Appendicitis!
Written by Nick Thompson | 25 May 2012
Many of you will have seen that I was missing from the World Championships a few weeks ago in Germany. Here’s the reason why…
The whole issue started in April just before the Princess Sofia regatta where I started to have a few stomach cramps. However as the regatta started a few days later I decided there was not much to be done but to drink lots of fluids and push on through. The event started with light winds and this gave me a little relief from the nagging pains and I managed to string together some great results never falling outside the top 3 on the leader board. I was however not so fortunate on the last 2 days where the breeze built significantly and the effort required was greatly increased. I struggled on these days and ended up 7th in the event, not the result I was after.
After the event I went back to Weymouth and continued training with Paul and Arthur Brett (coach), not noticing any issues until the last week of training where I was hit with a nasty virus. I ended up bed bound for 3 days and continued to struggle after. This left me with 3 days before I was to travel to the Worlds (not ideal preparation), however as I was still feeling a lot of pain I thought it best to finally go to the doctors to get checked. Most athletes learn to tolerate pain and typically ignore it, usually resulting in avoiding the doctors until things are really bad. In my case this is heightened by the fact that my girlfriend is a doctor so I would rather ask her briefly than make the effort to go and see someone else. However she was away in Africa whilst this was happening, so I didn’t get a chance to ask. To cut a long story short I visited the doctor who immediately diagnosed me with appendicitis and sent me off to get further checks at a surgery. A few scans later I was told that there was inflammation and scarring meaning this had been an issue before (Palma). So a few hours after I set out that day I was told to cancel my trip the Worlds and short term plans as I was going in for surgery.
Luckily the doctor that performed the surgery was a past sailor so knew the importance of my abdominals for hiking, this meant that he operated with the least damage to my muscles. For those who don’t know the operation involves they make three incisions (keyholes) into the stomach, separate the abdominal muscles, chop out the infected appendix, then stitch it all back together.
A few weeks on and recovery is going well, I have started back in the gym working on exercises that don’t heavily involve the abs and have been working on a rehabilitation program to get me back in the boat as quickly as possible. Unfortunately I have been informed by my Physiotherapist and Strength and Conditioning coach that racing at Skandia Sail For Gold is not the best plan, as I am likely to push a little too hard and risk damage as the muscles that are not yet fully healed. I will however be returning to sailing the week following the event and will still be working with Paul in the build up to the Games. To say I’m looking forward to getting back in the boat would be a huge understatement.
I will now be updating at least every month so stay tuned as I have some exciting new projects on the go.
Cheers
Nick