This is mostly for my own journal purposes but here is my most recent medical journey. Warning, some of this may gross you out so if it will don't read. On September 9
th I experienced the most excruciating pain of my life and we just happened to be in the car on our way up to
SLC. About an hour into the four hour journey I started to have a miserable sensation like I had to pee really bad but there was nothing. Called my sister and the doctor and concluded it must be a
UTI (urinary track infection). It quickly escalated from that feeling to a horrible pain that turned into agony. Aaron said I was "pale" and "needed to eat something". The last thing I felt like doing was eat. Time went so incredibly slow and I was glancing over at the clock every few seconds hoping minutes had passed. Time went slower and slower and the pain worse and worse. I even had a thought of asking Aaron to punch me just enough to knock me unconscious so I wouldn't have to feel the pain. I was moaning and groaning in pain in a short time and Aaron in his hurry to seek medical attention for his near-dying wife got pulled over by
HWP (Highway Patrol) for speeding. It was obvious the highway patrolman didn't believe our story (and wanted to say something jerk-like but refrained...which he told us using different words) but thankfully let us on our way. Aaron had a commitment he could not break so he dropped me off into the care of my most wonderful, kind, gracious, giving, serviceable, loving Aunt Wendy who lives just outside
SLC. She took me to the closest
Instacare (I did NOT want to go to an ER) and so kindly chased Porter around while I was doubled over in pain and met with the doctor. I wasn't nauseous until we got into the waiting room but I threw up there in the garbage can. Holy cow I'm almost in tears just thinking about the pain I experienced that day. Anyway, I only had an intense, unbearable groin pain and no back pain or pain favoring one side, so the doctor didn't know exactly what it was; he said it was either a kidney stone or an appendicitis. When they tested my urine they could tell I had not eaten. Really? That's what they got out of that? I could have told them that. They took a blood sample next and came in to tell me I wasn't pregnant. Once again, thanks Sherlock! Something I could have told them and not what I was there to find out. They finally gave me a shot of morphine and a shot for nausea and that was the first relief I had experienced. It was so nice to not have the horrific pain for a bit, but as I laid on the table I could not stop my body from seizure-like shaking. I was later told that was probably my body in shock from the pain. After the tests and shots of medication doc told me I could do a CT scan to find out exactly what it was which I opted not to at that time. It was going to be another 2-3 hours for that and I wasn't going to expect my Aunt to haul me somewhere else and watch Porter (who had not had a nap) for several more hours. I also couldn't help but think of the cost of it all. Aunt Wendy took me back to her house where she put me to bed and for the next several hours while I went in-and-out of consciousness (a body in pain masked by
med's that wear off can only sleep for so long) she fed Porter lunch, put him down for a nap, and went to the store to get the prescriptions the doctor prescribed (pain
med's and for nausea). When I finally got up I was so thirsty and tried to drink to stay hydrated by it all came up and I was unable to keep anything in my stomach. I finally decided I needed to get the scan so we knew exactly what we were dealing with. I called the doctor back and he ordered the scan to be done in radiology at the hospital. Aaron finally got back to me and we (Aaron, my Aunt Wendy, Uncle Carl, Porter, and I) made plans to go to the hospital. By then the morphine had worn off and I was unable to keep any pain pills down. Before we left, Aaron and Uncle Carl gave me a blessing. Oh
geez, here come watery eyes again. I am so grateful for those two priesthood holders and for righteously exercising God's power to give me a blessing of health and comfort. It helped me so much and made me feel not so-scared and feel like Heavenly Father was a little more aware of what I was going through. At the hospital they did the scan (two actually) which each took about 10 seconds and I would guess I was lying on that table for less than 10 minutes. The whole time I was still in pain and shaking so bad and had chills to top it off. The nice radiology guy kept getting me warming blankets to make me more comfortable. I must confess I had a moment wondering where the camera was and considered asking Aaron to get it and capture the experience in pictures. The pain won my thoughts and documentation lost, but now I wish he had thought of it himself. Following the scan they confirmed that I did have a kidney stone that was about 2-3 mm. After the scan we were free to leave, but sitting in the wheel chair in that hallway the pain intensified and it was worse than before. On a scale of 1 to 10 it was a 10+. Keep in mind I consider myself to have a high pain tolerance. I took a pain pill and 30 seconds later it came up. I told Aaron we needed to go back to
Instacare for another shot of morphine so we could make the drive back home. He asked me if I really needed it because "it only takes one time to get addicted". Are you kidding me?! I am not an addict! I was in sheer pain and nothing would stay in my stomach for more than a minute. We made it back to the Instacare and I slowly hobbled into the building still wearing the hospital nightgown and wrapped in hospital blankets. I know I was a pitiful sight but I was grateful when they gave me the shots again in my lower back (which for some reason hurt so bad I screamed out as I had previously). We went back to my Aunt's house to pick up Porter and headed home. With the help of the medication I slept the whole way and we made it back home about 1:30am. That must have been a long, dark, lonely four hour drive for my poor hubby. I believe I passed the stone around 2am but did not remember to use the strainer to catch it, but I saw some black flake-like thing. I was surprised I didn't feel relief so I was unsure it was gone.
In just a few days I lost enough weight to be a handful of pounds away from being in the double digits. NOT GOOD. I was wasting away and not happy about my bodily starvation due to pain. This is one of the only pictures of me in those few days (it's me with the then-bride-to-be Becky at her bridal shower) and I was moving slow. This was the day after I passed the stone. Curse you stupid stone; curse you. I went to the doctor beginning of October for a horrible lung-hacking cough I'd had for 2 1/2 weeks (he said it was a sinus infection) and that's when I found out (by him reading a report online from the doctor who did my CT scan up north) I had another kidney stone...a BIGGER one!!!!
AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Why didn't they tell me when they did the scan? The one in waiting was a 5 mm and doc said it was a ticking time bomb. He said it was just hanging in the kidneys and could decide to come down at any time, even years. (I was even told it could also never come down but just hang in there forever and get bigger.) Well I said "
Hec no" to that and he recommended me to a urologist. The day I saw Dr. Greg Taylor I was a little fearful he would say, "Just wait it out and keep medication on hand to take when it happens." I was
soooo happy when he said, "Yeah, let's take care of that." Aaron thinks they only say that for money. I don't care; I just care about not having to pass another stone. I was so happy that day! I called this my Christmas present to myself. The procedure (they keep calling it "surgery" but I don't consider it as such since they're not cutting into me or opening me up) is called
Extracorporeal Lithotripsy. Yes, I'm looking at a pamphlet as we speak. No way I can remember that or spell it on my own. E.L. treatment breaks up kidney stones to pieces that can pass easier. The stone is targeted by X-ray and the treatment uses multiple high energy pressure waves to break it apart. The day before surgery I was on a clear liquid diet so I had apple juice for breakfast, chicken broth for lunch, and jello for dinner. Day of surgery was straight fasting. Lost about three pounds in all that. Wednesday October 20
th was surgery day and it felt like it: it was overcast and rainy all day. I was excited initially but got a tad bit nervous as it got closer. Mostly because I read the info given to me on anesthesia: "Complications of...anesthesia may include...heart attack, pneumonia, dental damage, stroke, infection, paralysis, and death. In healthy patients the risk of serious injury/death has been estimated at about 1 in 100,000." I knew I would be fine and would come home but mentally I always try to prepare of the worst, so before I left home I made sure everything was clean "just in case". Also made sure I said goodbye to both dogs and gave Porter extra kisses. You never know. My wonderful, sweet, awesome ma-in-law picked Porter and I up at 4pm, dropped me off at the hospital at 4:20pm, took Porter home to play with his Aunt Rachael and cousin Eli, and off I went. I checked in with a nurse who said when she came out and saw me didn't think I was the patient. She knew I was a 29 year old but looked at me and saw a 14 year old.
Really?! I know I didn't have make up on and wore my pajamas and Aaron's sweatshirt (had to wear loose comfortable clothes and not allowed to wear make up or wear any jewelry), but come on. She said "Believe me, that's a compliment." Really? To tell me I look HALF my age and tell me I look too young to have a child? I'm not saying it's an insult, I'm just saying it's not a compliment.
Had to take pictures of course! This is the "waiting, waiting, waiting...la la la" picture. Anyway, got asked my name, birthday, and if I had any allergies about 5 billion times; good thing I knew the right answers to those questions. In the first hour of being at the hospital I got checked in, signed papers, peed in a cup (which I didn't think I would be able to having fasted for a whole day and told them that, so when I brought the nurse the cup of what I did I got a "Good job!"), settled into my oh-so-revealing hospital gown and hair net, got an IV, and watched TV for about an hour.
They also put some strange contraptions on my legs that the nurse said would feel like a massage (it did) and they were to prevent blood clots.
Then Dr. Taylor--my urologist--came to talk to me, followed by the anesthesiologist, and I was wheeled back to the OR (operating room). I scooted over to another table with water underneath me and they put a mask of oxygen over my face. I tried to look around but the mask went over my eyes and seconds later I was out. Woke up in recovery (they said the procedure was about half hour which is half the time I was told it would take) pretty sleepy but okay. Then they wheeled me into a post-operative room where my mother-in-law came followed by my Aaron! He was supposed to be at work training firearms until 11pm but got rained out, so came to pick me up. It was good to see him. I was so hungry and thought I would get a yummy sandwich (like the turkey/cranberry/cream cheese one I got after giving birth to Porter) but all I got were a few snacks! I'm grateful for that, just expected more. I had five cracker packages, two puddings (tapioca), and a string cheese. I was wheeled in a wheelchair out to the car and we went to get food (a burger sounded good at the time), pick up my prescriptions (3), and to Nana's house to get Porter. Iceberg took forever to make our order but Walgreen's took 30 seconds to hand over the
med's. Aaron said, "Unbelievable; it takes longer to get a burger than it does to get narcotics." That made me laugh. On the drive home I started to feel nauseous and by the time we got home a burger made me want to puke. I laid on the couch while Aaron put Porter to bed and started a movie. We watched "Prince of Persia" and I ate
Ramen noodles and an egg. Next morning I expected to see bruising on my back where my left kidney was worked on but there was nothing. Doc said I would be sore like I got punched in the kidney but I felt nothing! I actually felt really good! Did not expect that at all. Actually expected to be immobile and super sore like I was after I passed the last stone. Now it's a waiting game to pass the stone fragments and I was told I would feel that. I was also told I needed to pee eight times a day--doctor's orders. Still working on that.
The day after surgery (yesterday) we went to get our flu shots. This is Porter getting his in the leg. He cried from being pinned down but was happy with the sucker afterward. So there's my story and I'm
stickin' to it. =P
This is mostly for my own journal purposes but here is my most recent medical journey. Warning, some of this may gross you out so if it will don't read. On September 9th I experienced the most excruciating pain of my life and we just happened to be in the car on our way up to SLC. About an hour into the four hour journey I started to have a miserable sensation like I had to pee really bad but there was nothing. Called my sister and the doctor and concluded it must be a UTI (urinary track infection). It quickly escalated from that feeling to a horrible pain that turned into agony. Aaron said I was "pale" and "needed to eat something". The last thing I felt like doing was eat. Time went so incredibly slow and I was glancing over at the clock every few seconds hoping minutes had passed. Time went slower and slower and the pain worse and worse. I even had a thought of asking Aaron to punch me just enough to knock me unconscious so I wouldn't have to feel the pain. I was moaning and groaning in pain in a short time and Aaron in his hurry to seek medical attention for his near-dying wife got pulled over by HWP (Highway Patrol) for speeding. It was obvious the highway patrolman didn't believe our story (and wanted to say something jerk-like but refrained...which he told us using different words) but thankfully let us on our way. Aaron had a commitment he could not break so he dropped me off into the care of my most wonderful, kind, gracious, giving, serviceable, loving Aunt Wendy who lives just outside SLC. She took me to the closest Instacare (I did NOT want to go to an ER) and so kindly chased Porter around while I was doubled over in pain and met with the doctor. I wasn't nauseous until we got into the waiting room but I threw up there in the garbage can. Holy cow I'm almost in tears just thinking about the pain I experienced that day. Anyway, I only had an intense, unbearable groin pain and no back pain or pain favoring one side, so the doctor didn't know exactly what it was; he said it was either a kidney stone or an appendicitis. When they tested my urine they could tell I had not eaten. Really? That's what they got out of that? I could have told them that. They took a blood sample next and came in to tell me I wasn't pregnant. Once again, thanks Sherlock! Something I could have told them and not what I was there to find out. They finally gave me a shot of morphine and a shot for nausea and that was the first relief I had experienced. It was so nice to not have the horrific pain for a bit, but as I laid on the table I could not stop my body from seizure-like shaking. I was later told that was probably my body in shock from the pain. After the tests and shots of medication doc told me I could do a CT scan to find out exactly what it was which I opted not to at that time. It was going to be another 2-3 hours for that and I wasn't going to expect my Aunt to haul me somewhere else and watch Porter (who had not had a nap) for several more hours. I also couldn't help but think of the cost of it all. Aunt Wendy took me back to her house where she put me to bed and for the next several hours while I went in-and-out of consciousness (a body in pain masked by med's that wear off can only sleep for so long) she fed Porter lunch, put him down for a nap, and went to the store to get the prescriptions the doctor prescribed (pain med's and for nausea). When I finally got up I was so thirsty and tried to drink to stay hydrated by it all came up and I was unable to keep anything in my stomach. I finally decided I needed to get the scan so we knew exactly what we were dealing with. I called the doctor back and he ordered the scan to be done in radiology at the hospital. Aaron finally got back to me and we (Aaron, my Aunt Wendy, Uncle Carl, Porter, and I) made plans to go to the hospital. By then the morphine had worn off and I was unable to keep any pain pills down. Before we left, Aaron and Uncle Carl gave me a blessing. Oh geez, here come watery eyes again. I am so grateful for those two priesthood holders and for righteously exercising God's power to give me a blessing of health and comfort. It helped me so much and made me feel not so-scared and feel like Heavenly Father was a little more aware of what I was going through. At the hospital they did the scan (two actually) which each took about 10 seconds and I would guess I was lying on that table for less than 10 minutes. The whole time I was still in pain and shaking so bad and had chills to top it off. The nice radiology guy kept getting me warming blankets to make me more comfortable. I must confess I had a moment wondering where the camera was and considered asking Aaron to get it and capture the experience in pictures. The pain won my thoughts and documentation lost, but now I wish he had thought of it himself. Following the scan they confirmed that I did have a kidney stone that was about 2-3 mm. After the scan we were free to leave, but sitting in the wheel chair in that hallway the pain intensified and it was worse than before. On a scale of 1 to 10 it was a 10+. Keep in mind I consider myself to have a high pain tolerance. I took a pain pill and 30 seconds later it came up. I told Aaron we needed to go back to Instacare for another shot of morphine so we could make the drive back home. He asked me if I really needed it because "it only takes one time to get addicted". Are you kidding me?! I am not an addict! I was in sheer pain and nothing would stay in my stomach for more than a minute. We made it back to the Instacare and I slowly hobbled into the building still wearing the hospital nightgown and wrapped in hospital blankets. I know I was a pitiful sight but I was grateful when they gave me the shots again in my lower back (which for some reason hurt so bad I screamed out as I had previously). We went back to my Aunt's house to pick up Porter and headed home. With the help of the medication I slept the whole way and we made it back home about 1:30am. That must have been a long, dark, lonely four hour drive for my poor hubby. I believe I passed the stone around 2am but did not remember to use the strainer to catch it, but I saw some black flake-like thing. I was surprised I didn't feel relief so I was unsure it was gone. 
In just a few days I lost enough weight to be a handful of pounds away from being in the double digits. NOT GOOD. I was wasting away and not happy about my bodily starvation due to pain. This is one of the only pictures of me in those few days (it's me with the then-bride-to-be Becky at her bridal shower) and I was moving slow. This was the day after I passed the stone. Curse you stupid stone; curse you. I went to the doctor beginning of October for a horrible lung-hacking cough I'd had for 2 1/2 weeks (he said it was a sinus infection) and that's when I found out (by him reading a report online from the doctor who did my CT scan up north) I had another kidney stone...a BIGGER one!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Why didn't they tell me when they did the scan? The one in waiting was a 5 mm and doc said it was a ticking time bomb. He said it was just hanging in the kidneys and could decide to come down at any time, even years. (I was even told it could also never come down but just hang in there forever and get bigger.) Well I said "Hec no" to that and he recommended me to a urologist. The day I saw Dr. Greg Taylor I was a little fearful he would say, "Just wait it out and keep medication on hand to take when it happens." I was soooo happy when he said, "Yeah, let's take care of that." Aaron thinks they only say that for money. I don't care; I just care about not having to pass another stone. I was so happy that day! I called this my Christmas present to myself. The procedure (they keep calling it "surgery" but I don't consider it as such since they're not cutting into me or opening me up) is called Extracorporeal Lithotripsy. Yes, I'm looking at a pamphlet as we speak. No way I can remember that or spell it on my own. E.L. treatment breaks up kidney stones to pieces that can pass easier. The stone is targeted by X-ray and the treatment uses multiple high energy pressure waves to break it apart. The day before surgery I was on a clear liquid diet so I had apple juice for breakfast, chicken broth for lunch, and jello for dinner. Day of surgery was straight fasting. Lost about three pounds in all that. Wednesday October 20th was surgery day and it felt like it: it was overcast and rainy all day. I was excited initially but got a tad bit nervous as it got closer. Mostly because I read the info given to me on anesthesia: "Complications of...anesthesia may include...heart attack, pneumonia, dental damage, stroke, infection, paralysis, and death. In healthy patients the risk of serious injury/death has been estimated at about 1 in 100,000." I knew I would be fine and would come home but mentally I always try to prepare of the worst, so before I left home I made sure everything was clean "just in case". Also made sure I said goodbye to both dogs and gave Porter extra kisses. You never know. My wonderful, sweet, awesome ma-in-law picked Porter and I up at 4pm, dropped me off at the hospital at 4:20pm, took Porter home to play with his Aunt Rachael and cousin Eli, and off I went. I checked in with a nurse who said when she came out and saw me didn't think I was the patient. She knew I was a 29 year old but looked at me and saw a 14 year old. 
Really?! I know I didn't have make up on and wore my pajamas and Aaron's sweatshirt (had to wear loose comfortable clothes and not allowed to wear make up or wear any jewelry), but come on. She said "Believe me, that's a compliment." Really? To tell me I look HALF my age and tell me I look too young to have a child? I'm not saying it's an insult, I'm just saying it's not a compliment. 
Had to take pictures of course! This is the "waiting, waiting, waiting...la la la" picture. Anyway, got asked my name, birthday, and if I had any allergies about 5 billion times; good thing I knew the right answers to those questions. In the first hour of being at the hospital I got checked in, signed papers, peed in a cup (which I didn't think I would be able to having fasted for a whole day and told them that, so when I brought the nurse the cup of what I did I got a "Good job!"), settled into my oh-so-revealing hospital gown and hair net, got an IV, and watched TV for about an hour. 
They also put some strange contraptions on my legs that the nurse said would feel like a massage (it did) and they were to prevent blood clots.
Then Dr. Taylor--my urologist--came to talk to me, followed by the anesthesiologist, and I was wheeled back to the OR (operating room). I scooted over to another table with water underneath me and they put a mask of oxygen over my face. I tried to look around but the mask went over my eyes and seconds later I was out. Woke up in recovery (they said the procedure was about half hour which is half the time I was told it would take) pretty sleepy but okay. Then they wheeled me into a post-operative room where my mother-in-law came followed by my Aaron! He was supposed to be at work training firearms until 11pm but got rained out, so came to pick me up. It was good to see him. I was so hungry and thought I would get a yummy sandwich (like the turkey/cranberry/cream cheese one I got after giving birth to Porter) but all I got were a few snacks! I'm grateful for that, just expected more. I had five cracker packages, two puddings (tapioca), and a string cheese. I was wheeled in a wheelchair out to the car and we went to get food (a burger sounded good at the time), pick up my prescriptions (3), and to Nana's house to get Porter. Iceberg took forever to make our order but Walgreen's took 30 seconds to hand over the med's. Aaron said, "Unbelievable; it takes longer to get a burger than it does to get narcotics." That made me laugh. On the drive home I started to feel nauseous and by the time we got home a burger made me want to puke. I laid on the couch while Aaron put Porter to bed and started a movie. We watched "Prince of Persia" and I ate Ramen noodles and an egg. Next morning I expected to see bruising on my back where my left kidney was worked on but there was nothing. Doc said I would be sore like I got punched in the kidney but I felt nothing! I actually felt really good! Did not expect that at all. Actually expected to be immobile and super sore like I was after I passed the last stone. Now it's a waiting game to pass the stone fragments and I was told I would feel that. I was also told I needed to pee eight times a day--doctor's orders. Still working on that. 
The day after surgery (yesterday) we went to get our flu shots. This is Porter getting his in the leg. He cried from being pinned down but was happy with the sucker afterward. So there's my story and I'm stickin' to it. =P
1 comment:
Sucks you had to go through all that crap nat! Hope it's all better soon!
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