Yikes. Your lack of smiles suddenly makes perfect sense!
I looked at that McGill pain chart, but it doesn't say anything about appendicitis... which is by far the worst pain I've ever suffered -- so extreme, that even trying to talk caused my entire torso to "lock tight", which in itself is painful; it must be an autonomic response to either the horrific pain or the sepsis. The only thing that eased it was the IV morphine -- which didn't remove the pain, not at all, but softened it enough that my entire upper body didn't lock up. I know when they asked me, in the ER, to describe my pain 1-10, I said "15... or maybe 27." Of course with lots of gasping in between words, as my torso locked up.
My son recently had surgery on his hip, to repair a torn cartilage; a piece of it had actually been torn OFF and was just riding around in there, causing him terrible pain. Now, the incision is healing, and he says that's better, and the joint itself is better... but now he has this ungodly pain all down the front of his thigh, he says it feels like burning. I'm wondering if this CRPS might be afflicting him. I surely hope not, and that possibly it's just nerve damage that will ultimately, if slowly, heal and stop bothering him.
Andria