Emergency Echo by George Ivanoff Page A

ruptured.’ He held up his thumb and index finger just millimetres apart. ‘But you came this close.’
    â€˜Really?’ said Alice.
    â€˜Yep. They yanked it out in time.’ He laughed. ‘You’re very lucky.’
    â€˜Don’t feel lucky,’ said Alice around the icy-pole.
    â€˜Well, you are,’ said Grandad. ‘I should know. My appendix did rupture.’
    â€˜Oh,’ said Alice.
    â€˜You get to go home in a couple of days,’continued Grandad. ‘Although apparently you need to poo first.’ Alice groaned. ‘With a ruptured appendix, you would have been stuck in hospital for at least seven days. And all sorts of problems could have happened.’ Grandad hesitated for a moment, as if unsure whether to go on. ‘I nearly died.’
    â€˜What?’ Alice almost choked.
    â€˜Yes,’ explained Grandad. ‘When your appendix ruptures, pus spreads through your abdomen, which can cause an infection. If it’s not cleaned out quick-smart, it can be fatal. I was very fortunate the RFDS were able to get me to a hospital as quickly as they did. Without them, I probably wouldn’t have made it.’ He paused. ‘Of course, the danger isn’t over after the operation. You can still get a pretty nasty post-op infection, which is whathappened to me. I ended up with peritonitis and was in hospital for almost three weeks.’
    â€˜Peri … peri-ta-whatsis?’
    â€˜Peritonitis,’ said Grandad. ‘It’s an inflammation of the abdomen. And it’s very painful, I can tell you. So I was hooked up to the IV for ages being pumped full of medicines. I wasn’t allowed to eat, I lost so much weight. It was terrible.’
    Alice stopped sucking on her icy-pole and stared at her Grandad. How come he’d never told her before?
    â€˜Mind you, things are better these days. Procedures have improved. Medicines are more effective. It’s not as dangerous now as it was fifty-five years ago.’ He smiled. ‘Still, I’m very glad that you didn’t have a ruptured appendix.’
    â€˜Me too,’ said Alice, finishing off her icy-pole. She had a sudden vision of her appendix being plucked out of her by a surgeon, all pink and plump and whole. She wondered if she’d feel any different without it.
    Pretty soon the nurse came back. ‘If you’re feeling okay, we’ll move you to a recovery room.’
    â€˜I’m feeling okay,’ said Alice with a big smile. ‘But will my body be all right without an appendix?’
    â€˜You’ll be just fine without one,’ explained the nurse patiently. ‘The human body doesn’t really need the appendix to function properly. In fact, for many years doctors thought that the appendix had no real purpose.’
    â€˜But it does have a purpose?’ asked Alice.
    â€˜Well, yes,’ admitted the nurse. ‘Thecurrent theory is that it stores good bacteria when you’re unwell.’
    â€˜So it’s not good that I don’t have one anymore?’ Alice was feeling a little worried.
    â€˜Believe me, your body will be a lot better now that it’s gone.’ The nurse smiled and went to get an orderly to move the bed.
    Alice couldn’t help thinking about her missing appendix. Missing? Her hand suddenly went up to her throat. ‘Dad’s gold.’
    â€˜Right here,’ said Grandad. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the necklace and handed it to her.

    Some time after Alice had gone to sleep, nurses came to wake her up. They kepttalking about wind and bowels, and also how she needed to wee.
    Half asleep and fuzzy from painkillers, Alice was helped out of bed and brought to the toilet. She managed a little wee. The whole process was very dreamlike. In fact, come morning, Alice wasn’t even sure that it had really happened.
    A nurse bustled in and woke Alice, insisting she had to go to the toilet again.