Stoned!

The longest day in my life so far:  17 August 2012.  It started at around 2am.  A pain deep in my abdomen just left of my spine.  It was The Pain That Dare Not Speak Its Name.  It was excruciating, agonizing, stabbing, throbbing, piercing, radiating, aching, dull, and severe all at the same time.  And it was relentless.  I could not stop moving as I desperately searched for some body position that would just give me a nanosecond of relief.  I never found one.  There is no reason for anything to hurt this much.  I would have taken it seriously even if it was only half as intense.  If intense pain were not enough, intense pain induces vomiting. 

This might be a good time to skip ahead to the best new experience of 17 August 2012: suppositories.  After getting the pain under control, I was discharged to await further testing.  Skipping ahead a bit more to the saintly black cab driver that brought me to my outpatient appointment (remember what pain induces?) and an angelic triage nurse that brought me straight to A&E (ER) from the outpatient unit.  She made sure that a doctor came to me immediately.  The scan showed a kidney stone obstructing my ureter, and I was admitted to a surgical ward with amazing staff.  Upon further review, the urology consultant recommended a muscle relaxer as the stone was nearly at the end of its journey.  Once it drops into the bladder, it is no longer a problem because the urethra is much larger in diameter than the ureter.  We got home at 9 pm.  The stone passed sometime in the night as I woke up completely normal… well… normal for me anyway.  I have only three things to say about passing a kidney stone: ouch, i hope it never happens again, and my wife is amazing.  

Photo Credit: Radiological Workstation UX

P.S. I forgot to mention that the urology consultant told me I have to pee into all of my wife's tea strainers.  Believe me, I don't want to... but it's doctors orders