Since the abdominal pain was still quite severe and clearly not letting up I headed over to Urgencias with Peter just after noon. As we got through triage almost immediately I was hopeful that it wasn’t going to be a long wait to see a doctor. This was not to be. The waiting rooms were packed with next to no one wearing a mask, not even most of the staff. WTF.

Anyhow, eventually saw the doctor who ordered blood work and unfortunately got a nurse who couldn’t find any arm veins, so the third try was IN MY HAND which I hate, especially as this thing stayed in all afternoon (just in case). While waiting for the blood/urine results they sent me to get an IV of paracetamol for the pain, which ended up doing absolutely nothing. After that MORE waiting.

There was some confusion when I was called back in as there was a different doctor saying I had to redo the blood tests because blah blah blah and then suddenly the original doc came in and said not to worry, the blood was normal and they were going to do a CT scan. Wut. Anyhow, about half an hour later I was having yet another CT scan. Finally… six long hours after arriving, the doctor said I was fine. There was some inflammatory changes in the colon stump (where it had been sealed off during surgery) but no fluid or air in the peritoneal cavity. So that was it. NOT cancer. Phew.

I was sent home and told to take paracetamol for the pain, stay on a soft diet until pain subsides and stay hydrated. Well, not taking paracetamol, and I can barely eat anyhow (bonus! have lost 2 kilos), so I guess I just have to tough it out and hope the pain stops soon. Still hurts like fuck now though which is very draining. I keep having to go lie down which I guess is another “bonus” – I think I’ve slept more this week than I usually do in a month (in 2-3 hour snatches).

Now fingers crossed I didn’t pick up Covid!