So, at the beginning of the year, I was all set to fly to Las Vegas to attend the Consumer Electronics Show and cover the sights and sounds for Adrenaline Vault. My fiancée, Heather, and I decided to make it a mini-vacation. We had our plane tickets and lodging all ready to go. My appendix, however, had other plans.

On Jan. 3, three days before we were supposed to fly out to Vegas, I started to get a sharp pain in my abdomen. It started after I had eaten a mystery-meat lunch Heather had made, so I assumed it was just my stomach dying as it tried to digest the awful food. The pain increased sharply, but the Bears game was on. It was the last game of the season for them, so I fought through it.

After three hours of groaning and writhing, the Bears game ended. I decided to take a nap, but the sounds of pain coming out of my mouth prompted Heather to take me to the emergency room. After a number of tests, it was determined that my appendix had to come out right then and there. After surgery, my first word was, “Vegas?” To which the nurse quietly replied, “No, probably not.”

The next day, I was released and returned home. I was told not to fly anywhere or do any excessive walking for at least a week. I was also not allowed to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk for at least two weeks. I spent the remainder of that day looking online for a new game to play to pass the time while I stayed home from work and recovered. Several games caught my eye, but I finally decided on Dragon Age: Origins. Heather picked up a copy for me after she got home from work the next day, and I started the game that same night.

I want to thank my appendix for deciding to abandon my body. While I’m still pissed about missing out on Vegas and CES, I don’t think I would have played Dragon Age if I hadn’t had the week off. It ended up being my Game of the Year for 2009, even though I played it exclusively in 2010.