posted
So, as I posted here, Jenni and I were planning to go to Salem for Halloween this year, and wanted to meet up with any Hatrackers who could make it.
Myr never got back to me, Suneun was busy at her house this year, Mack canceled (sort of)...so Jenni and I went by ourselves.
We went early this year, and came into town about 4 pm. I drove around in traffic for about 45 min, and found great parking...the same side street we used last year.
We got out and walked to the Witch House, and went on the tour. Last year we were too late to do it, but this year we had fun....the tour guide was really nice, and really knew his stuff, unlike some of the tours we were on in the past.
About 7 pm we went to eat, and had a really good meal at some resturaunt (it had the word Thyme in it, that is all I remember)....then the fun began in earnest......
I got in line at a local place to go to the bathroom, and after about 10 min I began having a pain in my right side. It wasn't a sharp pain at first, just an ache. To be honest, I thought it might be really bad gas pains, or indigestion. It began to get more and more painful, to the point where I was almost doubled over, and even going into the bathroom didn't help.
At this point I was becoming ill because of the pain. I sat outside with Jenni for a while, and she knew something wasn't right. I don't complain about pain usually, but it was obvious that I was really hurting.
I decided that I might have food poisoning, and needed to go to the Hospital, but I didn't want to worry Jenni, so I said " Lets get to the car, and go from there.", knowing full well that I needed help...or would eventually.
We began walking and all of the sudden I leaned over a short iron fence and threw up. Now there were THOUSANDS of people in the street, and quite a few of them were drunk...but I was completely sober, I had not had one drink yet. All the people near me stated staring, and I heard someone laughing at the drunk.....thinking I had been drunk and almost passed out.
We continued to walk, and as I crossed a street the pain got so bad I threw up again....right in front of an ambulance and 2 Paramedics. I sat down on the curb next to the ambulance, and they came over obviously thinking I was drunk. When they came over I asked them for help, and said I needed to get to the hospital. They talked to me for a while, and realizing I wasn't drunk but was in serious pain, they helped me into the ambulance.
Now, I hate hospitals, and doctors...not personally, but in principal. I don't call out sick much, and when given pills I rarely take them all unless they are antibiotics. When I had my wisdom teeth taken out they had to break my jaw 3 times....and out of 25 percs they gave me I only took 5 or so.....at night so I could sleep.
When I asked to go to the hospital I thought Jenni was going to cry.
We got in the ambulance and they took me to Salem Hospital. It took 7 min to get there, and I was so sick I used all of the barf bags they had...all 4 of them.
The doc at the hospital said he thought it was food poisoning, but since it was localized and sore on palpitation he was afraid it could be mu gall bladder, or my kidney. They gave me 3 shots of morphine, but the pain was horrible....I could still feel it. I had a CAT scan, but in the mean time the Doc put the OR on standby in case I needed to have my gall bladder out.
Turns out I have Kidney Stones.
I had a 3.5 mm stone 3/4ths the way through, so they said it should pass on its own. They gave me Percs, and after 5 hours in the hospital I was released. It took 2 days for it to pass, and even though I don't take pain pills usually I was popping them like candy every 2 hours for the whole time.
I just worked my first full day back at work today, and I hurt all over. I was throwing up for 3 hours, and pulled every muscle in my torso... it was that violent.
Good Lord...I have a lot to be thankful for...it could have been SO much worse. Jenni was really afraid, but held up fine until we got home..then she lost it. I wasn't a lot better, I was pretty scared myself. I had no history of them before, and no warning that it was about to happen.
As bad as it was, I am grateful it wasn't anything worse. I didn't catch the stone so I don't even know what type it was, or what to stay away from...it all depends on what caused it in the first place.
posted
OHMYGODKWEA! (((((((((((((((((Kwea)))))))))))))))))))) I'm so sorry you had such a rough time!! But I'm glad you're mostly alright. Luckily, kidney stones are treatable, right?
But I'm still so sorry!! Feel better, y'hear?? Posts: 7877 | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Kwea, I sympathize. I had a kidney stone about two years ago, and it was easily the most hidiously painful experience of my life so far. My mother said that her kidney stone was worse than either of her childbirths had been.
Be glad that yours passed; mine was a little arrowhead shaped thing that got lodged in the wall of whatever tubule it was trying to descend, so they had to go in through my urethra and manually remove it. Thank god for general anesthetic, that's all I have to say.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm so glad I have not eaten yet reading this thread.
(Leans over in sympathetic pain.)
Glad you're okay, Kwea. Take care - do something relaxing for those sore muscles, massage or phys. therapy., hot tub soaks, gentle stretching . . .
Posts: 5609 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yeah, as I was reading the story I thought to myself, "That sounds like kidney stones, but I sure hope it isn't."
Posts: 2258 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
I have had kidney stones since I was 18, and have had 3 bouts with them thus far. The last time was the worst, when I had 4 of them simultaneously. Finally, lithotripsy was performed, twice, to break them up so I could pass them.
So I feel a little bit of your pain. Instead of throwing up though, I was urinating blood and swearing a lot.
My doctor has told me that I can look forward to periodic episodes in the years to come, maybe every 10 years or so like I have experienced. I took it upon myself to find out if I can prevent them, and there is not much good news. There are, however, two supplements you can take to help prevent them:
If your stones are calicum oxelate, the supplementation of magnesium may prevent the formation of calicum oxelate crystals. Oxelate is a better substrate with magnesium, which forms magnesium oxelate much more readily than calcium oxelate, and is much more soluble, which may prevent stone formation.
B-vitamins such as a B-complex may also insure good kidney function, but this does not necessarily mean that b-vitamins prevent kidney stones. They just help keep your kidneys healthy.
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
The worst part of it was that I didn't know what was happening. Now that I know it still sucks, but at least I don't have anything to fear from it...other than more pain, that is...
Kidney stones are treatable, but they didn't give me a screen to catch it so I don't know what caused it, or what to stay away from, so I am cutting way back on the soda (I had already done so for weight reasons) and on the dairy. It seems like every meal I love has cheese in it though.....
The most common treatment for then is to let them pass, but if they are too big or there are too many of them they can use either a laser to vaporize them or ultrasound to pulverize them...but they don't use either if they will pass by themselves.
As far as the pain goes, the only thing I have ever felt close to that amount of pain was when I had my appendix removed....it was 13 1/2 inches long and 3 1/2 inches long, instead of the normal 3 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. I had had a slow leak in it for years, and it ruptured as they took it out.
Also I was mugged when I was in the Army, and I should have died. I had 26 stitches in my face, 16 in my head, and 8 in my right eyelid, which they had to reattach as it was hanging by less than 1/16th of an inch. I also had 2 cracked ribs, 3 bruised ribs, a bruised spleen and 2 bruised kidneys.
That was awful because it took months to recover. I saw The Mask in the theater, and I laughed so hard at the dog in the end that I re-injured my ribs....
So once again I was lucky, despite the pain involved.
Thanks again for the well wishing! I DO feel a lot better, but it will be a few more days before I am back to normal.....
posted
I know exactly what you mean Kwea--I wasn't sure what was going on, and I was afraid that I was dying, which isn't a typical place for my mind to leap to.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
I am now fine...thanks again for all the well-wishing.
I am now staying away from both dark sodas and whole milk, because I am not sure which caused this to happen, but the doctor said those were the two most likely factors.
My husband had kidney stones(actually a stricture) a few years ago. One night I drove him to the ER at 4AM, with kids in the back, and our car broke down! He was in such terrible pain. As you said, the pain meds did nothing. He eventually got panic attacks, until they finally operated and put in a stint(Stent) which opened the passage from kidney to bladder.
There is a urologist in this area whom my husband knows. Dr. Stan something, and he is very well know in the field. On no accout go to a Dr. Chadbourne out of Springfield. He was brutally mean.
Dr. Stan has some lemonade cure. I had some great sites about kidney stones, and I will see if i can find them.
Ouch! They say it is the pain that rivals childbirth.
Again, sorry I did not see this before!
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:So hey, Kwea--if you get pregnant, it will be no big deal.
If Kwea gets pregnant, it will be a huge deal.
Seriously, though, I'm glad you're okay now and I'm sorry you have kidney stones. I had a friend in college who had them and actually kept them in tupperware - yuck.
What a crummy Halloween for you and Jenni, though!
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
It is all your fault, Myr, for blowing us off...
I don't have any more there, but the reason they didn't use ultrasould to pulverize it was that it had already passed through most ot the uretur by the time they found it, dn it was small enough that it wouldn't lodge and completely obscure the passage.
Also, it costs money...not that I would have minded at that point, and it was a weekend...the ultrasound clinic is usually closed on weekends and weeknights, barring an emergency. If it had been larger, of more than one, they might have sone it I guess.
Liz, anything you have on this would be welcome...thanks.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Angst]](graemlins/angst.gif)
Never knew kidney stones could be so gut-wrenchingly painful.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Kiss]](graemlins/kiss.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
