The purpose of the appendix

I said that I regret the fact that I accepted so easily an appendectomy (an appendix removal operation). It did hurt a little a few times, I went to the hospital for a little check-up, the doctor palpated me and he asked me if I can come for a surgery that day. :D My mom could not believe me when I went back home and I started searching for necessary things for the hospital. Nobody investigated it any further (no analyses), but they did tell me that I could experience some bigger pain and how would I deal with it if it would have hit me during the exams, for example (I was in the first year at the university)? :)) They also told me that it does not have any purpose and this way I’m making “sure” that I won’t experience that kind of pain ever. It seems that back then I did not know what an intestinal pain really is, because now, in my memory, that pain feels close to zero. And in fact, that is how I was feeling it back then, too. But the thought of the doctor’s stories about the perforated appendix… made me accept it really quickly. And I even felt a little bit of a hero because I wasn’t afraid at all of the operation, it seemed like a really funny story to tell to my grandsons. When I think what a peaceful life (from the health point of view) I had until then… And how seek I was after the anesthesia… I’ve been unconscious for a few hours after a 12 minutes operation. Then the recovery lasted more that a month, with deep pain and a weakness that made me unable to even open the front door… But it could have been worse :D because I can say that my scar is quite ok compared to the others I’ve seen.

So now, I find myself suffering from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), I get bloated and I have awful intestinal pain, I have sometimes some cramps that I cannot move and I can barely breath, I feel like I’m going to faint… all these besides the physical aspect… every afternoon and evening my belly looks like the one of a 6-7 month pregnant woman. The good news is that everybody smiles warmly to me on the street. The bad news is that all my acquaintances started to ask me when my due date is. In the morning I have a flat belly and in the evening I’m like a balloon.

And, as the title says, it has been discovered that the appendix has a purpose, after all: it is like a farm for the beneficial bacteria that aid the body in digestion. The appendicitis cases seem to be caused by a way too sterile environment, in which case this reservoir does not have the opportunity to remake the gut bacteria cultures.

So my advice is that you should not let the doctors “cut” you this easily. If you have a small pain, investigate, it may be caused by kidneys, intestines, ovaries (in women). Because if you let yourself on the hands of some doctors that can’t wait to cut you, even in unnecessary cases, you’ll suffer (besides missing this appendix) a risky anesthesia (I could not recommend either way, total or local), a long recovery and maybe even a hideous scar.

References:

The Appendix Has a Purpose After All: Repopulating the Gut with Friendly Flora

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermiform_appendix

http://news.softpedia.com/news/The-Puzzle-of-the-Human-Appendix-Solved-68019.shtml