Oh, what a pain . . .

OK.  So on Wednesday I go to work as usual.  Get to within 4 steps of my office and then get a sharp pain in my lower right abdomen!  Well, in typical Deb fashion, I try to ignore it!  I start working with my boss on a spreadsheet, but he is looking at me hunched over, clutching my stomach, answering questions and says "Go to urgent care!"  I, of course ignore him and try to tough it out.

So I think, maybe things would be better if I try to go to the bathroom.  Sorry if this sounds a bit TMI but it is necessary for the story.  There was blood.  Not good.  So then I think "Crap!  Now I have to go to urgent care!".  Well, urgent care sent me to the emergency room . . Anya was wonderful.  She came down to the hospital and helped me wait out the prognosis.  CAT scan, morphine and x-ray later, I am diagnosed with a 10 mm kidney stone.  Too big to pass and sitting right at the opening of the ureter.  They sent me home with an antibiotic (causes diarrhea), percocet ( causes constipation) and a referral for a urology surgeon.

Thursday I saw the surgeon, after a second x-ray and he said "Yup, that stone isn't going anywhere."  So he scheduled me for a percussion treatment where they fire percussion energy into the kidney to shatter the stone into little pieces.  Friday morning Adam drives me to the hospital at 5:30 AM for pre-op.  Yes I got another x-ray, another IV, and they knocked me out.  That was the best part of this entire adventure!

When I woke up, my right mid-back felt like I had been kicked by line backers and I had mini stones now on the move.  More pain and discomfort!  So now it is Saturday.  I have to sieve my urine to catch the gravel and grit that used to be my stone so that it can be tested in two weeks when I go back to the surgeon (when they will do a fourth x-ray to make sure all is gone!) The pain is intermittent, as a new fragment decides to pass.  I have learned that the only pain is when it causes a block in the ureter.  Once any debris gets to the bladder, there is no longer any pain.  Movement is supposed to help encourage the pieces to move as is plenty of fluid.  So today I plan to do some light yard work, drink plenty of water, and strain plenty of pee.  I also will have the percocet as a backup plan if I can't stand the discomfort.

So that's my week in review - quite a pain!

Thanks to Adam and Anya for all their hands on care and driving.  Thanks to David for check in calls.  I have great kids!