The Season for Sorrows and Joys

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Why is it that the scariest and toughest illnesses occur at the festive time of year? Instead of family gatherings at home with music and merriment, for some people the holidays involve hushed tones at the bedside in a hospital.

It may have started as nothing serious. An ache. Maybe stomach flu. But when symptoms turn serious, getting to an emergency room is not to be delayed.

One common cause of trouble is the appendix. This odd, little finger-shaped organ was poorly understood in medical history until more recent times. The fact that a ruptured appendix could be removed without apparent implications for the patient had doctors convinced it was an evolutionary leftover. More recent research suggests it functions as a “saferoom” for good bacteria – ready to replenish the gut as part of the immune response to heal infections.

But when the appendix itself gets infected by bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi, the tube that normally is about 4 inches long can become acutely inflamed. Pain can come on quickly and be severe.

For the doctor, sometimes the diagnosis can be as easy as rolling off a log. But at other times, it takes the wisdom of Solomon. Every surgeon knows the abdomen can offer astounding surprises. The pain of an infected abdomen can be similar to a perforated hernia in the large bowl. Or to cancer. Or, in a woman, a twisted ovarian cyst.

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