Kidney Stone

  Wednesday morning I was going about my usual routines when suddenly I was hit with a back pain so severe that I literally began moaning. This is unusual for me as I generally handle pain okay. Having done quite a bit of physical labor my entire life I assumed I had hurt my back moving a pile of bricks around the previous day.

  I'll skip to 8:00 Wednesday evening where the pain had become so severe that I thought I must be dying. I'm serious here. At the hospital E.R. a CAT scan revealed a kidney stone was moving through my ureter on a long and very painful journey through my urinary track. I was actually given morphine twice within an hour to cut the pain and it didn't even affect the pain I experienced. I was discharged from the hospital on Thursday at noon with prescriptions for narcotic pain relievers and a drug that helps the urinary track relax. This drug is also giving to older men with enlarged prostates. I had virtually no interest in food except for a few grapes and I was implored to drink lots and lots of water which I did do, going off to the loo every 40 minutes or so right through the night.

  I'll skip to Friday night when I finally passed a small stone like a little pebble. One has to literally strain their urine for stone particles that the urologist will in turn examine and then make suggestions about how to change one's diet to prevent another episode. So at the moment I feel like I've been through the ringer as it were and have nothing planned today except relaxing.

  At the hospital a nurse relayed the story to me about women who have had both given birth and kidney stones. Every one said they would prefer to experience the pain of giving birth to a baby than the pain of going through a kidney stone.