Ballard Swedish

I checked out the new outlet mall north of the city and did more browsing than buying, but I did find some tank tops that've been on my list. It was 7:45 when I started thinking about heading back to the car and I really wanted a coffee. There were many reasons to buy a coffee and many reasons not to and after much internal debate, I said to hell with it I'm getting an iced non-fat decaf white chocolate mocha and damn the consequences.

The coffee and I made it to the car, I put the key in the ignition, took a sip, and BLAM. I was hit with this sudden knife-like pain in my belly that was unlike anything I've experienced before. The pain really did come on that suddenly and it accompanied me all the way home, through an unwanted dinner (I thought food might help), past an antacid, during a bath, despite an aspirin, and all the way through a sleepless night. I forgot to ask for decaf.

Around midnight I was on the computer looking for a list of appendicitis symptoms, when my cousin E logged on to Messenger. She was ending a night of drinking and firefighters and I felt old and pathetic.

I wound up heading to the emergency room around 2am, had my appendix out at 7, and home before noon that same day. This medical system is efficient! I'm a little sick when I think about the cost of it all with my not-so-great insurance, but otherwise feeling pretty good.