I may be jumping the gun but I suspect I might have appendicitis. I’ve learned that generally when you have that the appendix is removed and you get on with things, usually no big deal.
Assuming that antibiotics can’t clear this problem up and I need to have an appendectomy how long will it be before I’m able to run again?
Yes, I realize that my health is the most important thing and I’m likely asking a question that shouldn’t be asked but I’d really like to run a half marathon in mid December if possible.
So can anyone give me a ballpark as to how much time I’d have to take off from running if I need this surgery?
Not to scare you but I would be very careful with an appendicitis. Here is my quick story: I was having the most unbelievable stomach pains and went to the doctor. The pain had not localized to my lower right quandrant and my white blood cell count was not elevated so they sent me home with some antibiotics. Two days later I still in unbelivable pain and went back to the doctors. By now the pain had localized to my lower right side and my white blood cells had spiked and my fever was at 104. I was rushed to the hopital for emergency surgery. It appears that on the way to the hospital my appendix burst and it nearly killed me. I spent 3 weeks in the hospital while the doctors tried to get the infection under control and lost 30 lbs.
I guess the simple moral is get a firm opinion and if it needs to come out get it out. I think a burst appendix is very rare and im sure the diagnotics are much better today (mine was in '92) but i still would not mess around. My recovery was very long (3-4 months) because of the weight loss. I dont think that you will be running a half marathon in Dec. The surgery cuts through your abdominal muscles and rushing the recovery can cause a hernia. It takes several months to heal completely. If you had the surgery now you should be back training in a few weeks and back to full speed probably by March.
My story is much the same albeit a bit different still. The pain was there but the signs were vague, and I managed to walk into the hospital. Because neither the attending nor interns would call it, I spent 4 hours waiting for the next shift. In the end it turned out the appendix had burst shortly after my arrival, as well as coiled itself around my intestines. Also, I ended up with peritonitis. Because the incision had been forced open for three weeks due to the infection, I had to have hernia surgery with a graft as well. This was in 02/03. Recovery time for the appendectomy was the 3 months. For the hernia it was 3 weeks. And I still can’t do deadlift properly.
To the OP: Do get it checked out. If it indeed is appendicitis, and even if they manage to get it out of you in time, I would very seriously doubt you’ll get to do the half marathon in December. Thumbs up if you do though.
Maybe I’m a hypercondriac and it’s really nothing. Right now it’s not even what I would term “pain”. It’s more discomfort. I was able to run a 10 mile training run today, it wasn’t fun but it wasn’t agony. For whatever reason this only makes itself known during a run, not so much when I’m swimming or cycling.
If it is appendicitis it’s in it’s very early stages, that’s my guess anyway. I did have a hernia operation 6 years ago and I thought it could be something related to that but I don’t know. I really don’t think it’s that.
I would describe the discomfort as being how you’d feel the next day after doing a lot of crunches and were not used to working out. It’s just a general discomfort in my lower abdominal region.
I suggest going to a doctor right now, this minute, if you have not done so already. The difference between “early stage” appendicitis and death can be measured in days if not hours.
I literally just finished reading an email from a friend whose son’s appendix burst and it was touch and go for a bit on whether he was going to make it at all. The kid went from feeling a bit under the weather to causing major panic in the emergency room in the space of just 2 days. I knew someone who died on the operating table while having his burst appendix dealt with and another guy who spend 6 weeks in the hospital dealing with the infection.
A normal appendectompy these days will set you back but only for a few weeks. A burst appendix wil lay you up for a month or two and copuld kill you.
At about 9 p.m. on a Friday I started to get an upset stomach - it felt like a bout of the stomach flu was coming my way. It got progressively worse over night, and by about 6 a.m. on Saturday morning, I was writhing around. The pain and discomfort was fairly generalized in my abdominal region. I tried to throw up to see if that would make me feel better, but I could do it. Finally my wife and I decided that it might be appendicitis. After doing some quick internet research, we were off to the ER. By that point, I could feel a definite pain in the lower right quadrant of my abdomen. After doing a lot of tests, I was headed for the operating room and had a laproscopic appendectomy at about 2 or 3 on Saturday afternoon.
I rested Sunday through Tuesday, was on the trainer in the living room on Wednesday, started to run again on Thursday or Friday, did a 20 miler on Sunday, and ran a PR marathon 4 weeks post-op.
Obviously everyone is unique, and I was lucky that I bounced back so quickly. The first thing you should do is get a proper diagnosis by a qualified medical professional. Good luck.
If you have it removed before it busts, recovery should take only days. If it burst (like for me back when I was 15 y.o.), then it is at least two weeks in the hospital, and then some more “recovery” back home.
You are definitely lucky that you recovered so fast. I had similar issues with my appendix in the last week of June. Discomfort/minor pain in the lower right quadrant around 9am…went away and felt fine through the rest of the day. I came home and ran a fairly quick 7 miler and it was starting to bug me again. I took some “antibiotic” vodka (see other story below) and it went away pretty fast. Around 2am I woke up feeling like someone had a knife in my gut and could barely roll out of bed to get to the car to go to the hospital. After an eternity waiting for tests/etc I had a laparoscopic appendectomy around 8am the next morning and went home around noon. I had all sorts of crap go wrong while trying to recover: repairing my well electrics the morning after, cat died and had to bury her 2 days after, had to re-fix the well because 11ty billion sugar ants crawled in there and electrocuted themselves 3 days after, went to Italy on vacation and threw out my back 7 days after, but while in Italy I ran up and across the top of the mountains in Cinque Terra and down the other side. I probably would have recovered faster except for the back thing, but hauling a heavy backpack around only a few days after a stomach operation isn’t a good idea. It took me overall about 4-5 weeks to recover to the point of feeling “normal” again.
Regarding the vodka story, 2 years ago a friend of mine was out on a weekend campount/party and was having a great time. Mid-Saturday she was having stomach pain and it just kept getting worse. She was drinking lots of vodka (and I mean LOTS) and was pretty sloshed so she was pretty much ignoring it. Sunday afternoon when she sobered up some she realized that it might just be something a bit more serious and went to the hospital. Apparently her appendix had burst on Saturday and she spent the next 3 weeks in the hospital. The doc told her that the only reason she’s still alive is she was drinking “antibiotic vodka.” I guess anything 40% alc or higher is antiseptic enough to keep the infection in check…
Either way, hope you get it checked out fast. Appendicitis is nothing to fuck with. It could also be gallbladder or a kidney stone or something…
I’m certainly not advising this, but I know a guy that had an emergency appendectomy 9 days before IMWI this year. He still raced, and went under 12 hours.
UPDATE: I feel sorta stupid now, more stupid than normal even. Turns out it’s a hernia. I had a major league hernia about 6 years ago and got it fixed. This one is rather small by comparison and I’ll likely take care of it later rather than sooner.