Well, I have had the most un-fun weekend it may be possible to have. Sunday morning about 4am, I woke up feeling awful, sick at my stomach, feverish, ......... This persisted the entire day, during which I stayed in bed *the entire day*, not sleeping much, due to increasing abdominal pain. I did not vape at all, all day long -- and really didn't miss it, which I know would not have been the case when I was a smoker -- I'd have been out there on the porch no matter how awful I felt, or if the nausea was so bad that I didn't dare, I'd have been pining for a smoke with every breath.
Monday morning around 3am, the pain had increased so much that I could not stand, sit, lie down, without bellowing in pain, so, even without insurance, I had no choice at all but to go to the emergency room. They basically do the same hurry-up-and-wait as the military, but they did give me some morphine, since it was clear that I was in agony. And they finally did the CAT scan of my abdomen and determined that I was suffering from acute appendicitis. It was 8 hrs from the time I arrived there, till they actually took it out, during which I was parked in a private emergency room -- which is all this hospital has, a real advantage over the cloth walls that so many offer. So, during that 8 hrs, since the nausea had eased, I was able to take a few stealth vapes -- which would also not have been possible with cigarettes, of course! I kept the wattage set very low, so there wasn't much vapor at all, and of course my regular Virginia has little if any smell, so no one was ever the wiser.
It was also terrific fun to tell the hospital personnel that I had stopped smoking "109 days ago" (which was the count, on Monday) and enjoy their approbation. My husband later said "you didn't tell them how you did it," to which I replied a) they didn't ask, b) it's none of their business, and c) it doesn't matter HOW, just that I DID QUIT.
After the surgery (laparoscopic), I was able to breathe despite the general anesthesia -- which was always difficult when I was a smoker, since I have asthma, necessitating "breathing treatments" and probably admission to the hospital at least overnight. My lungs are so much clearer now, they let me go home once I was able to stay awake, speak sensibly, and walk a little. Admittedly, the after-pain this morning is pretty bad, and it's keeping me from coughing as deeply as I know I need to, even after 110 days smoke-free -- because of the asthma -- but I have some pain pills, and as I get acclimated to them (so they don't make me nauseous), I'll be able to do whatever coughing needs to be done, once I'm well-medicated on those pills (hydrocodone+tylenol).
So... it's been awful, agonizing, pure hell, really... but it would have been so much worse as a smoker. And now my appendix is blessedly gone, so any future pain in that area of my abdomen is definitely NOT appendicitis.
Just wanted to report on all this, for any former-smoker-now-vaper who finds themselves in a situation requiring surgery -- it's so much easier as a non-smoker. Even as a mostly chain-vaper, it's so much easier to just leave it alone than cigarettes ever were, none of that "cigarette bullying"... instead of "do it RIGHT NOW!" it's more like "I'm here waiting, as soon as you feel like vaping. No rush." What a blessing!!
An appendix-free
Andria
Monday morning around 3am, the pain had increased so much that I could not stand, sit, lie down, without bellowing in pain, so, even without insurance, I had no choice at all but to go to the emergency room. They basically do the same hurry-up-and-wait as the military, but they did give me some morphine, since it was clear that I was in agony. And they finally did the CAT scan of my abdomen and determined that I was suffering from acute appendicitis. It was 8 hrs from the time I arrived there, till they actually took it out, during which I was parked in a private emergency room -- which is all this hospital has, a real advantage over the cloth walls that so many offer. So, during that 8 hrs, since the nausea had eased, I was able to take a few stealth vapes -- which would also not have been possible with cigarettes, of course! I kept the wattage set very low, so there wasn't much vapor at all, and of course my regular Virginia has little if any smell, so no one was ever the wiser.
It was also terrific fun to tell the hospital personnel that I had stopped smoking "109 days ago" (which was the count, on Monday) and enjoy their approbation. My husband later said "you didn't tell them how you did it," to which I replied a) they didn't ask, b) it's none of their business, and c) it doesn't matter HOW, just that I DID QUIT.
After the surgery (laparoscopic), I was able to breathe despite the general anesthesia -- which was always difficult when I was a smoker, since I have asthma, necessitating "breathing treatments" and probably admission to the hospital at least overnight. My lungs are so much clearer now, they let me go home once I was able to stay awake, speak sensibly, and walk a little. Admittedly, the after-pain this morning is pretty bad, and it's keeping me from coughing as deeply as I know I need to, even after 110 days smoke-free -- because of the asthma -- but I have some pain pills, and as I get acclimated to them (so they don't make me nauseous), I'll be able to do whatever coughing needs to be done, once I'm well-medicated on those pills (hydrocodone+tylenol).
So... it's been awful, agonizing, pure hell, really... but it would have been so much worse as a smoker. And now my appendix is blessedly gone, so any future pain in that area of my abdomen is definitely NOT appendicitis.
Just wanted to report on all this, for any former-smoker-now-vaper who finds themselves in a situation requiring surgery -- it's so much easier as a non-smoker. Even as a mostly chain-vaper, it's so much easier to just leave it alone than cigarettes ever were, none of that "cigarette bullying"... instead of "do it RIGHT NOW!" it's more like "I'm here waiting, as soon as you feel like vaping. No rush." What a blessing!!
An appendix-free
Andria
