{"id":374,"date":"2014-07-28T22:11:26","date_gmt":"2014-07-29T05:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=374"},"modified":"2014-07-28T22:11:26","modified_gmt":"2014-07-29T05:11:26","slug":"todays-kidney-stone-the-gory-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=374","title":{"rendered":"Today’s Kidney Stone – The Gory Details"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Facebook<\/a>, I already posted about the kidney stone I experienced earlier, and I posted a couple of pictures of my hands when they they had wires in or on them. \u00a0There’s also a picture of me taken shortly after I’d been given\u00a0pain medication. \u00a0I was feeling much better, but I was very, very sleepy.<\/p>\n

I want to take a moment to jot down the\u00a0details. \u00a0It’s not that I want anyone to go through my pain. \u00a0I wouldn’t wish the pain of a kidney stone on anyone. \u00a0However, there are details of the process that I think are interesting, and maybe some other people will think so as well.<\/p>\n

Today’s kidney stone was either my 5th or my 6th. \u00a0It isn’t faulty memory that makes me uncertain on the exact number. \u00a0The 5th one was not confirmed by the hospital. \u00a0With the 5th one, I felt the pain coming on close to bed time. \u00a0I was well hydrated and I had access to Vicodin, so I took a pill and went to bed, hoping for the best. \u00a0When I woke up the next morning, I was fine.<\/p>\n

Unless the stone itself gets to a certain size, negotiating a kidney stone is all about pain management. \u00a0There isn’t really any pain in “passing it,” in the sense most people think. \u00a0Once the stone reaches the bladder, I no longer feel it. \u00a0Maybe it’s different for women. \u00a0I can only speak from my own experience.<\/p>\n

Today started off like any other day. \u00a0I woke up, went through my morning routine, gathered my equipment, and drove to work. \u00a0On the way, I stopped and picked up a dozen doughnuts as I do every Monday. \u00a0The hints of what was ahead of me\u00a0didn’t start until just before I got to work. \u00a0At that point, I thought it was hunger, or bad gas.<\/p>\n

I dropped off the doughnuts in the break room and made myself a breakfast drink. \u00a0I started going through my morning routine, hoping the minor discomfort would go away once I had something in my stomach. \u00a0I went to the bathroom and answered nature’s call, but the pressure continued to escalate. \u00a0That’s when I knew what was happening.<\/p>\n

Again, I don’t want other people to experience the pain of a kidney stone. \u00a0I will, however, describe it in this paragraph, so skip on if you are prone to sympathy pains. \u00a0My kidney stone pain isn’t a stabbing pain, like a dagger in the belly. \u00a0It’s more like a crushing pain. \u00a0It’s pressure. \u00a0The first one was so much like severe gas that I thought that’s what it was for hours. \u00a0I kept trying to burp or fart or anything to make it stop, but it wouldn’t. \u00a0The pain from a Kidney stone is inescapable. \u00a0There is no position that offers release. \u00a0Pacing doesn’t help. \u00a0It’s a constant, relentless, crushing pressure that starts off slow and builds, until it consumes all thought.<\/p>\n

There is a window of opportunity with kidney stones, where the pain hasn’t reached the point of causing nausea. \u00a0During that time, strong pain relievers, such as Hydrocodone (Vicodin) and Oxycodone (Percocet), are effective, and can help me get ahead of the pain and keep it manageable. \u00a0I left work in the hopes that I could get home during that window and self medicate. \u00a0 I also left when I did because I knew that at a certain point, I wouldn’t be able to drive.<\/p>\n

Luck was not on my side. \u00a0I hit all of the lights red, and each stop aggravated my condition. \u00a0I considered going straight to the hospital. \u00a0In retrospect, that would have been the smarter move. \u00a0I still hoped that I could self medicate and avoid the hospital.<\/p>\n

Chris was home playing on his computer when I arrived, and he was worried as soon as he saw me. \u00a0It’s difficult for a boy to see his father in pain. \u00a0I tried to be strong. \u00a0I grabbed a Vicodin and swallowed it, and I had Chris call Melissa to let her know what was going on.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Melissa knew better than to take chances with this sort of thing. \u00a0She immediately left work. \u00a0Unfortunately, it’s about an hour between Melissa’s work and our home. \u00a0During that time, nausea settled in, and I lost the Vicodin, along with the breakfast drink. \u00a0I reached the point where the only thing that was going to help me was a shot from the hospital.<\/p>\n

Being that this was not my first kidney stone, I knew exactly\u00a0what I was in for. \u00a0I knew about the nausea and the severe, escalating discomfort. \u00a0I also knew what it was going to be like at the hospital, and all of the tests they were going to perform. \u00a0Knowing what was coming\u00a0did not bring me any comfort.<\/p>\n

When Melissa arrived, I was ready to leave. \u00a0Chris stayed home, and Melissa took me to Mercy San Juan, where I’d gone for my first kidney stone. \u00a0Navigating to the emergency room was more complicated than I remembered. \u00a0There appeared to be one lane, and in front of us, an SUV stopped to drop off a doctor. \u00a0Melissa and I were both in shock at this, because they were not fast about the drop-off, and they were blocking the only way to the emergency room. \u00a0I started swearing, but once we got moving again, I calmed down.<\/p>\n

We parked and I walked in, leaning heavily on Melissa. \u00a0Inside, there was a line and a full waiting room. \u00a0I half expected that. \u00a0It was 10AM on a Monday morning. \u00a0I knew that unlike other times we’d gone to the emergency room, the place was going to be well staffed. \u00a0I was hoping we wouldn’t have to wait long, but I had my suspicions.<\/p>\n

Once they took my name, I turned and threw up in the nearest garbage can. \u00a0There wasn’t anything left in my stomach. \u00a0As I straightened and wiped my mouth, I became conscious of how I looked. \u00a0I hadn’t bothered to button up my shirt when we left, and my pants were undone and a little bit baggy on me, from all the weight I’ve lost over the last few months. \u00a0My hair was messed, and I was pretty sure that I was pale and sorry looking. \u00a0I thought about all of the people in the waiting room, and how I would feel with someone looking the way I did, vomiting in the trash can. \u00a0I tried to straighten, compose myself, and take a seat.<\/p>\n

I sat next to a tired looking, older black woman that was doing something with her hands. \u00a0I don’t remember if she was playing with her phone or doing some sort of needlework. \u00a0I struck up a conversation with her, trying to be polite, and she reciprocated. \u00a0It was very pleasant. \u00a0I don’t think she expected someone looking like me to be nice to her, and we had a nice talk.<\/p>\n

They called my name much sooner than I expected. \u00a0They put me in a chair to take my blood. \u00a0It took the nurse a few minutes to get to it, and I kept curling over in the chair, resting my head on the arm supports. \u00a0When examined my arms, I sat as still as I could. \u00a0She had a hard time finding a vein, because I had been throwing up and was dehydrated. \u00a0I hadn’t really had an opportunity to get many fluids in me. \u00a0She wound up using a smaller needle and a surface vein, which hurt a little, but was nothing next to the pressure pain in my stomach.<\/p>\n

I was taken to one of the tiny rooms in the area and given a gown to change into. \u00a0I stripped immediately, not even waiting for the curtain to be drawn. \u00a0Modesty is one of those concepts that is simply abandoned on the road I was traveling. \u00a0There is no time for it, and it doesn’t do anyone any good. \u00a0Melissa tied me up in the back, and\u00a0a very nice orderly wheeled me away on the bed for\u00a0a CT scan.<\/p>\n

There’s not much to talk about with the scan. \u00a0I got onto the table and they slid me into the doughnut. \u00a0The\u00a0sounds of heavy machinery surrounded me, and a recorded voice told me several times to hold my breath, then breathe. \u00a0The hardest part of the experience was staying still. \u00a0I managed just fine, though, because the procedure was very brief.<\/p>\n

As they wheeled me back to my room, a very nice nurse offered me a blanket. \u00a0It was\u00a0fresh from an oven, and they draped it over my exposed legs. \u00a0It was very nice. \u00a0I hadn’t realized how cold I felt. \u00a0It made me feel spoiled, and I thanked them for taking care of me.<\/p>\n

Back in the room, I girded myself for the next obstacle: the urine sample. \u00a0Another nurse had left a cup in a bag with Melissa. \u00a0She handed me the bag, and I wobbled my way to the bathroom to do my best.<\/p>\n

I knew that this was going to be a challenge. \u00a0I was dehydrated, and I’d peed while I was at work just a couple of hours before. \u00a0I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to give them a sample, and I was a little bit afraid that I wasn’t going to get pain medication until I gave them some urine. \u00a0I think the hope of getting pain medication was the right motivator, because I was able to squeeze out enough for them to test in short order.<\/p>\n

Let’s get gross for a moment. \u00a0Since I’ve been doing my meal replacements, I’ve been a little bit fascinated with the color of my urine. \u00a0I was always told that if you’re well hydrated, it should be clear. \u00a0The thing is, I’ve been loading so many vitamins and minerals into my system lately\u00a0that my pee is never clear anymore, no matter how much I’ve had to drink. \u00a0It’s a super bright, almost neon yellow. \u00a0I expected the sample to be this bright color, but it wasn’t. \u00a0It was brown. \u00a0I held it up and looked at it, and there were a few circles of red in it. \u00a0I thought, “So that’s what it looks like when there’s blood in your urine.” While I’m sure I’ve experienced this\u00a0before, I’ve never really looked at it. \u00a0It was unsettling.<\/p>\n

I went back to my room, offered up my sample, and prepared for the part I dreaded the most: the wait. \u00a0Like I said, this wasn’t my first rodeo. \u00a0I knew what each of the steps was going to be. \u00a0The hardest part of\u00a0the whole process is waiting for the shot of pain reliever. \u00a0There is nothing to do but wait, and time slows down. \u00a0Crying doesn’t help. \u00a0Visualization and breathing exercises don’t seem to help. \u00a0There’s just time and pain, both in unmerciful quantities.<\/p>\n

After an eternity, an angel in a nurse’s uniform appeared, and put something in my IV. \u00a0The stuff is called dilaudid<\/a>, and it’s some derivative of morphine. \u00a0I’d been given it before, and I knew how effective it was. \u00a0After a few minutes, the pain began to subside, and I started getting\u00a0sleepy.<\/p>\n

The rest of the experience at the hospital was mostly me slipping in and out of consciousness. \u00a0The pain started to return after a little while, and I thought I was going to need another dose. \u00a0But then the pain receded again, and I knew that the worst was over. \u00a0I knew that the stone had made it to my bladder.<\/p>\n

This was a smaller stone than others I’ve had. \u00a0This one was 4mm, where others had been 6 or 7mm. \u00a0As I said before, the pain from a kidney stone isn’t where it’s physically leaving the body. \u00a0It’s the passage from the kidney to the bladder, through the ureter. \u00a0The urethra is massive in comparison to the ureter. \u00a0Because of this, I’ve never actually seen one of the stones. \u00a0I’ve tried to strain my pee a few times, but it’s a disgusting process that hasn’t ever yielded results.<\/p>\n

I’m home, now. \u00a0I’m physically comfortable, and I’m emotionally buoyed up, because everyone has been so nice to me. \u00a0Melissa was there for me the entire time, and cared for me. \u00a0This is the other side of the experience that no one talks about. \u00a0Relief from severe\u00a0pain\u00a0brings clarity and peace. \u00a0I feel loved and happy, and thankful to be alive. \u00a0When people talk about kidney stones, they focus on how much it hurts. \u00a0No one ever stops to talk about this part, where all of life’s little dramas and obstacles have been stripped away, and all that’s left is what is important: peace and love.<\/p>\n

I know that what I’m feeling right now is momentary. \u00a0When I wake up in the morning, I’ll get back into the grind, and pick up all of the burdens that I didn’t have to carry today. \u00a0That’s why I wanted to write about this experience now, while all of the details are still fresh.<\/p>\n

I don’t wish the pain of a kidney stone on anyone. \u00a0But, I do hope that everyone feels as cared for and loved as I felt after the pain was over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Facebook, I already posted about the kidney stone I experienced earlier, and I posted a couple of pictures of my hands when they they had wires in or on them. \u00a0There’s also a picture of me taken shortly after I’d been given\u00a0pain medication. \u00a0I was feeling much better, but I was very, very sleepy. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":375,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374\/revisions\/375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}