Emergency appendectomy.
From "a little indigestion" on Wednesday morning to "almost ruptured" on Thursday afternoon was 30 hours. They were able to do laparoscopy instead of scalpel slashing. Everything came out all right (so to speak) and I was back home Friday afternoon on antibiotics. But I'm beached for four weeks, so it's a good thing that the surf forecast sucks.
It was a rude smack upside the head. When the pain woke me up Wednesday night I finally recognized that it was worse than mere gluttony. As I researched the symptoms, my reaction was "Seriously?!? I'm too old for this crap." But apparently appendicitis can hit you at any age.
We submariners have plenty of horrifying sea stories about doing appendicitis MEDEVACs. Now I'm really glad I never had the honor. I can't imagine having to deal with this crisis if I was working, let alone in uniform.
Tripler's ER staff asked about a gazillion times whether I had a medical directive and a will. (Ironically I was also asked whether I'm an organ donor: "You know why I'm here, right?") By the time my spouse and I realized that we needed to hustle to the ER, there was no time left for notaries or sharing logins/passwords.
Carpe diem, folks. And if your paperwork isn't ready to go then... get your stuff together.
Oh, and in that life-affirming theme, our daughter (in Rota, Spain) just announced her engagement. He's also a Navy Surface Warfare Officer like her (in Norfolk), USNA '14, and with an option to switch to the cyber warfare or info professional communities. They met at EKMS (crypto) school last fall. They're tentatively planning a 2017 wedding, although they may pull a marriage certificate much sooner if the assignment officers won't co-locate them.
My opinion doesn't get a vote but yes, the progeny of two USNA alumni is marrying a USNA alum. Clearly she has learned nothing, or perhaps he's an exceptional fiancé. I only know him from the 10-minute announcement phone call, and he made a good first impression.
