Not What I Was Hoping To Hear...

Yesterday was such a fiasco! As you know, I had an appointment with a urologist...2:30 PM to be exact. Well, I felt I knew where I was going, so I left the house around 1:20 PM in order to allow myself enough time to get the abdominal x-ray done before my appointment. So, I'm motoring on down the highway when my GPS tells me to turn on a road that I think is incorrect. I thought I was supposed to keep heading in the same direction for another 5 miles or so. I began to second-guess my knowledge of where the doctor's office was, so I listened to my GPS. It directed me to make a U-turn and, basically, head right back to where I started! Do you know that I drove around in one big circle for 50 mins? That is no exaggeration, either! My GPS completely lost it's mind! By the time I arrived at the office where I was to get the x-ray done, I was sweating bullets!

I walked into the building and rode the elevator to 2 different floors before I finally found the x-ray department. I had to fill out the biggest amount of paperwork I've ever seen for one measly x-ray. I was called back for the x-ray with only about 5 mins. to spare before my doctor's appointment! I hopped up on the table and it was done in a flash. The x-ray technician said, "Mind if I ask how tall you are?" I replied, "Well, on a good day, I'm 4'11"." She said it was the first time she was able to get an abdominal x-ray on someone without having to take several different shots...whatever that meant! I grabbed my x-ray and sprinted out the door like OJ Simpson used to do in those commercials.

My doctor's office was right next door...thankfully! I walked in one minute late...and nearly out of breath! The nurse called me back and I was sitting there for only a few minutes before the doctor walked in. I have to admit that I fell in love with him, immediately. No, he's not a Tim McGraw look alike, unfortunately, but he's like a sweet grandfather. He was so easy to talk to! I felt completely at ease from the get-go. He asked me what I'd been experiencing and I told him I'd been feeling fine since that incident on the 8th. He told me that there was blood in my urine sample, which is sign that something is going on. He grabbed my x-ray films and took me out in he hallway with him for a look. He explained everything we were seeing in plain English. He pointed out several stones in my left and right kidneys. He said that two stones on my left side were already out of the kidney. I was just about to shout, "YAHOO!", but then he informed me that they're about to make their decent. What??? Apparently, the two stones are lodged in the narrow opening at the top of the ureter. So, he's put me on some medication to open the tube up so that the stones can pass more easily...if there is such a thing! I asked how long this process would take and he predicted anywhere from 2-3 weeks. I was hoping for YEARS! He cautioned me that it will be the worst pain I will ever experience...lovely, doc...just LOVELY!

He gave me some pain medication to take as soon as the pain hits me. He said if I get to a point where the pain medication doesn't seem to be doing it's thing, I need to get to the emergency room as quickly as possible. He wants me to give him a call on Monday to let him know how I'm doing. Wait a minute...is this going to happen sooner than he thinks? I'm trying to prepare myself for what I'm about to face, but I don't know if that's possible. I think when the pain hits, I'm going to give him a call and demand an epidural! That was a lifesaver for me when I gave birth to my girls! Well, sounds like giving birth to kidney stones is no walk in the park, either! I can do this...I know I can! Do I really have a choice? Like the doc said, the stones can't go back up...they can only go DOWN! Hmm...wonder if standing on my head would do the trick?