If you're an athletic person like myself and you're used to pain and discomfort, you might have had a similar experience as me. I went undiagnosed for appendicitis for over a month. This is a super detailed video on my experience! *this is not medical advice, I am only qualified to count to 8*
BALLERINAANDHOME
Hi, I’m Jeanette Kakareka!
Professional ballerina with a passion for⇩
BALLET // TRAVEL // DIY // RECIPES+
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blog ➭ https://ballerinaandhome.com
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I had not one, but TWO laparoscopy surgeries to treat my appendicitis!!!
It was a monster of a project, but I only just finished up this video. Although my journey of recovery is certainly not over, I felt it was a good time to finish up as I'm getting thumbs up from doctors and getting back into the studio carefully and one step at a time.
As I explain in the video, I went at least a month with discomfort and at times curl-up-in-a-ball amount of pain, but getting diagnosed by doctors as it being a simple bladder infection. I contribute this to my high pain tolerance as a ballet dancer where our injury rate is 100%, but also me needing to learn to SPEAK UP FOR MYSELF--that's really what I want you to take away from this video, if nothing else!
Not only that, but the requirements to return to work and "regular activity" are much higher for a dancer or an athlete than a regular person. I really struggled to find relevant recovery information or to get a straight answer out of anyone. That's what inspired me to make this video so I could hopefully help other athletic people wanting to get back to things, but in the healthiest way possible. At the end of the day, just listen to your body.
I've broken the video down into sections if you want to skip around in case you don't need all the appendicitis information:
0:00-1:14 intro
1:14-4:47 what I felt & doctor appointments
4:47-7:19 day of surgery & funny stories
7:19-8:23 1st & 2nd surgery (fail)
8:23-9:19 morning after surgery & bladder complications
9:19-10:47 what I learned & speaking with doctors
10:47-12:56 advice for post-surgery
12:56-14:24 going home & funny almost-passed-out story
14:24-15:13 weeks 2-3 post-surgery beginning to move
15:13-18:52 VLOG almost week 4 starting physio therapy
18:52-20:28 VLOG weeks 4-5
20:28-22:38 VLOG almost week 6 starting pilates & gyrotonics
22:38-26:15 VLOG week 7-8 final update and starting barre work again
- I also made a couple writing mistakes: 3:14 despite how* 8:03 couldn't*
- Also I definitely mispronounce laparoscopy however many times.
To anyone going through this--take care!!! You're gonna be ok!!
Chill Day by Lakey Inspired https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired/chill-day
Blessed by Wayne John Bradley https://soundcloud.com/ayneohnradley/blessed
Sunny Day by Dar Golan https://www.dargolan-free.com/happy-music
L8 NIGHT by
outro music written + produced by my brother Charles Kakareka https://instagram.com/charleskakareka