Alive And Well

Thursday night to Friday morning was horrendous. I kept waking up in SEVERE pain with projectile vomiting. I couldn't hold anything down. And everytime I wretched my abdomen flaired up worse. It got to the point that I had absolutely nothing in my stomach. I don't think I have ever been that sick, and wretching that hard. It was horrible. Come 6am I thought I was going to die.

Upon David waking up we attempted to call the urologist. They said in order for them to see me I'd need a referral from my family doctor. Unfortunately there was answer at my doctor's office. At that point I knew I had to go back to the ER. Due to David's schedule, he dropped me off at the hospital. I was soon entered, started to receive fluids anti-emetics (anti-vomiting) and pain meds. Within moments of being seen my cell phone rang and the person left a message. It was the urologist calling to get me "right in." That's when everything turned into a whirlwind. The ER doctor came in saying that the urologist just called and they wanted to go into surgery at 3pm. Say what? Guess I wasn't going to pass this stone on my own. The usual thinking is, hydrate and give the stone time to pass. However, with my blockage, oftentimes the fluids totally bypass that kidney and choose to go to the other kidney, which doesn't help a thing. Of course I didn't fight the decision that they recommended, surgery. I was soon transferred to the surgery preop area and waited me turn for surgery.

Thankfully the surgery didn't require any incision. Basically, they place me under deep sedation (almost anesthesia, but not) and then insert a scope to investigate the problem. Upon visualizing the stone they remove it. If necessary, they use a laser to break it apart, then remove the fragments. In my case it was found that my left ureter was swollen shut and that's why the stone wasn't moving, so the surgery was definitely a good idea. We don't know if it was swollen due to the trauma or if it's my anatomy. Either way, he had to dilate the ureter and remove the stone. A stint was placed to keep everything "open and flowing." I went to recovery and by 8pm I was home resting. Here's a drawing the doctor made..... the ureters come down to the bladder, which then empties into the urethra. The box on the ureter is showing where the swelling was.

I feel MUCH better. I can't even describe how much better. The only discomfort I had yesterday evening was a bit of stinging pain upon urination. But hell, if they place something up there, you know you're going to get raw and inflammed, causing discomfort. That pain is waining and now the only discomfort I have is just a bit of abdominal pain (due to trauma) and the feeling have having to urinate more. But, I'll take this over Thursday night any day! All of this is normal and thankfully, with meds, I'm feeling more comfortable as time goes on. I'm alive and well. Thank you to everyone for their kind thoughts and energy. It was greatly appreciated. Although we're planning on laying low this weekend, we still plan to do a little celebrating for passing my boards. It's been an interesting week, that's for sure!