Ok, Ok...so I've been absent for a little while. My friends Linda and Rick guilted me into getting "back into the saddle" per se. I really do have a good reason, though, honest. Kidney stones (said in the same voice Seinfeld uses to say "Newman"). Have you ever dealt with these tiny meteors of unrelenting punishment? Ah yes, let me take you back some 9 years ago when I was 8 mos pregnant with my second child. I thought I was in labor...felt like labor...it wasn't until the ER nurse made me realize it was all on one side that we all had that "a-ha" moment that it couldn't be labor. As she so astutely put it "Labor doesn't pick a side, honey". Thus I was born into the world of kidney stones. For those not "in the know" about kidney stones, these are small, rock-like formations that grow in your kidneys. They can be small like the size of gravel up to much larger ones - I think I remember hearing of someone who had one the size of a golf ball! Ouch!
Anywho, you generally get a cat scan and the doctor can tell you the size of the stone. Anything 7mm or larger I believe, you are physically unable to pass - it will block your kidney...which obviously is very bad. Duh. So I've had about 6-7 kidney stone incidents, but always fairly small ones that would pass on their own and I get an excuse to dip into my pain med stash. Well, in late July I got really sick and was in pain but my own urologist couldn't get me an appt for a week and a half (I have to pause here and say I feel very old just saying I have my own urologist...don't you think of that as something your Mom would say to your Grandmother..."Mom...don't forget, you have your urologist appt today")..anyway, I went to an urgent care center and lo and behold, I got the newbie doctor! We all know I have this kind of luck so it shouldn't be a shock. He had no problem telling me he had just graduated 2 months prior as a physicians assistant...yeah that made me feel warm and fuzzy. He was a good boy and sent me for a cat scan. I really almost laughed in the phone when I called to get the results. He was just being handed the report when he was on the phone with me and his excitement was like a little kid who has heard about Santa, has read books about Santa, but is seeing Santa for the first time...."Let's see.....oh wow, there is one...right there in your left kidney! Wow, it's 5mm! That's a good size one.....and I'm not kidding when I tell you he said, "I'm glad I gave you that prescription for pain meds b/c you're going to need it!". What do you say to that? It was beautiful..
Anyway, after dealing with that and finally getting to see my doctor, it was determined I also had a 9mm one in the right kidney so last week I went in and they pounded it with shock waves...but again, we all know my luck...it didn't work like it was supposed to and break it up into itty bitty pieces so now I have these larger stones I'm having to pass. The latest one woke me at 2am today with pain and continued until I passed it around 730am. Literally you could hear the stone "clink" into the toilet when I peed it out. So now I go for another cat scan b/c let's see it's been over a month now and I'm getting really cranky!
So that's my long story of why I've been a slacker lately! But don't worry, I have some good topics in mind....stay tuned!
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