I'm a male in my mid-50s, normal Body Mass Index, low blood pressure
(90/60), fit (running 5km regularly, hiked 230km over 12 days in
December). So if you asked me a couple of months ago, I would say
everything healthwise was basically "normal".

Last month I had my appendix out in an emergency operation by
laparoscopy. Pathology showed it to be gangrenous (and the genuine
reason for the operation/pain). Symptoms before the operation were
classic -- general feeling of strong indigestion, followed by
localisation at McBirney's point, fever, nausea, vomiting. Diagnosis was
pretty "easy".

What surprises me five weeks after the event is my much better sense of
well-being, not just by virtue of simply recovering. Everything
(digestion, urinary function, sexual function) seems to be much better
or heightened. Maybe my prior sense of normality was wrong ... could be
the frog in slowly boiling water syndrome! I lost 8kg during the
episode, especially at the waist/stomach (partly from not eating
anything for six days). I am now eating at a lower level than before
while energy levels seem the same.

My question is: does appendicitis only occur suddenly, or can it develop
and have an effect over a period of time before the "acute" symptoms are
evident (and the appendix requires removal). Is my sense of better
well-being likely to be purely psychological? Could it even just be a
function of the weight loss?