to take him for a psychological evaluation to see if it is anxiety. Meanwhile he cannot function and he is in legal trouble over school. Everywhere we go it is the same thing, we can't find anything wrong, his appendix is fine, etc. but he has been complaining of this pain since he was about 8 and he is now 16.

[wirenut71]

Who can we contact at Cleveland Clinic? Do you remember the Dr that helped you? I am desperate and also angry at his Ped GI that responds with "He doesn't have that!" every time I try to suggest something I have been reading about. He wants to just refer my son to a pain clinic. Ugh! I am near Knoxville but I will go to Ohio if that will put an end to this nightmare.

[London26]

I started having pain on my right side below and to the right of my belly button in May 2011 which was misdiagnosed. The pain was the worst I have ever experienced. I was first diagnosed with cystitis, then IBS. I became really ill with it - fever and vomiting.

I had lots of trips to doctors and hospitals, and lots of tests. Scans didn't pick up anything and urine tests would always have blood and protein, which doctors said could mean any infection. They guessed gut or bladder infections.

Over 18 months the pain came and went. When it came, I would be in so much pain that I would be confined to my bed for days. I was prescribed increasingly strong painkillers while doctors palmed me off with more and more antibiotics, telling me to keep an eye on it. At my worst points, I lost 10 kg in weight, collapsed while at a work conference in Sweden and suffered depression.

I discovered forums like these and they really helped me. I looked into chronic appendicitis and took journal papers to my GP to beg her to consider the possibility. She said all the doctors in the surgery had a meeting about me and agreed there was no such thing!

I eventually convinced a doctor to take my appendix out while they were doing a diagnostic laparoscopy. (By the way, a gynaecologist was doing this - I was a 25 year old woman and so doctors automatically assumed the problem was gynaecological when they ran out of their other options). When I woke up after the surgery, doctors said the same thing to me, that the appendix looked fine but they'd taken it out anyway. They also found adhesions - scar tissue that was sticking my intestines together that resulted from a nasty infection.

I just got the results of the lab analysis of my appendix. It was appendicitis! The appendix was blocked, and the cells were all transformed, as if the tissue was trying to heal. I have spoken to people since and they have all said I was very lucky my appendix did not burst over the 18 months of recurring appendicitis.

I just wanted to thank you all for sharing your stories, and giving me the drive to look into this, and push to get it done. You really do need to take your health into your own hands and push for treatment. It's difficult when you're very sick but it really pays off.

All the best to all of you.

[Calmcat]

Chronic appendicitis does exist there are so many cases where the after the poor patient has suffered to the point of death the doctor orders to remove the appendix and the patient is cured,

[Calmcat]

When I was a in the ER an older doctor that had worked in the ER for eons gave me the statistics on how many people go to the ER with low right quadrant pain and have appendicitis and the appendix is removed . And how many people actually are sent away because the scan does not show that it is NOT inflammed enough so a large  number of people sent away return to the ER  months later with APPENDICITIS!  So the ER doctor that work there may very well know they will see you back
Do not suffer it is there job to help us get well and get to the bottom of the issue.  

[Calmcat]

Thanks for your post it gives me hope . I think I might be begging my doctor  to have my appendix removed he did not seem so hot on the idea to begin with but I feel like I'm on my death bed. I  had so many tests and  then I had  exploratory laprascopic surgery two small ovaries,  but the dr did not think it was causing my issue, She told me at this point it was reasonable to just ask the doctor to have my appendix removed, She told me that she saw tons of women come in super sick thinking it was a female issue which she ruled out , She told me that the medical doctor  orders to have the appendix removed and then the patient returns to there life!

[binchicago658]

For 6 months, once per month I would have extreme "attacks" as I came to call them.  It always started with stomach pains (all over the abdomen) that got increasingly worse throughout the day until I was spending the evenings curled up on my floor crying in pain and vomiting.  These episodes would last 6-8 hours and I would wake up sore from vomiting, but like nothing had ever happened.  

3 different times during these attacks I went to the ER where I was told I had GERD and/or Gastritis or IBS.  I constantly keep track of my food intake and nothing ever seemed to trigger these attacks.  They would happen every single month though and usually around the 20th (weird and probably coincidental I know).  Doctors just kept telling me to take Prevacid or Prilosec and to limit greasy foods and alcohol.  But these attacks kept happening.  

My last trip to the ER, I demanded a full abdominal scan.  I was naseous and vomiting all over the ER room, so they knew something was seriously wrong.  They started giving me antibiotics and pain killers right away.  Doctors came in right after the scan and said they were taking me in to remove my appendix.  After the surgery, I was told my appendix was "completely necrotic."  Dead as dead can be.  They also told me all my previous pains had nothing to do with my dead appendix and were completely unrelated.  I know this to be false, because the pains were the EXACT SAME EACH AND EVERY TIME.  The only difference this trip to the hospital was that they actually did something about it and removed my appendix.  I haven't had a single abdominal pain since.  Chronic appendicitis is a very real situation.  

[Stacey1011]

Your story is very similar to mine.  I suffered with pain in my abdomen for approximately 10 years, been through every test possible with results of nothing wrong.  I do get ovarian cysts, but all along I thought it was my appendix.  I had laparoscopy surgery two years ago to see what was going on they took pictures of my appendix and stated they were good plus all the cysts had already burst so they wouldn't take anything out.  I had asked for a hysterectomy and for them to remove my appendix.  They did nothing.  This past weekend I started getting pain on Friday but didn't go in because everytime I have they do nothing.  Sunday after getting out of the shower I decided I needed to go in cuz the pain was so bad.  The Dr. came in and saw me and as soon as he felt my abdomen he figured it was my appendix.  I told him I have been suffering for years with this.  He stated that he didn't think I had chronic appendicitis over the years that it had to be something else.  He ordered a CT scan and when the results came back it said I have chronic appendicitis.  He couldn't believe that no one would have removed them in all these years.  I was sent to a hospital where they would do the surgery.  I had to argue with the surgeon to take them out.  He didn't think it would help and wanted to admit me and run a bunch of tests.  I refused stating that I have had all those tests done and they find nothing.  I stood my ground and had the surgery.  He came in the next morning to check on me and was shocked when I told him I had no pain.  He said my appendix appeared to look normal and didn't think that was the problem.  He also said that I was full of cysts and that I need a hysterectomy.  I told him I tried to have them do that 2 years ago and no one would listen.  Now maybe they will, so once I get healed up from this surgery I will go have a hysterectomy.  Sometimes it helps to stand up for yourself after all no one knows your body more than you do!

[binchicago658]

Exactly. We know our bodies better than any doctor.  My surgeons and doctors told me after my appendectomy that my previous pains and stomach attacks were not related to my appendix because appendicitis is "acute" and manifests in 12-18 hours.  I said "but how could that be?  I've had the exact same pains/attcks every single month for 6 months and as soon as you remove my appendix I am completely cured.  Yet those previous pains/attacks had nothing to do with my appendix?"  WRONG.  My stomach attacks were literally ruining my life.  I am so glad they finally removed my appendix.