#laproscopic surgery

Symptoms: (TW mention of being sick)

I remember a strong, deeply uncomfortable ache in my belly

I couldn't twist or bend too far backwards, so I was walking pretty hunched over the whole time

I was exhausted, without much energy to do anything but wander around

My abdomen was very tender and sensitive to touch

I threw up once and I had very low appetite

I thought it was either a bad period or constipation (I'd been eating a very shitty diet the few days before, which is what might've caused my appendicitis tbh)

Blood test:

I've had a few of these, and since I have pretty good, visible veins, they always manage to draw blood on the first go

Since I was fourteen at the time, they gave me numbing cream on the area they were going to inject, but apparently this isn't common. If the person having the blood draw is a child and/or very sensitive to pain, you can let them have numbing cream

Some people have very small veins, and end up having to have several needle draws - for extra whump, you can give your frightened and desperate whumpee super small veins and a fear of needles. Go nuts

Surgery details: (keep in mind this may be a little hazy as I was in a lot of pain!)

Once they worked out it was appendicitis, they took me to a separate room with a bed I rested on for about an hour, where they put a cannula into my left hand. I could have my stuff with me (including my phone) and my dad was with me during this - you can have your whumpee's lover, best friend, sibling, or partner with them

^ about where they put my cannula. Mine had a cute teddy bear pattern on it! [IMG DESC: white hand with a short cannula in their left hand]

iirc I was also told to pee into a cup? I genuinely don't remember why

After that, I was told to walk to a different bed in the hallway, where I laid and they wheeled me to a private room, where I waited to go into surgery. I didn't have my phone or anything with me at the time, but I did have my soft toys that I cuddled for comfort. At this point, my mum switched out with my dad, and she was with me - I presume a whumpee would be able to have someone with them for comfort

An anaesthesiologist came in to give me my anaesthetic through my cannula. She was very sweet and reassuring, and I remember her first name was Orla, like Orla Garland (who I really liked at the time haha)

First, she put an oxygen mask on my face, and I remember being very worried that it kept falling off because it wasn't tightened yet

The anaesthetic itself felt very peaceful, like falling asleep in about ten seconds. I didn't feel any pain

I remember looking at the ceiling light above me and singing "and at last I see the light" (like the song from Tangled) which was very in character for me XD - good opportunity for your character to say something silly. You could have them confess something, but at least from what I remember, I was falling asleep so quickly I couldn't have been able to think anything through. You could have whumpee look towards someone and say "you're pretty" or "I love you" or something like that

And then I fell asleep

I woke up two hours and ten minutes later in the ICU, a clean and sterile building full of white, grey and blue colours. I remember waking up for a few seconds, enough to see the clock and feel my mother holding my hand - you could definitely have your whumpee waking up to feel a character's hand in their's for a few seconds before falling back asleep. They won't be able to speak, since they'd be so out of it, and the breathing tube would've irritated their throat too much.

They put a breathing tube in me, as they usually do for surgeries afaik, but they removed it before I woke up. However, my throat still ached and scratched a lot

I woke up again at around 5 in the morning in the children's ward. My mother was still there, and I woke up for a minute or two before falling back asleep

I woke up properly at around 7am

In true whumpee spirit, I was on my feet a few hours later, attempting to stand up for a bit - yes, you absolutely can have your whumpee insisting they are fine enough to walk. You can also have your whumpee lean on or clutch someone's arm, although I didn't want to because I was very stubborn

I felt pretty sore and wobbly, so they gave me paracetamol (tylenol) and ibuprofen. They did offer me morphine, but they did warn me that taking it would've meant I had to stay there for longer - another good whump opportunity here!

In true AO3 writer spirit, I asked to have my laptop in my hospital bag, and I remember writing fanfic scenes of characters in the hospital when I was in the hospital. Fourteen year old me was goals

The worst part of it was the drainage bag. It was a tube that went into an incision in my lower abdomen, about a few inches above my pubic area. It hurt and was really uncomfortable, and I had to carry it with me wherever I went and moving it around felt very sensitive - you can have your whumpee complain about this or feel very tender in the area, especially since it's so private

They removed it on Friday afternoon, which really hurt. I scrunched my eyes shut, and it was very painful for about five seconds

After effects:

Appetite. Or rather, lack of. This was the main thing I remembered in hospital. I could not stomach anything, and I hadn't eaten a proper meal since Monday. I managed a bit of jelly (jello) and custard in the hospital, as well as a few other things. But I was so weak and tired, I went home from the hospital and laid down so much

I felt very wobbly on my feet, and very tender around the area. I was on house/bed rest (doctor's orders) for about a week as far as I remember, and it was a half term break after that, so I had two weeks off school

I had a wound dressing pad on the incisions - one about an inch long just below my belly button, one on the side a lot lower down (right along where waistbands usually lie, which was very uncomfortable as you can imagine), and the drainage scar (which was just stitched shut) - I changed them myself but depending on the whumpee and the surgery they might need someone else to help them

I also showered by myself a few days after the surgery with no problems, but again, it depends on the injury if the character would be able to shower themself (keep in mind I wasn't as disabled as I am now). My recollection is that I took the dressings off, showered, dried off, and put the dressings back on. I had stitches and I forgot what happened to them. Injury gothic

I had a very weirdly specific fear of someone stepping on my injury and bursting the stitches open

I could dress myself, eat, shower, and mostly take care of myself once I was back from the hospital, but keep in mind I just had keyhole surgery - open surgery would probably keep a person in the hospital for longer

I was pretty much back to normal within two weeks, but since I was doing gymnastics at the time, I couldn't do that for a while, and I had to get back to it very slowly. I was out for a month at least - being unable to do intense physical activity would include, say, fighting in a battlefield... if your character does any activity level beyond walking, they'll be out for a pretty LONG time

Now for my mother's experience

Keep in mind I was young and this was traumatic for me, so my memory won't be perfect. I hope these notes help to give info on the more severe forms of abdominal surgery (appendicitis is major surgery but it's a very common and safe surgery)

My mum had two surgeries for her gallstones: one in 2019 (I think) and one in 2020. The 2019 one was a keyhole surgery to remove the gallstones from her gallbladder, which failed, so she had to have open surgery in 2020

The 2020 operation was in a private hospital because it was during COVID, so all the hospitals were very overcrowded so she was moved

For the first 24 hours after her surgery, she was pretty out of it and kept drifting in and out

She felt dozy, ill, groggy, and very sore

Her abdomen felt swollen and very inflamed

The world around her looked like a hazy film picture

For the open surgery, she had a stronger anaesthetic for a longer time, so it took her longer to recover

Anaesthetic makes you feel a little grumpy and low - a good whump opportunity would be the whumpee snapping at the caretaker and getting angry and upset, and the caretaker feeling very sad and helpless to stop it

She had a line of staples along the surgical site, which stretched across her lower abdomen (in the same place as a c section scar)

She also had a catheter during and after the surgery for a few days

She was in the hospital for three days after her open surgery

She tried to order food but couldn't stomach anything for a while and had no appetite. She definitely ordered food on the third day though

Private hospitals have NICE chefs, but this is not the case for most hospitals XD

Speaking of private hospitals, they're like regular hospitals, just neater and cleaner and you have to pay for them

Nurses come and go, but the doctors are rarely there

She was on a drip (afaik it was for hydration and nutrition) for at least a day

Physiotherapy sessions were provided - she had half hour sessions

They helped her sit up, then swing her legs over the bed with her feet on the floor, then standing up, then walking from the bed to the chair and back to the bed, then walking to the end of the corridor

After her surgery she used a wheelchair for a bit (about a week or two) so she could get out and about

My sibling and I had to help her stand up, and up and down the stairs - it was a difficult time for me, but it can be a very sweet and intimate thing for a caretaker to take care of a whumpee post surgery

That's all I remember - I hope this helps :')

Now for Ben

Keeping in mind his surgery was under a lot more dire circumstances than either of these above, so as far as I know, he would just have these symptoms but a lot more exaggerated. When I was in the hospital for two days and my mother for three, Ben was probably in the hospital for about a month, including a course of physiotherapy (similar to what my mother had). It would've taken him a lot longer to recover, especially considering all the blood he lost. Considering he still needs a heart specialist, he probably would've been kept for a long time for monitoring. Plus, with the amount of blood he lost, it could've caused permanent brain damage, which would've required more treatment. I'm not a medical professional by any means, so I'll let you know my lovely moot @lemedstudent2021 is an actual medical student and has helped me a lot with writing medically accurate whump :)

The above also has excellent medical info from anaesthetic to after effects of surgery. It's explained really simply, and it's overall a lifesaver for whump writers (and afaik it can be accessed in other countries too).