An Upside of Appendicitis? I Can Run This Race! - Memorial Day 5k 2023

It's been a weird spring, y'all! Right now, I'm dealing with Steve the Cyst and a Hubby recuperating from having an appendectomy. He's doing much better now, thank you to everyone who has reached out to ask about him. 

I realized a few days after his surgery that, since he would be off of work, I would be able to run the Orange Park Memorial Day 5k this year! Usually I either have to skip it (since it starts so early) or he has to take the day off. But he's already off! So, yes, I paid the whole $45 race fee, donned my most patriotic gear, and drove up to Jacksonville to run with a thousand of strangers.

 

Ready to run... well, walk!

Really an uneventful 5k. Seriously, I went back through my camera roll and it's just a bunch of crowd shots, and then a cat in the middle of the road. Everyone stopped to pet the cat, who refused to move. 

Pet here for power

I finished, sweaty, with a time of 56:06. I was 662nd out of 688 total runners. And look what I got!!!

Something looks... off?

Yes, that says Finiser. It's a Finiser medal. 

Row after row of Finiser Medals

The thing that's so funny is that I never noticed it at the time. Held it up, took photos. Took a photo of the table full of medals. Hung my medal from my rearview mirror as I drove around town. Nope, didn't notice it until later that night when I was cleaning up my camera roll. 

Anyway, me and my finiser medal headed over to a local donut shop, Daily Donuts, for a half-dozen donuts. The Maple Donut was delicious, with a good yeasty chew to it. 

Blueberry Cake, Maple Frosted, White Cream Filled (x2)
Chocolate Frosted, Glazed

I popped over to Sam's Club for some groceries, then wandered around JCPenney at Orange Park mall for a while, but I was starving so it was time for lunch. I'd heard good things about Brewer's Pizza, which is a part of Pinglehead Brewing Company. It was dark inside, and felt like a good "hole in the wall" pizza joint. There was a large group in the middle that had just played in a Pickleball Tournament nearby, and listening to them chit chat just really annoyed me. I hate to say it, but they all sounded so rich, entitled, and overly "we're better than you." Every one of them seemed to have a special request for their pizza, or demanded something extra during their meal. Like, come on people... I just want to order my pizza before I eat my own foot over here! 

I ordered something called a Florida Smacker; a personal deep-dish pizza, with pepperoni. Because of the large group, it took a while for my Smacker to get to me, but damn, it was worth it! It looked similar to a Little Caesar's lunch pizza, but it was worlds apart, in terms of taste and quality. It had that delicious greasy, tomatoey, spiciness to it that a good pepperoni pizza should have, with a thick and chewy crust, with toasted cheese edges. I was able to eat 3 of the 4 pieces, and I cannibalized the final slice, eating the toppings, because I needed the calories. 

Pepperoni Florida Smacker... sooooo good!

(ETA: Sad to hear, they closed in November 2023... They just couldn't recover after stupid Covid restrictions and the aftermath).

On the way out of town, I hit up Old Time Pottery, grabbed a soda for the road, then headed home. 

Is Your Refrigerator Running? Mine's Not.

Last week, I noticed that my morning OJ wasn't as cold as it should be. Huh, weird. I threw an ice cube into it and sat down to enjoy my morning. 

The next day, I noticed that the OJ was fizzy... I assumed it'd gone bad, but I go through it so quickly, how was that possible? 

Then I looked at the half-gallon of milk in the door and noticed that there was a weird blue line around the container, and it looked... chunky. 

I stuck my face in the fridge and thought that it felt a little warmer than it should, so I cranked the thermostat down (up?) to 9, the coldest setting possible. Surely that'll fix it, right? 

The next day, it was still kinda warm in there; I started getting curiously worried and more frustrated. I researched why a fridge would be warm like that and got a few typical answers: broken Condenser Fan or Motor, dirty coils, broken Evaporator Fan, broken Damper, and even just overloaded/blocked freezer vents. On Friday, I moved stuff around in the freezer, and did discover some blocked vents, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. The meat thermometer I stashed in the fridge said it was still 52º in there. That's not good...

While I was at parkrun on Saturday, chitchatting with one of the other volunteers, I told him that I wasn't sure if I should fix my fridge or get a new one; he asked how old my current fridge was and he was shocked when I said we got it in 2003 (that's 20 years old!)… Maybe I should just get a new one? 

Here she is in all her warm glory... 2003 GE Fridge

I went home and did a full reorganization of both kitchen and upright freezers, mostly to see if I could find any more blockages, but also because I was overdue for a full inventory anyway (full inventories suck, but they always unearth a treasure or two for future dinners!) Sadly, I had to get rid of a lot of stuff that had gone bad, like milk, cheese, and even some otherwise-edible leftovers. 

Unfortunately, it didn't make any difference. I decided that cleaning the coils and fixing the damper were two things that I could do, so I ordered a damper from Amazon and cleaned the coils (did nothing). The damper was easy to replace, but that didn't fix anything either. Luckily, I could return it for a full refund. 

By Monday, I threw up my hands and resigned myself to buying a new fridge. I didn't want to spend hundreds on more parts, plus labor (cuz we all know I can only do so much), only to be told that the whole fridge is trashed. I was sad, because this fridge was a housewarming present from my parents when we moved in to this house, the way that our old stove (RIP White Stove) was a gift from my grandmother (who passed just a few years later). When we get rid of this fridge, there will be no "New Homeowner" stuff left... it feels like we're True Grown-Ups, at 45! 

I did some fridge comparison shopping on my lunch break, agonizing over so many different choices! All I knew for sure is that I didn't want a Top Fridge nor did I want a Bottom Fridge. I'm a Side-By-Side Gal for life!  I ended up, again and again, returning to a GE side-by-side that seemed to offer every single thing that I wanted! And after looking long and hard at it I realized why I liked it so much! It was basically the granddaughter of the fridge I already have! She got a little glow-up, with extra drawers, glass shelves in the freezer, etc. 

I went to Lowe's after work to physically look at fridges, especially the one I was wanting; you just never really know if it's the right one until you touch it and manipulate it in real space! Also, I wanted to eyeball spaces with bins and baskets (since that's how I organize my freezer*). 

Sterilite 16qt bin $7.48 - fits nicely in the freezer!

Double up the storage with two 6qt Lowe's bins, $2.48 each
(or $1.98 Sterilite at Home Depot)

Maximize vertical storage with multiple stacking wire baskets

They only had the 25.3cf version (the exact dupe of what I have now), but I wanted to check out the slightly upgraded 25.1cf model. On a whim, I went over to Home Depot to see if they had it on the floor (the internet said they had it on display, and we all know it has to be true if they put it on the internet, bonjour!). It was there, and so I was able to compare both the 25.3 and the 25.1, and that's where the problems started... 

I just kept going back and forth about which one was better... Did I need the extra bins in the freezer? Did the deli drawer take up too much space? Should I settle for the dupe, but then regret not getting the fancier version later? Ahhhhhhh! I took way too many photos (that I will probably never reference again) and even made a video of me talking to myself about the pros and cons of each option! If anyone was around, they probably thought I was insane. In the end, I kind of just shut down all discussion, told myself, "But the nicer one, dumbass," and walked away. 

Freezer has 3 shelves and 2 pull-out bins
Fridge has 4 shelves and 3 pull-out drawers

After a fully unsatisfactory dinner from Subway (seriously, two pieces of roast beef on my 6"? for seven bucks?), I ordered my new fridge. I chose Lowe's, because I have $80 in paint rebates from when we re-did the living area, I could use Rakuten to get 1% cash back on my purchase, AND I saved 5% by using my Lowe's Credit Card (don't worry, I moved money around and paid it off pretty much instantly, so all my savings I just listed didn't get negated by interest!)

The best part is that they will deliver it on Wednesday. The worst part is that we have to clean out the kitchen so that they can deliver it on Wednesday. They'll need to have room to install the water line for the ice maker, and currently, that water line snakes it's way behind a shelf and under two cabinets... So we have to clear all of that out for them. Then tomorrow night after work, we'll need to take everything out of the freezer (that still works just fine) and put it into coolers. I'm hopeful that we can reorganize our upright freezer to make room for some of the more important stuff like steak and chicken. I mean, if the ice cream melts, it's no big deal, but I don't want to lose 20 pounds of chicken breasts and steak! And we'll need to take everything still viable out of the fridge, like bottled water and cans of soda. I think it's time to chuck the French Onion Dip and eggs, though... (Thank God tonight is trash night... I threw away so much stuff!)

Old Freezer with 4 shelves and one bin (notice the organization!)
Old Fridge with 4 shelves and two drawers (yes, that's a lot of drinks)

Clover will lick anything with condensation on it!

A sad and forlorn dinosaur awaits her replacement

Can I just complain a minute about this kitchen...
There is a light switch right by that shelf. There's no way to reach that! We had to install a ceiling fan so that we could just turn that light on when we needed light... Ugh, old homes, am I right?

On Wednesday, my beautiful new fridge showed up, and I left the installers alone to do their thing. They had everything installed in about 15 minutes, but unfortunately, they couldn't install the water line! The line I purchased was too short to reach from the back of the fridge to the sink (it has to go around a corner, so I should have purchased a 25-ft hose, whoops). I told the installer that I could do the water line myself the next day and to not worry about it. They turned the water back on, cleaned up, and left. Hubby and I took turns peeling off all of the tape and plastic and removing all of the little stickers and Styrofoam pieces and then left it alone to come down to temperature. I made a quick run over to Lowe's to return the short water line and buy a bigger one. 

A few hours later, I went in to the kitchen to start dinner, and when I tried to wash my hands, no water came out of the tap. 

Huh, guess they forgot to turn the water back on. No problem, I crawled under the cabinet and spun the spigot.

Still no water... 

That's not good. 

Righty tighty, lefty loosy... Yeah, they had turned the water back on, and I'd just turned it off. So I turned it back on again... Nothing from the tap. Not even a tiny drip or trickle.  

We dealt with it that night (woo hoo, no dishes tonight!), and the next day, I started calling around to plumbers. I got lucky with a company which I won't name, for reasons you'll see in a minute. They were able to send someone out within an hour of the call. 

When he got there (let's call him "Bob"), he looked at my pipes and made that noise, you know, that hissing intake of breath that indicates that shit's gonna get really expensive real quick? Yeah... that noise. See, my home was built in 1956. She's old. She's tired. And she has galvanized pipes that are old enough to draw Social Security. And when these pipes get really old, they begin to crumble from the inside out. So, most likely, the pipes have a bunch of crud built up and that's what's causing the blockage. And like a sand castle, the minute you touch them, they may just crumble. When that happens, you have to chase the pipe until you get to solid pipe, which could be many feet of pipe. And many hundreds of dollars. 

Just for shits & giggles, I asked him for a spitball estimate to repipe the entire house. He said he thought it'd run about $10,000. Just to run new lines from our laundry room to the kitchen, via external pipes, would be $1200. Luckily, he was an amazing human, and told me that the company he works for is very expensive, and he would do this freelance for $750. I was a little hesitant because, yes, it sounded shady and unethical, but I also wanted to save $700. I decided to take a chance, made a handshake deal, and he said he'd come back the next day.

Sure enough, he came by after work the following afternoon, with another company employee who also freelances. They ran new plumbing from my laundry room pipes, underground in front of the house, and up into the kitchen wall. It's a bit ugly, but I don't care. 

And just like that I have water again! Super water pressure! Hot as fuck water! Man, I didn't realize how slow our water lines were until we got good water lines back. He also hooked up the fridge water line for free, with his own water line, and told me to return the one I bought the other day (so there's another $40 savings!)

The next few days were nice, having scaldingly-hot water to do dishes in, but I noticed that the right side of the sink was draining slowly. So I pulled out the plunger and went to town. At first nothing was moving, and then finally, movement. 

POV Looking up at the pipes and the bottom of the sink

And a sound. 

Like a waterfall. 

Under my sink. 

Yeah... those pesky galvanized pipes again. I plunged so hard that the pipe sprung a leak and hosed down my (now clean and organized) under-sink cabinets with disgusting dishwater. 

So I pulled everything back out and called Bob again. He came over the following day and ran all new PVC pipes to the existing copper pipes in the wall, installed new strainer baskets (those little crisscrosses in the sink drains), and even installed my new kitchen faucet while he was there, all for $250. What a deal! 

I put the cabinets back together... again... and knock on wood, we're fucking DONE this time!!! 

2023 sucks. 

In case anyone is interested, 

here is how I organize my fridge and freezer:

Freezer Organization

• Top shelf: Butter
• Second shelf: More butter (yes, I know... I'm a baker), plus a few frozen dinners
• Third shelf: Frozen chicken, in meal-size portioned Ziplocs, corralled in plastic storage tubs (like the Sterilite, shown above)
• Fourth shelf: Frozen steak, ground beef, and other meats, in portioned Ziplocs, in plastic storage tubs
• Top pull-out bin: Homemade frozen meals (like casseroles), for easy access
• Bottom pull-out bin: Meal components, like diced meat, shredded cheese, etc
• Doors: Frozen juice boxes (wine alternatives for cooking), Irish butter (yes, yes, I can hear you), ice packs, Instant yeast, and other various stuff that has no home. 

Fridge Organization

• Top shelf: Hubby's beverages, larger insulated water bottles for when I run
• Second shelf: Condiments, leftovers, etc
• Third shelf: Deep fryer machine, taller bottles or beverages
• Fourth shelf: Margarine (I like it for box pasta meals), extra OJ, lunchmeat
• First drawer: Canned Pepsi (Migraine Deterrent!) and restaurant condiment cups
• Second drawer: Eggs, bin to hold all manor of cheese (cream, string, snack, shred)
• Bottom drawer: Overflow beverage storage (mostly bottled water)
• Doors: Typical fridge stuff, of course! Milk, OJ, condiments, etc; that weird bottom shelf that is super-shallow holds a tube of Pillsbury Orange Rolls perfectly, as well as Reddi-Whip!

What Does an Appendix DO, Anyway? Besides Hurt?

Back in mid-May, Hubby was having a hard time... He complained of being really gassy. He wondered if it was just gas from hell, like when you need to fart but you just can't? Maybe it was constipation? He was just kind of miserable all day. He came to bed Wednesday night still complaining of these gas pains and an upset stomach, and they got worse throughout the night. There was a lot of cussing, vomiting, pooping, and writhing in pain. I'd ask him where the pain was and he never said that it was on his right side. He kept thinking that a massive poop would fix the pain. By three or four in the morning, he was just exhausted. He was muttering to himself and both of us were a little punch-drunk from lack of sleep. I finally fell asleep around 4, but he didn't get any sleep.  

I woke back up around 7am or so, and bless his heart, he was pale, sweating, and looked like death. I told him it was time to go to a doctor. And my husband, who generally hates doctors, immediately agreed with me. I got him dressed, packed a bag with my tablet, a book, some snacks (just in case we were there for a while), and decided to take him to a local Urgent Care Center. Again, we were still under the impression that he has a pooping problem, nothing more. 

So we got to the UCC and when we hobbled in, there's probably 10 people in the waiting room, and the nurses all looked completely frazzled. Turns out that their computers were down and they couldn't do anything. So we left, and headed to another UCC up the road. I turned into the wrong location, and I realized that I was at an ancillary ER. I debated leaving to go to the UCC, but something told me insurance costs be damned, take him to the ER. 

The lobby was empty so we were able to check in quickly. He peed in a cup and they took him back to a bed, put him in a gown, and got him hooked up on all the machines. I got a peek at the cup, and dear god, it looked like Amber Ale beer... It was way too dark, and I started to get really worried. (I mean, I'd been worried since about midnight, but this looked really bad, just sitting there). 

They gave him IV fluids, and some morphine (the Morphine, the better!) to lessen the pain, and he just relaxed a bit until one of the doctors came in to physically check him out. When they pressed on his right side, he realized that it hurt, and that was a big clue... It's probably appendicitis! Later, they swapped out the morphine for Dilaudid, which worked much better for him. 

Well, he got a CT scan done and yep, appendicitis. It was time to transfer him to The Big Hospital so that he could be admitted for an appendectomy. He got to ride in an ambulance, but I had to drive over myself, since I had the car. As I was pulling out, I saw the ambulance pulling out of the other exit, and... y'all... I lost it. I didn't plan to. I waved at the ambulance and said, please take care of him, and then I was gone. I think the stress and worry from the past 18 hours caught up with me, and I was just sobbing in the car. And I wasn't thinking straight because I actually thought that I could make better time to The Big Hospital via surface street shortcuts, than could the ambulance. So they went toward the interstate while I went toward the shortcuts. The only issue is that I turned the wrong way on the shortcut road, and was 5 miles out of my way in the wrong way before I realized where I was! So I doubled back, got on the interstate (like I should have in the first place), and went about 90mph to the hospital's exit. 

Parking was hellacious, and I think I found a spot about a quarter-mile away in a parking garage. I was practically running to the ER entrance, lol. When I got inside, holy crap! It looked like some sort of refugee camp. Now, I'll leave politics and social commentary aside, mostly, but damn, people... ERs are NOT where you go for primary care! Even if you're broke! Don't come to the ER because you have a splinter, then bitch because you've been there for 6 hours... there are actual emergencies that need to be taken care of before we can get the splinter out of your fingie, okay?

Anyway, I waited at a lobby window for about 10 minutes until it was my turn, only to be told I had to go to a different window for a Visitor Pass, since he was already in the ER. Twenty minutes later, I finally found him, parked in a bed that was just sitting against the wall in a hallway. The Big Hospital is a Level 1 Trauma Center (yeah, it's a good hospital), which is amazing, but that also means that there's never enough space for everyone in the ER. He was in good spirits, full of Dilaudid, and not feeling much pain at all. He'd already talked with one of the ER doctors, who explained what the next steps were. He would be held in the ER until such time as a room could be secured for him and he could be admitted to the hospital. At that point, he would relax until it was time for surgery. The doctor was patient with him, answering all of his questions, and putting him at ease. I'm so thankful for this doctor, being so patient and so caring!

Making the best of a miserable situation

We were in the ER for a few hours before his room was ready, and then he was wheeled upstairs. He got in bed, all wired up again, and napped on and off, while I was able to get comfy(ish) on the funky recliner in the room. I watched TV for a while, using Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! to keep a sense of normalcy happening for me. I munched on some snacks, enjoyed some hospital ice, and worked on the outline for this blog post. 

What Is Appendicitis, Alex?

Every few hours they'd come in to check his vitals, and at 2am, it was finally his turn for surgery. I gave him kisses and watched him leave, and then I headed out myself. I drove home to check on the cat, and to get fresh clothes for both of us. On the way back, I got... dinner?... breakfast?... at Checkers. I thanked God for stoners at that moment, for keeping Checkers in business so that they can be open at 2:30 in the morning for a starving, stressed-out, distraught middle-aged woman to get French fries and a vanilla milkshake. 

Yum, midnight french fries!

Since it was almost 3am when I got back, I got a great parking spot, right outside of the building he was in! I went back up to our floor, but found a sitting area to finish my food - I didn't want him to return to a room that smelled like greasy food. Once I ate, I got a refill of that good hospital ice and headed back to the room. I straightened it up, just like a good little wifey, lol. I wanted the room to be warm and calming for when he came back. 

I think he was wheeled back in about 4am. Earlier, I'd asked about recovery, and they said I could come down, or I could just stay here. Apparently, I'd forgotten all about that! The orderly returning him to me said that when he woke up he was asking about me and was bummed that I wasn't there... oof, my heart. I felt so bad! 

For the next few hours, we slept (him much better than me, as you can imagine) in the dark, except for the few times they came in to check vitals. He was woken up around 8am for breakfast, and this man ate hospital food like it was the finest Michelin Star cuisine. (I tasted some of it, and it was as bad as I remember it being, the last time I had hospital food). About 2 hours later, he was released to go home. We had to wait a little bit to pick up some pain meds from the pharmacy downstairs, though. We walked - slowly - to the car (so close, thanks to that 3am adventure), and drove home. We crawled into bed and crashed for a few hours, holding hands and rubbing each others arms (cuddling was off-limits, obviously!). 

Both of us had the forethought to notify our supervisors about what was happening, so I was able to work from home the rest of the week, and he put in for a short-term Leave of Absence to recover. He works for a very large company, and anything like this is handled by a 3rd party company. What absolute aggravation to fill out these forms, and wait for the company to do what they need to do, all while also waiting for the ER doctors fill out authorization and return to work forms... He was feeling well enough to go back to work by the end of May, but it took forever for the company to get their shit together. I think he was finally back full-time by the end of JUNE! That blew our budget all to hell, but I'm happy to say that by moving things around, we never had to play the "Lights or Groceries?" game. Made me feel like a true grown-up. 

What else made me feel like a grown-up? Getting the bills... shudder.

Sticker price for this was $46,839! But after insurance and adjustments ($40,946), our out-of-pocket cost is only $5,892.26.

LOL... only $6,000. The bill was in two parts; one for the surgery and stay, the other for the ER. I was able to pay for the surgery and stay over a month or two, but the ER (the bigger of the two) kind of just sat there and mocked me. Eventually, I had the smartest idea! Set up a payment plan of a manageable amount per month, pay it with a credit card that earns cash rewards, then pay off that credit card every month. So, I am currently paying about $200 a month, basically interest-free, and earning $5 for each payment. There's no rush to pay it off early, because there's no penalty, so I'm just letting it ride, on auto-pay, until 2025. 

I can hear you, by the way, asking me... So, what does the appendix DO anyway? Well, let me educate you! 

The appendix is a worm-shaped tube attached to the large intestine of the human body. Modern researchers believe that the appendix helps to protect the body's internal environment from infection. Historically, it was thought that the appendix had no function, evolutionary theories believe it might have played a role in digestion. A great deal of evidence suggests that it is a vestigial or evolutionary remnant, which means that it used to serve a specific purpose, though it doesn't now. Several biologist support the theory that it was used by our herbivorous ancestors, as those people had a comparatively larger appendix, and it helped to digest tough herbivorous foods like tree bark. As we evolved and began to eat more easily digestible foods, the appendix lost its function. Some scientists believe that, in time, it will eventually disappear completely from the human body. 

In recent years, research has shown that the appendix has lymphoid cells, which helps the body fight infections; this suggests that the appendix also plays a role in the immune system, producing early defenses that help prevent serious infections in humans.

Other researchers believe that it produces and stores good microbes for the human gut. When good microbes are flushed out from the body, during times of dysentery or cholera, the appendix releases it's stock of "good bacteria" and reboots our digestive system. The fact that the appendix is located at the lower part of the large intestine through which food and microbes pass supports this theory of restocking the microbial flora of the digestive system. 

It's been a year since his appendectomy, and for the most part, he's healed perfectly fine. His procedure was laparoscopic, so there were three entry points: On his left side, his belly button, and in the crease between his pubic area and stomach. I can no longer see any scar in his belly button or crease, and just a faint one on his left side. He sporadically feels some pain there, we're not sure why. My assumption is that his muscles are just knitting back together; he also sat a lot during recovery, and he probably needs to stretch that area out, honestly! Once in a while, he has a hard time picking up or moving heavy objects (like big cases of bottled water, for instance), but that is rare. It's to the point that it's just something that happened last year, and he's moved on from it. 

We've knocked out about 75% of the medical bills; I think we have about $1,500 left to pay, and like I said, it's on auto-pay and I don't have to think about it. It auto-pays with a credit card that gives me rewards, so I'm making my money work for me! 

I hate that this episode made me think about our mortality. Yes, we know we're no spring chickens, and that, at some point, we'll have to deal with things like illness or surgeries. But dammit, I thought I'd have another decade before some sort of emergency happened. I was more worried about how to talk this doctor-hater into a prostate exam and colonoscopy! 

But until that happens, I will snuggle him and cuddle him and love him every single day. I want to have at least 40 more years with this man, and I want him as healthy as possible.