Like a Rolling Stone

Jan. 26, 2010, a day that will live in infamy. That's the day I had my first kidney stone. I also hope it marks the last day I had a kidney stone.

I woke earlier than usual that day and felt a little groggy and off. I felt like I had been drugged or something, but got up, got a shower and got dressed. Actually, I guess I should preface this with how I felt last week. Starting over a week ago I started having internal chills, headaches and "I just don't feel good" symptoms. I even visited the doctor last Thursday because I couldn't figure out what was wrong. He thought it was a virus and sent me on my way. Apparently my body sensed something was wrong and was trying to let me know.

After getting dressed I sat down to do some reading, which is my habit, but just couldn't get comfortable. My stomach was a bit upset and my back felt stiff. I kept moving around, trying to find a place that eased it up, but couldn't, so I stood up. And that's when all hell broke loose. All of a sudden the reality of what was wrong became evident, as there was a very pronounced pain in my left side where I understood my kidney was housed. I tried walking around the room to see if I could get some relief but the pain just intensified. It didn't take long before I got my wife out of bed and told her I had to go to the hospital. And all the time she was getting ready and I was calling work and my ride the pain increased. There was no relief to be found in any position I could find. And the pain was intense.

She drove me down to Tanner in Villa Rica and I hopped out of the car in front of the emergency room, walked in and tapped on the window where the night nurse was sitting. I was supposed to fill out some paper work but brushed it aside and announced that I had a kidney stone and wanted help NOW!!!! The nurse sorta smiled and said he understood, that he knew what I was going through and not to worry about the paper work. He took me back immediately and they took my vital signs. My blood pressure was up, but we all understood why and they hurried as much as they could. Another nurse took me back to a room while Kathy signed me in. She took some blood, then hooked up an IV. Shortly after that she slipped in 2 drugs, one of which was morphine and oooooo did it feel good. Actually, I didn't like how the drug made me feel because it sorta rushed my head, but the pain was gone and that's all I cared about. Well, it wasn't completely gone, but it went from a screaming 10 to a 1 in about 2 seconds.

They did a CAT scan on me and confirmed that it was a kidney stone. I needed one other shot of morphine before they released me with a prescription for more drugs, but I was already feeling better. I saw another doctor later in the day who explained everything to me and went over the film again.

I'm without pain right now, which is good. I haven't passed it yet, but at least I'm not hurting. Of course, the bad news is, there's another on the right side that could try and escape at any time. That is cause for worry.