The appendix is a closed-ended, narrow tube up to several inches in length that attaches to the cecum (the first part of the colon) like a worm. (The anatomical name for the appendix, vermiform appendix, means worm-like appendage.)
The inner lining of the appendix produces a small amount of mucus that flows through the open center of the appendix and into the cecum. The wall of the appendix contains lymphatic tissue that is part of the immune system for making antibodies. Like the rest of the colon, the wall of the appendix also contains a layer of muscle, but the muscle is poorly developed.
When I woke up on Monday morning I was greeted with a surge of pain on my right side of the abdomen. It was so painful I had to see the doctor immediately. My mum thought it was a normal stomachache but to me I KNEW it was not stomachache.
The stomach is on our left side of the body and everything on the right is everything else. That was what I learnt in medic school.
As suspected, I had inflamed appendix.
I had to remove it as soon as possible else it is life-threatening.
For that every moment, I thought of everyone whom are dearly to me. I was scared.
Appendicitis means inflammation of the appendix. It is thought that appendicitis begins when the opening from the appendix into the cecum becomes blocked.
The blockage may be due to a build-up of thick mucus within the appendix or to stool that enters the appendix from the cecum. The mucus or stool hardens, becomes rock-like, and blocks the opening. This rock is called a fecalith (literally, a rock of stool).
If the inflammation and infection spread through the wall of the appendix, the appendix can rupture. After rupture, infection can spread throughout the abdomen; however, it usually is confined to a small area surrounding the appendix (forming a peri-appendiceal abscess).
In the end I had to have it removed.
