So here is the story of the inflamed appendix…
I spent a whole week in Scotland helping out at a camp with Irish teenagers! In Scotland we went to a Safari Park, an amusement park, went skiing with no snow, visited Edinburgh, shopped in Glasgow, went paddleboating, and connected with some amazing teenagers. I had the most amazing week being able to share the love of Christ with these teens and having so much fun with them. On Thursday, our day in Edinburgh, I spotted a Starbucks. It was a wonderful day! It had been 5 months since I had and iced caramel macchiato and I was determined to have one that day! So before shopping, I went into a Starbucks and got my drink and even took a picture to document it! When we were about to leave I decided to get another one because I just don’t know when I will get the pleasure of having another one. One of my girls in my dorm room did the same thing and that evening we both had a stomachache. Our stomachaches went away after we had some Sprite to settle our stomachs, but we thought 2 starbucks in one day wasn’t the best idea. Well later that evening I had an uncomfortable pain in my side. I thought it was the stomachache again, but this was more of a pain then an ache (there’s a difference). That night while I was trying to go to bed I just couldn’t get comfortable and kept hoping that the pain would go away. The following day was the all day of traveling and I didn’t want to be sick while on the road and on a boat. Here’s the breakdown of our traveling, we went from Glasgow to Stranraer by bus (2 ½ hours), Stranraer to Belfast by ferry (3 hours), then Belfast to Sligo by bus (3 hours). That whole day of traveling I was sick and kept having this pain in my side. Let me tell you, once I was in Sligo I was so happy to get off of that bus and sleep!! Because of all of the traveling, I spent the night in the home of Joe and Mabel Kennedy, who are in charge of the CEF camps in Rossnowlagh and Scotland, and was going to take a bus home the next morning to go home to Westport (about a 2 hour drive). Well that night the pain got worse and I had to wake Joe and Mabel up and went to the ER. This pain was the worst pain I have ever experienced. I just wanted the pain to go away and I wanted my mom and dad there! They finally gave me pain relief and moved me to a room in the hospital. What I kept thinking was, how can this be happening while I’m in Ireland, but thankful that it didn’t happen in Scotland!! I arrived in the hospital at 6 am and then around 4pm the doctor came by and told me that I was to go into surgery in a half hour. I was shocked that it was so going to be that soon but once I knew I texted Abby to spread the word, got a phone call from my sister, cried a little, and was then wheeled down to the Theater (operating room). They call it the theater here. I had never been in surgery before and was scared and wanted to hold my parents hands so much, but the provision of God is huge and showed up in ways that amazed me. The people that came to visit each day was such a blessing to me and such an encouragement. I am so blessed to be apart of the body of Christ and to see God’s provision over my life! Once I was out of surgery I immediately asked to make sure that it was my appendix that was in a hissy fit and the doctors reassured me that it was. I ended up staying in the hospital for 5 days. Once I was out of the hospital the Mulvihill family took me into their home and can’t get rid of me. They have been so wonderful and there’s nothing like having my own nurse here in the house. The lovely Emer took out my 7 stitches on Monday night and I feel great! The Lord continues to find ways to make me slow down and find rest in Him. At the beginning of this fiasco I was very annoyed that this was happening, but I have now found that I need to continue to find rest in Christ and to ultimately abide in Him! So there it is, my long appendix story!
