Re: medical question -how are you feeling after the surgery? Any sensations? I heard that when getting the appendix removed you also get stitches - do they feel weird in any way?
I got a laparoscopic appendectomy, which means there’s three small holes rather than one large incision. I can’t really feel individual stitches, but it does hurt a lot. I left the hospital an hour or two after surgery, and slept for three hours when I got home. But the next 12 ish hours after were agony! I couldn’t inhale without feeling like my insides were being ripped apart, and if I forgot to breathe for a second the pain was as bad as before I went to the hospital. In the couple days after surgery the pain is in more specific areas (I assume that’s where the incisions are, since to me it’s just under the bandages)
As far as feeling weird, my whole belly feels tight like when your bladder is full, but other than that, it just stings and aches
I hope that answers your question!
Also feels worth noting that I have a condition that means I have chronic pain and pain meds are less effective for me
Merry Christmas everyone! I had some downtime between festivities today, so I pumped this out for you! I hope you enjoy it! It is very long, so it is going under the cut!
It had been about a month since Y/N had moved in with Solar Flare, also known as Kiran Blaize. He had revealed his identity to her that day in the med bay. According to him, it would be a lot easier if Y/N knew upfront, rather than having to sneak around in his own house and make frequent excuses for any behaviors that seemed too much like one identity or the other.
Y/N, like most people, didn’t know much about Kiran Blaize. The only reason he was in the public’s eye at all was because of something that happened near decades ago. Y/N pulled up some old articles on her phone that explained as much as anyone could. The headlines pieced together a fairly cohesive story.
First Baby Born in Space Loses Parents in Cosmic Event
ASTRA Mission Gone Wrong
Organization Sends Two Astronauts Up, One Child Comes Back Down
A Tragedy and a Miracle: The First Space Birth
Is John and Kristen Blaize’s Baby Legally American? Immigration Officer Weighs In
Kiran Blaize: Human or Martian?
After the first page of links on the internet browser, the articles started getting weirder and more like gossip from reality TV than an account of Kiran’s birth. Because he was the first to ever be born in space, a lot of organizations had been chomping at the bit to examine him, test him, and study him. He probably would’ve grown up in a petri dish were it not for Dr. Yamada.
ASTRA Adopts Space Baby
Can An Entire Scientific Organization Have Custody of One Child?
Tired of Dark Circles? Try This One Trick Heroes Swear By!
Memorial for John and Kristen Blaize Erected in Lightbridge
Hot Single Women in Your Area
Y/N closed out of the tab. Now it was just getting weird. Somehow, Kiran had managed to stay out of most of the limelight, even in scientific circles. ASTRA, mainly Dr. Yamada, had raised him from an infant, and trained him when his powers started to develop. Naturally, that last part had been kept under lock and key.
The doorbell ringing had Y/N setting her phone in her pocket and getting up. The guest room Kiran had gave her was spacious and well-kept, but still mostly barren of anything sentimental. Y/N had been slowly setting out what personal belongings that Apollo’s Guild had been able to recover for her. At least her wardrobe had survived the trip. She couldn’t imagine wearing the designer clothes that Kiran sported.
She made her way down to the foyer, where Kiran greeted a small group of people Y/N didn’t quite recognize.
“Merry Christmas, Kiran!” a girl with brown hair and blue eyes beamed.
“Merry Christmas, Laurel,” Kiran said, moving aside to let the girl in.
Laurel stepped through the doorway, nearly wobbling from the weight of several brightly-colored packages and bags with festive tissue paper sticking out.
“Oh, hi! You must be Y/N!” Laurel greeted, “Kiran, where can I set these down?”
Kiran came over to help while a girl with wild, curly red hair zipped inside on roller skates, followed by a young man with blond hair and a deep-green turtleneck sweater. Finally, Dr. Yamada entered the house, closing the door behind the lot of them.
“Merry Christmas!” he said, “I bring supplies!”
He held a wrapped, glazed ham that needed cooking. He also balanced fresh rolls in his other hand the way a waiter would.
“Hey, Y/N~” the red-haired girl greeted, untying her roller skates and setting them by the door, “Merry Christmas!”
“Hi,” Y/N said politely, “…have we met?”
Her eyes went wide.
“No! Nope! We, uh, we have definitely not met,” she said, “I did not meet you, and you did not meet me. I know your name because-”
“I told Coral about you,” Kiran finished, coming up to them, “and showed her some pictures of us.”
Kiran’s tone was light, and his expression cheerful, but the hand he put on Coral’s shoulder squeezed a little harder than what was considered congenial.
“Heh, yeah, of course,” Coral said, “that’s what I was gonna say. Sorry, I’m kinda all over the place today.”
“You’re telling me,” Kiran sighed, releasing her.
…
Everyone was seated in the living room, save for Dr. Yamada, who busied himself in the kitchen.
Merit, that was the blond man in the turtleneck, turned his head in the direction of a cry.
“Dr. Yamada?” he called.
“I need Kiran,” he said, “now!”
Kiran got up and Y/N followed. She wasn’t a professional chef or anything, but if the man needed help, then she’d of course try to oblige.
Dr. Yamada looked sadly at the glazed ham in the open oven, which had completely turned off. The digital clock wasn’t even showing.
“It never finished cooking, it’s underdone still!” Dr. Yamada said, “Kiran, I need you to-”
“Way ahead of you,” Kiran said.
He folded his hands in front of him, stretching. Then he formed a fireball between his hands.
“Stand back, Y/N,” he said, grinning with something akin to wicked glee in his eyes.
Within seconds, the ham came up to the desired temperature, and was evenly and perfectly cooked throughout. Kiran blew smoke from his fingertips.
“You’re welcome,” he said, “Christmas is saved.”
He looked like he was going to gloat some more when a grimace came over his features. Y/N tilted her head. The expression was gone in an instant, replaced by a triumphant smirk.
“I want the first slice for my trouble, Horatio,” he said.
“Oh yes, all that trouble.” Dr. Yamada rolled his eyes, “how tedious that must have been for you, almost as bad as blinking. Dinner’s ready!”
Everyone gathered in the dining room. Merit sat on one end of the table, and, at Dr. Yamada’s request, said grace.
A few slices of ham found their way to each plate, along with mashed potatoes, buttered rolls, cooked vegetables, and drinks ranging from sparkling grape juice to actual wine.
Y/N tried to focus on eating, but she could swear she heard a few winces escape Kiran as he sat next to her.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
“Fine,” Kiran said, “just a little…argh!”
He clutched his side and curled inward.
“Kiran?” Laurel asked.
“It’s nothing,” he said, “just a stomachache…”
He tried sitting up straight, but that brought tears to his eyes, which made him curl in tighter.
“Oh my gosh,” he breathed.
By this point, Merit had jumped up from his seat, along with everyone else.
“I’m good, I’m good,” Kiran panted, “don’t make a fuss over-hhng!”
Merit pulled Kiran’s chair out with him in it. He pried his fingers from over his right side.
“Kiran, does it hurt when I-”
Kiran howled at the feather-light touch Merit made over his side.
“Yes!” he cried through gritted teeth.
“You don’t think it’s-” Coral started.
“That’s exactly what I think it is,” Merit said, lifting Kiran into a bridal carry.
It was clear Kiran was trying not to scream. His eyes screwed shut and he bit his lip until blood dribbled down his chin.
“I’m calling an ambulance,” Laurel said.
“No!” Kiran and Merit shouted.
“Secret identity,” Kiran bit out.
“And they won’t get here in time,” Merit said.
He glanced at Y/N.
“I’m taking him to the med bay at the base,” he announced.
“Merit!” Laurel exclaimed; her eyes bounced to Y/N and back to Merit.
“She was going to find out eventually,” Merit said.
Merit ran through the front door and jumped into the air… and stayed there. He flew up, up, up, until he was several feet off the ground.
“Meet me there as soon as you can,” Merit said.
…
Kiran felt like his stomach was being stabbed with a knife bigger than his arm. His breathing was labored and shallow. He dared not take a deep breath, that only made the pain worse. He was distantly aware of Merit laying him down in an operating room, while guild doctors surrounded him.
“I know this is short-notice,” Merit said, “thank you for coming on a holiday, I know that-”
“You’d do it for us, Resonance,” one of the doctors said.
Something cold pierced Kiran’s skin, and then ice flooded his veins. Someone manhandled him into lying flat, and he screamed. He felt one of the doctors lift his shirt up and clean the area with an alcohol pad.
“What’re you-”
“Count backwards from ten,” the other doctor instructed.
“Why-”
“Do what she says, Kiran,” Merit said.
“Ten…nine…”
Kiran never got to eight. The lights faded above him, and then… nothing.
…
“You can come in now, Y/N,” Merit said.
Y/N shuffled into the recovery room. Coral, Laurel, Dr. Yamada, and herself had all piled into the scientist’s little red Miata and blitzed off to the Apollo’s Guild base. Oddly enough, Dr. Yamada never put his hands on the wheel.
“Appuru,” he had said, “take us to the guild please.”
Some blinking lights and some beeping noises, and the car had roared to life.
“Quickly, if you don’t mind.”
At that point, little rockets had popped out of the back of the car, and they were at their destination in under five minutes.
Kiran’s operation had taken much longer. Almost forty-five minutes. Appendicitis, the doctors had said. His appendix had been minutes away from bursting. If Merit hadn’t acted when he did, Kiran would likely have died from complications like peritonitis or sepsis. There were a lot of other fancy words the doctors used, and while Y/N wasn’t one hundred percent sure what they all meant, the general meaning got across: Kiran had been very, very lucky.
As Y/N stood in the doorway, she noticed how small Kiran looked in the bed. Kiran had never seemed so small before. Small, weak, fragile. Y/N hadn’t really registered before that even superheroes weren’t invincible. Now, however, it was crystal clear.
“Heyyyy,” Kiran slurred.
“Hi,” Y/N said.
She approached his bed.
“How do you feel?”
“Tired,” Kiran admitted, “really tired. Am I dreaming?”
Y/N held back a chuckle.
“No, you’re awake,” she said.
“Ohhhhh. Am I dead?”
“Nope.”
“Ohhhh. Well then how’d you get in here?”
“What do you mean?”
“Angels don’t show up unless you’re dreaming or dead,” Kiran mumbled, making a lot of clumsy gestures with his hands, “so, like, are you on a Christmas mission or something?”
Pink rose into Y/N’s cheeks. She stammered, looking for something appropriate to say to the clearly inebriated superhero.
Dr. Yamada entered the room.
“Daaaaad.” Kiran beamed.
Dr. Yamada didn’t show a visible reaction beyond his gaze softening. He sat down at Kiran’s bedside and produced a blanket he had been carrying under his arm.
“You scared us, Kiran,” he said, tucking the blanket around him, “you need to rest for some time. I’m telling you now before you can weasel your way out of it. No arguing.”
“Awwwww…”
Dr. Yamada fixed Merit with a questioning look.
“He’s on the good stuff.” Merit shrugged.
“He must be. Surrender isn’t his style.”
Coral and Laurel would stop by later to check on him. Merit would arrange guest rooms for Y/N and Dr. Yamada, but they would barely use them, opting instead to stay in Kiran’s hospital room for most of the night.
The Christmas presents sat neglected on a side table in Kiran’s house. It looked like the festivities were going to be stretched across a couple weeks.
Villain returned to consciousness all too soon, Hero gently shaking their shoulder. As soon as they came to full conscience, they squeezed their eyes shut again, the pain having managed to seem to have doubled since the dark of unconsciousness took them into her depths. Villain brought their hands to gently cradle their abdomen, seeking any form of relief.
"Woah, woah slow down, you'll make it worse."
"I- I d-don't care... just m-make it stop." Villain pleaded.
"Look, I'm trying, but you need to stay quiet, we're almost there."
"Almost whe-" Villain tried to argue but cut themselves off, a wave of nausea washing over them. Hero watched their face pale, sinking to their knees and guiding Villain over the pavement just before they lost the contents of their stomach. Hero watched with concern, unsure of what to do. They had never seen Villain so vulnerable, so... ordinary.
Hero scoured their memories, recalling a week in middle school when they had stayed home from school because of nausea. They remembered their mother gently rubbing her hand over young Hero's back and found their own hand doing the same for Villain who had shrunk against them, body quivering. They stayed there for a few moments, Villain's shaking only increasing as Hero stood again and kept their brisk pace down the streets and alleys.
Villain managed to keep most of their pains behind gritted teeth, occasionally releasing a wince or whimper.
"I know, I'm keeping as steady as I can," Hero apologized as they neared a tall building with tinted windows and black push-through doors, "But if we don't hurry your appendix could burst, and then everything gets so much worse. You won't make it to a hospital, so I guess the team and I will have to handle this ourselves. You'll need immediate surgery."
"S-surgery?! N-no let me...let me go- mph.." Hero pulled Villain closer, their weak protests doing little as Hero placed a hand over their mouth.
"Nonsense, this isn't negotiable."
They walked through the doors, Villain's eyes flicking around wildly as they clutched their stomach. Different members of Hero's team walked back and forth. A few Villian recognized, but most he'd never seen before. It was humiliating, really. Their nemesis carried them from room to room as the stabbing agony only managed to worsen, and Villian didn't even feel the tears until they dripped onto Hero's shirt and their own hands. They tried to focus on the conversations rippling around them, to examine Hero's team and their expressions, but their vision started to blur and swirl. All the details started to fade until a silence filled their ears. Hero lay them down on a table and Villian let their head fall back against the metal.
A bright light flicked on above their head and they squinted, whimpering at the sudden change.
"Okay Villian, this strap is going to go over your chest, just to make sure you don't fall off, okay?"
VIllian managed a weak nod and heard the Velcro tear away from itself as Hero pulled it over their chest.
"h-hero-"
"Shh, breathe." VIllian felt the silicone of a mask move over their nose, and the smell of gas filled their lungs. Another person took their arm and began running a cotton swab over the middle of their forearm. They could faintly hear Hero counting in the background, the black around their vision pulling in.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six........"
Villain's eyes closed just before five, and Hero watched their body go slack. Medic inserted the IV, and Hero began prepping for surgery when Sidekick came in the room. Hero motioned for them to help with the scrubs and they did so, tying the loops behind Hero's head.
"Why are you helping them, again? They don't deserve saving." Sidekick growled, shooting a glare toward Villian's limp form. Hero pulled the mask over their nose, eyes flicking to the scar on Sidekicks jaw before responding.
"They may not, but if we don't try it makes us just as villainous."
Lmk if you'd like a Pt. 3! I really like where this one is going! :)
Appendicitis for Jack 👀, maybe the pain starting right in class, needing to be rushed to hospital (maybe by Mary 👀 or whoever works best). Only if you want! Your writing is awesome!
Jack gets appendicitis- Prompt: Appendicitis, Whumperless Whump Event Day 2- "Eyes open, ambulance is almost here."
“What’s wrong, boss?”
Jack sighs. “Goddamn Chinese takeout is what's wrong, Heather. Stupid thing’s been giving me cramps all night.”
As if on cue, his insides seize again, and he squeezes his eyes shut, paling a little with the force of the spasm.
(Spoiler alert: It is not the takeout.)
@whumperless-whump-event
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
I got appendicitis and had surgery for the first time to get it removed. and since I run a whump blog and med whump is my favourite, I open my ask box to you! So if you’ve got any whump related questions, feel free to ask!
Villain always had stomach issues, ever since they were a kid. After every meal, they had been left with an uncomfortable feeling in their gut that faded after a few hours of digestion. When Villain woke, eyes tracing the faint lines in their ceiling, they brushed off the familiar ache and went about their day.
Even though the world may see Villain as a raging menace, they unfortunately still had to make grocery runs and trips to a laundromat. Having their Civilian identity helped, but Villain had already taken their share of lives because some bystander recognized them.
Thankfully, today was not one of those days. Villain carefully folded a fitted sheet, fumbling with the corners. They had pushed the pain from the morning to the back of their head, but it resurfaced as a particularly strong stab of pain hit their chest and they winced, pausing their task. The pain subsided and Villain shrugged it off, finishing the load of linens.
Night fell all too soon, and the pain had only worsened. They knew vaguely about someone at the party the night before being sick afterward and shrugged the feeling away again. Only when the pain returned did Villain decide they might pay their friend, who was a nurse, a visit. They grabbed a bag from the coatrack, placing a supportive hand over their right side as they waked out into the street. The space of time in between the throbbing only shortened as they began the long walk to the condo down the road, and Villain had to take breaks to breathe.
Something was definitely wrong.
They could see the house, a small box down the road, when they looked up to see Hero walking towards them. No, no this was the last thing they needed.... Their head scanned the empty and dark street, Hero's chuckle teasing the air.
"Well, someone's out without their mask... bit risky, don't you think?"
"Hero, get out of my way. I have- places to be."
"They can wait." Hero surged forward and Villain barely blocked their blow, teeth gritting through the steadily growing pain in their right abdomen. Hero watched as Villain parried their blows, confused as to why they weren't fighting back. Hero pulled away for a moment, and Villain brought both hands to their side, the ache forming into a stabbing pain.
"I didn't even hit you there, what's the deal?"
"N-nothing, go away." Villain growled, doubling over as the pain barreled into them. They couldn't contain their pained cry as they sank to their knees, vision swirling.
"You aren't even bleeding, what is this." Hero demanded, standing over them.
"I said go awa-" Villain's words were interrupted by a cough and the pain doubled, tears pooling in their eyes. Hero's expression faltered as Villain sank to a sitting position, back arched. They crouched down, studying Villain's hands.
"Lower right side?"
"Wha- nghh.." Villain's gaze swirled and they swayed, Hero catching their head before it hit the pavement. They positioned themselves to rest Villain's head in their lap and they lay a gentle hand over their forehead.
"You have a fever, distorted balance and most likely vision, and intense pain in your right side. Do you really not know what it is? This should be basic medicine..." Hero scolded, though they frowned with sympathy as Villain let out a sob.
"Acute appendicitis, Villain. I'll bet all my money on it, you need medical attention."
"nn..no, stay a-away from me....."
"Nonsense."
Hero shifted their position, sliding their hands under Villain's knees to carry them bridal style, Villain crying out from the motion. All they knew was the pain like a dagger had been shoved into them. Their head fell to rest against Hero's shoulder, their demands for Villain to stay awake the last thing they heard before the pain dragged them down into dark respite.
