Another ER Visit

After I got home yesterday afternoon, I continued to take my pain meds, and ibuprofen. I was feeling okay. Lucas has pretty much been trapped in the house and is going stir-crazy so John and I took the babies to the elementary school playground for a bit. Lucas is so much more capable of playing on all the jungle gyms and it's so fun to see him get excited about it and so in his own world. So smart. Olivia laughed as she watched him play excitedly. Then we went to the target nearby because they have a cool "Toy Story 3" display that Lucas loves. They have a $130 Buzz Lightyear display and he loves pushing the buttons. They are really milking this Toy Story stuff; even the plush toys are at least $10.

Anyway, we came home fed Lucas, John bathed him. I fed Olivia her cereal, and made myself a little meal. I made some potatoes, no salt. I made steamed green beans, no salt. And had 2 pieces of bread with smart balance light butter. It was good, and I am trying to reduce my sodium and animal protein since I think they might tell me that for my diet today at my appt.

Gave Olivia a bath. I took a bath. We went to bed. I woke up at 2am with that bad kidney pain again. It was only like a 6 or 7 on the pain scale at first. I went pee which was still dark with blood. I drank as much water as I could. It was getting worse so I woke John up to take me to the ER. He was supposed to work today so I felt bad---he hasn't been getting much sleep. The babies thankfully stayed asleep but Susan kept an ear out for them.

John was getting irritated because I just kept telling him to go...he did run a red light. We took this narrow road quickly to the hospital, where we saw a few deer. So glad they stayed where they were. I checked into the hospital and continued crying, panting, walking around the emtpy waiting room. They brought me in and the nurses and doctor and technician were so good this time. My pain was bad, they treated it right away. Got all my stats and put a gown on, and they stuck that I.V. in with fluids, nausea meds, and dilaudid, which makes your whole body feel like it's heated and flexed for a few seconds before releasing and relieving you of pain. The flank pain was barely there, and I felt so much better.

When the doctor came in to ask "how long have you had this pain?" etc, she actually listened as I told her of my experiences with negligence over the past 2 years. I told her not to do an x-ray because even my 7 mm stone wasn't visible (not calcium). And an ultrasound wouldn't show anything but a swollen kidney. She agreed and said we should do a CT scan, even though it's about 2,000 millirem every time and I had 2 already. I agreed that if it's the only way to definitely tell me what's wrong let's do it.

An hour later they got the results, and I have a stone in the same ureter, about a centimeter below where the 7mm stone was last scan. This one is only about 2mm, but stone's hurt regardless of size! It's about an inch from my bladder, so I am definitely not going to get that lithotripsy and stent done. The doctors believe that passing it is imminent so they gave me another dose of dilaudin, nausea meds, a muscle relaxer, strainers, and a laxative (for constipation...not dealing with that til after this stone is out though...).

I was relieved to know that once again, I was right. They told me yesterday this pain is normal after stent removal and there was no stone on the xray. The night staff was courteous and not once were they condescending. They got the job done and I feel a lot better. We came home and John left for work--he already told them at 4 in the am, that he was going to be late today. I am feeling okay and feeding the babies. I hope this stone passes very soon, and that the 7 mm one made a good hollowed out pathway for it. That pain was horrible and I am sick of bleeding. My kidney is so sore and tired. I am taking flomax again and drinking lots of water.

I go to my urologist at 3:30pm today to find out what the stones are made of. I am sure he will act like it's no big deal to have a 2 mm stone after lithotripsy---especially because he never had to pass his--he had them taken out. This is going to be a chronic condition. I have come to grips with that. I am ready for prevention and healing my kidney. Thanks so much to my family who has done so much to support me through this. Thank you John for losing sleep to take me to the ER. I wish everyone good health and fully working empty kidneys. Thanks for reading.