I had no idea how common it was for people to have their appendix removed! Until I experienced it last month (April 2021) and joined the “no appendix” club.

When I first felt something I just thought it was digestive pains, so I went to my go-to tummy soothing essential oils and my hubby did some Zenthai Shiatsu abdominal work.

I went to sleep but my morning I still had the same pain in the same spot on my lower right side. I’d lost my appetite too and thought it might’ve been food poisoning so I even had some activated charcoal to get anything moving! 

When we looked up the combined symptoms it all pointed to acute appendicitis. 

I didn’t have any pain if I stayed still which was good, which told me that at least if it was appendicitis it hadn’t ruptured.

So after 10 years of not seeing a GP, off I went to get a diagnosis. Our predications were correct, so immediately off to the emergency department I went with an urgent surgery request. I hadn’t even packed any bags, hadn’t charged my phone, hadn’t eaten in over 12 hours - I was so light headed with a headache that I even had my first pain medication in 10 years! You should’ve seen the look on the doctors and nurses faces when I told them that!!

At least worked to my advantage that I hadn’t eaten as I went into surgery at 9pm that night, not enough time to get too nervous about it and luckily I had some Stress Away essential oil bend in my handbag with me to keep me calm. This was when we just had 10 days of lockdowns and restrictions and my hubby couldn’t even come in with me! The unexpected surgery was a shock enough to deal with, then dealing with it on my own was an added level.

Fast forward a couple of hours and I was out of surgery, all went well with 3 small keyhole surgery incisions, and back to my room I went. Being woken every half an hour to check my vitals, so not much rest happened then as anyone who’s gone through any surgery would know!

Then it was time to pick out something from the Liquid Diet menu.

Oh my goodness…

Remember I haven’t drunk cow’s milk (and never any soy either) for about 8 years. The options on there were pretty much just that. They had a “Supplements” section which sounded good - but the options there were 2 popular companies which included flavoured milk. 

The first few ingredients for a “hospital formula supplement” are this:

• Non Fat Milk Solids (63%)

• Corn Syrup Solids, Whole Milk Powder

• Sugar

• And finishes with “Flavour”

The flavoured milk looks like this:

• Reduced Fat Milk

• Sugar

• Cocoa (0.5%) (this was for a chocolate flavour)

• Flavour

• Emulsifier (471)

• Stabiliser (407, 452)

I was horrified. Here I am trying to recover and nourish myself after surgery, and these were the only options. I quickly got on the phone to my hubby as he was allowed to visit in a few hours, and gave him a list of some liquids to pack for me.

Post-surgery liquid foods 

• Dehydrated and powder chicken and vegetable broths

• Spring water

• NingXia Red (a rich antioxidant drink from Young Living)

• Organic fruit

They were an absolute LIFE SAVER! I had to stay for an extra night in hospital so I was able to get my energy levels back up and start healing my gut after the copious amounts of antibiotics that they’d put through my IV drip over the past day.

Post-surgery essential oils

I also got my hubby to bring in some other essential oils that I could apply topically to help with my recovery.

• PanAway, Lavender, Copaiba, Frankincense and Idaho Balsam Fir (now called Idaho Grand Fir) applied topically on my stomach. The Young Living labelled Wellness Oils which when used in traditional aromatherapy can help:

  • Lavender:

    • to decrease colic (wind/gas pain);

    • to promote energy levels;

    • as an analgesic to relieve pain; To reduce abdominal and digestive spasms;

    • to reduce occurrence of abdominal spasm;

    • as an antispasmodic;

    • to reduce the symptoms of stress;

    • to reduce the symptoms and occurrence of mild anxiety;

• Thieves blend applied topically to the soles of my feet to defend and protect (I didn’t want to take the Inner Defense oil capsules just yet which contains Thieves to support the immune system)

• DiGize applied topically on my stomach to sooth it. It contains Ginger and Peppermint (and the Young Living labelled Wellness Oils which when used in traditional aromatherapy can help:

  • Ginger:

    • to promote and maintain a healthy appetite;

    • to decrease flatulence;

    • to relieve symptoms of indigestion

  • Peppermint:

    • as an analgesic to relieve pain;

    • to reduce occurrence of excess intestinal wind;

    • to reduce colic (wind/gas pain);

    • to relieve flatulence;

    • to relieve loss of appetite;

    • to maintain a healthy appetite;

    • to help reduce the symptoms and occurrence of indigestion;

    • to help increase bile flow;

Next day I was feeling great and finally got all the required paperwork to get out of there and back home.

Recovery foods and supplements

Then it was time to ramp up my recover protocol. Here is a list of various foods and supplements I included.

• NingXia Red juice from Young Living - 30-60ml twice daily (energy and antioxidants to aid recovery)

• Probiotic supplement - 1 x day (heal the gut)

• Kombucha and sauerkraut (natural probiotics to heal the gut)

• Colloidal silver - 20ml daily (natural antibiotic)

• Inner Defense essential oils capsules from Young Living - 2 capsules daily (support the immune system)

• Wholefood based Vitamin C powder - twice daily (immune system)

• Greens Peak Performance blend powder and Colloidal Minerals from Changing Habits - daily

• Lemon juice (immune system)

• Boron in water - 1/4-1/2 teaspoon in a litre of water (recovery)

• Turmeric latte (Turmeric, cinnamon, ginger oil and black pepper oil) on coconut milk (anti-inflammatory)

• Thieves essential oil infused spray - when needed (sooth my sore throat from the anaesthetic)

Should you ever be in the same boat (or any situation where you want to re-build and boost your health back up!) that you find some useful tips from this information. 

Our body is an amazing creation, it deals with so much junk that we throw at it, so imagine what it can do when we properly nourish it :-)

To find out more about essential oils from Young Living please check out how to use them here.

To order the above products from Changing Habits https://changinghabits.com.au/product/peak-performance-blend-and-colloidal-minerals/ please use “ERACKEMANN10” for 10% off!