I have a variation on the classic "appendix" story: mine ruptured 36 hours before pain set in. At first i like I had a stomach ache, and I remember my mother telling me that if I could put down some toast she would let me drive back to college. well then i threw up toast so she took me to the clinic. the clinic is not the hospital, it's a little place where you can get checked over for minor things. I was pretty lucid and I wasn't in a lot of pain, just some discomfort, but they recommended I went to the hospital as a matter of course. in the hospital I had some tests done, and they were going to give me a full body scan to see if I have some kind of abdominal problem but by chance my doctor was delayed by an emergency c section. because of this when he actually saw me, it was later than his inspection would have been but before I went to the scan he push on my abdomen and immediately realized it was my appendix. after the procedure, he explained that the reason I wasn't in a lot of pain was because I had a slight internal abnormality, my appendix was closer to my spine than my belly button, so we had to go digging around for it. instead of the three little scars I have one big one about 6 inches long, about 18 centimeters. the doctor told me that it was only a few hours away from dying, and that since the procedure happened late late at night if I had gone to sleep I probably wouldn't have woken up do to shock. Anyway a lot of people wonder how you can be calm or stoic in the face of death, it just happens to you. my mother worries a lot so I didn't want her to get really upset. right before surgery just before I got anesthesia I told my mother " I'm good to go", like I'm at peace with dying if that happens. it's strange but you just don't get worried I can't explain why. it wasn't even like a calm settled over me I just felt like it was something not important, like deciding what to have for breakfast. like we don't have eggs? no problem I'm good to go with cereal. needless to say this did nothing to calm my mother down!