All of us have had a hard time being away from home, but there is one person who has had the hardest time by far and that is Mike Fowler. En route from Tampa to Pittsburgh, Mike’s appendix burst. He somehow lived to tell the tale so here it is.
As a social studies teacher, Mike was enthused to be participating in this year’s Voices Across Time and had been planning on doing a historical tour of Charleston, Jamestown, Yorktown, Monticello topping it off with a 4th of July visit to Philadelphia before his arrival into Pittsburgh on July 6. He was so excited about the trip, in fact, he couldn’t sleep and decided to start driving at 3:30 in the morning. This was Tuesday, July 1. He started off for Fort Sumter feeling fine. It wasn’t until he got to South Carolina that he started to feel a little funny. By noon, he had reached Charlestown and that’s when the stomach pains began. Thinking it was some bad yogurt, he got tickets and boarded the ferry for Fort Sumter. That’s when he started to feel deathly ill. It was at Fort Sumter that Mike threw up in front of 150 other tourists, desecrating a national monument. It was the first time he had thrown up since he was 3. The staff at Fort Sumter roped off the area where he had thrown up, not bothering to attend to his medical needs. The doctors would later say that this was probably the moment his appendix burst, but everyone including Mike himself still thought it was food poisoning.
He didn’t sleep much that night or the next night and it was around this time that Mike had a hunch it might be his appendix. He googled his symptoms, diagnosed himself with appendicitis, and at 4:30 a.m. started the seven hour drive to Pittsburgh. By the time he checked into the Shadyside Hospital Emergency Room, Mike was in such bad shape they didn’t even bother to take a cat-scan before admitting him into surgery. They took out what was left of his appendix, and after the surgery, the doctor told him he was lucky to be alive.
Mike went in for a follow-up appointment two weeks later on Thurs., July 17 and was issued a clean bill of health. Mike mentioned that he had experienced some fever but the doctor said that if there were going to be any infections, they would have appeared already. Mike decided to join us for the Gettysburg tour the next day which included two four-hour long bus rides. Mike should probably not have come out with us that day. It was during the bus ride that Mike developed a fever of 102.8. The next night, he was admitted into the hospital where they discovered one large abscess and several smaller abscesses. They installed a drain through his right butt cheek—probably the worst part of the whole ordeal, he says—and after a couple of nights in the hospital, a home health nurse was assigned to visit Mike once a day to flush the tube out with saline. Well, the home health nurse must have been new because it was found out several days later that the valve had been in the “off” position the whole time she was making her daily visitations.
On Monday, the valve was found to be cracked (probably a result of its having been in the “off” position for several days) and Mike contacted the doctor to let him know he needed to see him. But the doctor put him off that Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday--Mike (and the rest of us) all the while fearful of another infection. By Wednesday, one of the organizers of the Institute got a lawyer involved and like magic Mike was able to see a doctor—not the same doctor he had seen in his previous visits, but a doctor nevertheless. Luckily, there was no infection and they took the tube out without incident.
Mike says the whole ordeal has made him appreciate the simple things in life—like driving a car and taking a shower. It has been a lonely experience he says with his friends and family 1,500 miles away.
Mike will be joined by his boyfriend Steve shortly and together they will be driving his car down to Williamsburg where Mike will finally get the trip of his dreams.
As a social studies teacher, Mike was enthused to be participating in this year’s Voices Across Time and had been planning on doing a historical tour of Charleston, Jamestown, Yorktown, Monticello topping it off with a 4th of July visit to Philadelphia before his arrival into Pittsburgh on July 6. He was so excited about the trip, in fact, he couldn’t sleep and decided to start driving at 3:30 in the morning. This was Tuesday, July 1. He started off for Fort Sumter feeling fine. It wasn’t until he got to South Carolina that he started to feel a little funny. By noon, he had reached Charlestown and that’s when the stomach pains began. Thinking it was some bad yogurt, he got tickets and boarded the ferry for Fort Sumter. That’s when he started to feel deathly ill. It was at Fort Sumter that Mike threw up in front of 150 other tourists, desecrating a national monument. It was the first time he had thrown up since he was 3. The staff at Fort Sumter roped off the area where he had thrown up, not bothering to attend to his medical needs. The doctors would later say that this was probably the moment his appendix burst, but everyone including Mike himself still thought it was food poisoning.
He didn’t sleep much that night or the next night and it was around this time that Mike had a hunch it might be his appendix. He googled his symptoms, diagnosed himself with appendicitis, and at 4:30 a.m. started the seven hour drive to Pittsburgh. By the time he checked into the Shadyside Hospital Emergency Room, Mike was in such bad shape they didn’t even bother to take a cat-scan before admitting him into surgery. They took out what was left of his appendix, and after the surgery, the doctor told him he was lucky to be alive.
Mike went in for a follow-up appointment two weeks later on Thurs., July 17 and was issued a clean bill of health. Mike mentioned that he had experienced some fever but the doctor said that if there were going to be any infections, they would have appeared already. Mike decided to join us for the Gettysburg tour the next day which included two four-hour long bus rides. Mike should probably not have come out with us that day. It was during the bus ride that Mike developed a fever of 102.8. The next night, he was admitted into the hospital where they discovered one large abscess and several smaller abscesses. They installed a drain through his right butt cheek—probably the worst part of the whole ordeal, he says—and after a couple of nights in the hospital, a home health nurse was assigned to visit Mike once a day to flush the tube out with saline. Well, the home health nurse must have been new because it was found out several days later that the valve had been in the “off” position the whole time she was making her daily visitations.
On Monday, the valve was found to be cracked (probably a result of its having been in the “off” position for several days) and Mike contacted the doctor to let him know he needed to see him. But the doctor put him off that Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday--Mike (and the rest of us) all the while fearful of another infection. By Wednesday, one of the organizers of the Institute got a lawyer involved and like magic Mike was able to see a doctor—not the same doctor he had seen in his previous visits, but a doctor nevertheless. Luckily, there was no infection and they took the tube out without incident.
Mike says the whole ordeal has made him appreciate the simple things in life—like driving a car and taking a shower. It has been a lonely experience he says with his friends and family 1,500 miles away.
Mike will be joined by his boyfriend Steve shortly and together they will be driving his car down to Williamsburg where Mike will finally get the trip of his dreams.
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