The Time My Appendix Tried to Kill Me in South Korea

Getting appendicitis in a foreign city where you don’t speak the language and you don’t have insurance? Yeah, not exactly on my 2024 vision board.

But that’s the thing about life. It doesn’t wait for the right time or check if you’ve got insurance. It just shows up, punches you in the lower abdomen in South Korea, and says, “Good luck.”

What started as a maybe I ate too much beef turned into unrelenting pain and a full-on emergency room visit in a country where I don’t speak the language, facing surgery I wasn’t prepared for, with no travel insurance, and a lot of anxiety.

My mom, stepdad, brother, sister four nieces, and I had arrived in Busan, South Korea after spending a few days first in Seoul. We’d been traveling around after a fun few weeks in Taiwan, and this was supposed to be a continuation of that. First night? Korean BBQ, of course.

The next morning, I woke up still full. Normal. Went to breakfast. Normal. But as we headed out for a day of sightseeing, I started feeling different. Bloated. Uncomfortable. Not quite pain, but enough to make me start to wonder about the rest of the day. I thought I ate too much meat last night.

Spoiler: it wasn’t the meat.

After our first sightseeing stop, I asked to go back to the hotel. I didn’t think I would feel better any time soon.

Back at the hotel, I hoped a shower and rest would help. Instead, the pain got worse as time passed. I paced the room. Couldn’t sit too long. I took a nap and woke up sweaty from a fever.

At some point, I started Googling emergency rooms not because I was ready to go, but just in case.

Still, I waited. I hoped I’d begin to feel better. The rest of my family was still out having a fun day. I didn’t want to go to a hospital. I don’t like them. I didn’t have insurance.

Also, I hate needles.

Eventually, the pain hit a point where I had to admit that this wasn’t going away. After seven hours at the hotel, this wasn’t indigestion. This was serious.

Thankfully, my stepdad is Korean. He helped get me to an emergency room and spoke with the staff. The first hospital our hotel recommended had a wait. They suggested another one. I said let’s go.

Turns out the second one was within walking distance from our hotel. That was a nice painful 45-minute detour.

At the second hospital, we had to wait again. Every second felt so long. I was curled over and trying to stay calm.

However, the pain got too intense to keep patiently waiting and I told my stepdad to let them know how painful it was to speed things up. That plan worked.

When we finally got called in, a nurse tried unsuccessfully multiple times to stick a vein. I hate needles but at that point, I just wanted the pain to stop. Each attempt hurt, but I had to suck it up. Eventually, something they gave me kicked in and I felt relief again, but my lower left abdomen was still tender to the touch.

Blood test. X-ray.

The doctor, who spoke good English, said it was either inflammation of the colon or appendicitis. A CT scan would know for sure.

Earlier when I searched Dr. Google, it fit all the symptoms of appendicitis, but I hoped for a miracle.

The doctor confirmed what I didn’t want to hear. My appendix had swollen to more than four times its normal size. “Can I fly to Taipei and get surgery there?” I asked. He looked at me like I was crazy. “It could rupture anytime.”

I had surgery the next morning. Everything went smoothly.

And despite all the anxiety I had in the emergency room, the next two nights were surprisingly nice. The hospital was clean. The staff was kind. The nurses and I used translating apps to communicate. The food was good. My wife flew in from Taipei on the day of the surgery. My family continued their trip without needing to change plans.

And as for not having insurance? The whole ordeal of the emergency room, tests, surgery, and hospital stay cost about USD $5,400.

In the U.S.? That same procedure without insurance could’ve easily cost $15,000–$40,000, depending on the state and hospital according to Google.

I’ve never been so glad to be abroad.

I took a photo outside the hospital before we left. Not to celebrate what happened, but to remember that I made it through.

Busan left us a memory we’ll never forget.

I didn’t want to get surgery in a foreign country. But it was a reminder that we don’t get to choose when things fall apart. Only how we respond when they do.