DS (22) called last night from college (he’s a senior) saying his stomach really hurt. I asked him if he’d eaten anything strange or lifted anything heavy; no to both. No vomiting or fever. But it really hurt. I asked if there was any medi-clinic or health center open; he said no. I asked if someone could take him to the ER (wondering myself if it was really necessary but then he doesn’t complain much) and he said his girlfriend could. They head to the ER and I check in with him through the night – a CAT scan showed his appendix had burst. He went into surgery around 3:30 am and was out at 6 am, doing fine. Scary! Glad I didn’t tell him to just take some Advil and get a good night’s sleep.
Glad he’s doing okay! Hope his recovery goes well.
Oh my goodness! This is why I hate to ignore things out of the ordinary!! Glad he got care and hope he is on the mend today.
Mom’s intuition at work 
Scary! So glad he called you. They may be young adults but they still need us at times. Do you think the GF encouraged him to call — maybe she needed some back up on getting him to go?
Yikes- very scary that it burst!!! I am so glad he is doing well. You always read that symptoms include vomiting and fever, but apparently not! Our DS2 ran 12 miles in cross country in high school and told me his side hurt afterwards. I kept poo-pooing his symptoms until he looked on the internet and decided he had appendicitis. I still discounted it because twins on his cross county team had both had appendicitis 2 weeks prior to this and the chances of 3 out of 7 members of the team with appendicitis have to be ridiculously low. Also had no fever or vomiting. 3 hours later I finally took him to the ER and guess what-appendicitis. What made it weirder is that 2 months later, the cross county coach ended up in the hospital with it also!
Yikes, but so glad you sent him to the ER so no time was wasted. In our experiences, urgent care clinics send chest pains and sharp stomach pains straight to the ER.
Yikes! Glad he’s recovering and got prompt medical attention! Yay mom! Doctoring from a distance!
@NEPatsGirl haha for once it worked! @takeitallin – yes very scary! That’s amazing your DS ran 12 miles with the same issue! You just never know when it’s Something to Worry About.
@BunsenBurner – good to know – I didn’t realize sharp stomach pains were on the same level but now it makes sense.
@Cheeringsection – very good point – and his GF is a real sweetheart so that very well may be true.
Thanks all for the good wishes!
Glad to hear he’s doing well. It’s so scary having them away from home and not being able to have eyes on them. I didn’t completely listen to my son when he told me from camp he really hurt his wrist. It ended up being broken. Who knew a cty camp would be so physical!
I’m so glad you gave him the advice you did and all worked out well! I try to learn from folks like you. I am such the opposite type (sigh). I like to think I learned my lesson when I assured my youngest’s French teacher that my guy would be perfectly fine when she called once - from Paris - when they were on a class trip. “Just give him some down time and he’ll be fine!” It was his first episode of a juvenile onset epilepsy. When I personally saw his third episode it scared the ___ out of me and our school nurse (not a typical epilepsy, so none of us had experienced it before to know what it was - even the neurologist later had to call in experts).
One would think I’d have known she’d only call from Paris if she thought something was “really” wrong, but no, I was that dense. I’ve apologized to her many times since then - and am super glad it wasn’t something that ended his life! I genuinely worry that my lack of instinct will jeopardize something someday. I wish I could gain instinct from some of you who have it.
What they said! I hope he feels better soon.
SO glad he’s going to be okay. Pain makes kids more likely to listen! I tell my kids to err on the side of “freak out and panic” when it comes to unusual medical symptoms. My son’s fainting spell turned out to be nothing more than low blood sugar, but my daughter’s swollen arm was a life-threatening DVT. It’s best to let the medical professionals figure out whether your panic is justified!
Yes that’s really what scared me about this incident – the idea that I’d make the wrong choice (from afar) and he’d listen to me because I’m his mom. I am not advocating rushing to the ER for nothing, but I think when in doubt, go, and let the medical professionals tell you it’s nothing.
Glad you gave good advice! Sending lots of healing thoughts his way!
@mathmom – thank you!
That’s what moms are for!
Glad he’s on the road to recovery.
@Classof2015 Wow! So glad he is doing better now. Funny story about that. In 11th grade and 1st day at school I get a call from my son that his stomach was really hurting. I had just gone to sleep (as I work nights) so when he called I was half sleeping. Asked if he took Advil and he said yes and it was hurting all night but didn’t want to say anything. Thinking it might be appendicitis, I signed him out of school and he drove home.
Made an appt for the dr and they immediately sent him over for a scan. Dr said would call with results. 1 hr later doctor called and said everything looked fine but he was full of “poop” . Gave him Milk of Mag and few hrs later he was starving. So glad it was nothing.
Your story just brought back that memory! Hope your soon is back on his feet soon
S1 also had a ruptured appendix when he was in 7th grade. Very atypical symptoms and it took a loooooong time to get it diagnosed. It was not at all a minor event, for him or for us.
Wishes of speedy healing for your son.
Glad your son went to the ER. Wishing him a quick recovery. My appendix burst when I was a sophmore in high school—my parents thought I had an upset stomach and that it would go away. I fainted and that’s when they took me to the ER.