All right. So, um, I did have emergency appendix removal, uh, late last week, very early in
the morning but late last week and it was not fun and big thank you to Pat for filling
in for me and for handling the bonus shows and getting the shows out and even doing a
few stories on the Friday show.
He did a really great job in rolling with the punches. The whole team did in fact. And
um, incredibly the Wednesday show I did suffering from appendicitis without even knowing it.
And I had woken up but two, three in the morning with just like high stomach pain, um, every
couple of hours during the night. And when I woke up in the morning, it got worse and
it started moving down into the right, which is pretty typical of a appendicitis, but it
could have been a number of other things. I did the show and then I decided to go to
urgent care. And at urgent care they didn't really do much. Uh, they just like pushed
on my stomach and said if it was appendicitis, it would hurt more. You should just go home
and rest. Which I did. And by the time that a few hours had gone by, things just did not
feel right.
So I went to the emergency room, uh, at Brigham and women's Faulkner hospital with my girlfriend
got there. They did some tests, um, and it was a, after doing a cat scan, it was very
clearly appendicitis. And before I knew it, they had a surgical resident talking to me
and saying, you should really remove it. We could try antibiotics, but it's not, you know,
it's slower. It could happen again. Um, well you really should have your appendix removed
then by this time it must have been close to midnight. Absolute chaos at the emergency
room and Faulkner hospital. It was actually great. The, the experience of something that
was terrible was made a lot less bad by the great care that I received. But just to give
you a sense of just how crazy it was, the number of people that were needing to be restrained
by security. And I mean, here's just an example of what was going on just right next door
to where I was in the emergency room.
Oh, [inaudible]
yeah. And it just went on and on with people saying they didn't want to be held there against
their will and you know, just absolute and total chaos. Listen.
[inaudible]
yeah. So anyway, that was what, what was going on while the surgical resident was trying
to explain the procedure to me. And at one point, I think she said, you know, the anesthesiologist
is going to come talk you soon. And I think I vaguely remember saying, that's not the
anesthesiologist is it? And it was a lighthearted moment in the middle of what was otherwise
not, not a fun day. Um, so things, I mean it was like all night, eventually, you know,
the anesthesiologist showed up. We talked about the plan. Uh, I met the surgeon and
here's an interesting story by the way, about the surgeon. Uh, the surgeon comes in and,
uh, I find out that the surgeons specialty a dr matinees who did a great job, he, uh,
specializes in, uh, endocrine surgery. And I'm thinking back, you know, not that long
ago, I read the checklist manifesto by dr a tool go on day here in who's a great doctor
here in Boston, uh, who also specializes in, I believe it's endocrine cancer surgery.
So I said to my doctor, do you know a tool go on day? And he said, yeah, we share an
office actually. And, uh, one of the last things I remember when I was a sedated already
with very strong value, which is great, great, great stuff. If you're anxious, I have high
medical anxiety, this stuff works. I remember being in DOR and everybody going through in
a way that was reminiscent of what a tool go one day sort of developed and writes about
in the checklist manifesto going through what is each person on the O R teams, uh, what
is the role of each person in the room? Who is the patient? What are they doing? I remember
actually saying, the last thing I remember is, uh, it seems like everybody's read the
checklist manifesto and I remember people in the room laughing and then waking up in
the recovery room and um, it was like an hour procedure.
It went as well as these things I think can go every day. I've been getting stronger,
still not back to, to full strength, but it was not a fun experience. I think 7% of the
population ends up having their appendix removed from what I was told. And, uh, I don't wish
it on anybody, but I'm glad that it was done. And so far so good. A lot of people tweeting
me saying, what am I going to end up paying? I don't know the answer to that. As many of
you know, I pay $420 a month for my health insurance, which is okay. And uh, many of
you know about my $800 podiatry visit a few months ago. I've looked up that the, uh, the
procedure I had not including like the emergency room component, just the procedure can range
in the U S from 1500 to $180,000. Now I'm guessing that there are other factors that
affect that price other than just where you have it done.
The average cost of an appendectomy is $33,000 so far all I've gotten is the cat scan bill,
which was billed at $368. My insurance has graciously negotiated that down to three Oh
two. But they pay none of it because I have not yet reached my annual deductible of $2,000.
So my approach is I'm sort of preparing for being told I have to pay my full deductible
that I'm going to owe $2,000 for this. Uh, it could be more, it could be less. We will
see, but I'm glad to be back and hopefully a just up and up from here, but not a fun
couple of days. And uh, thanks to everybody who wrote in and said get well soon. Well
wishes and all of that stuff. It really was great hearing from people and we've got some
voicemails coming up later, uh, related to this as well.