The Many Adventures of Janae and Kay

Saturday I became one of the 10% of Americans who passed a kidney stone. If you don't want the details, the bottom line is that most people say it is the worst pain they have ever experienced and as Regis would say "the audience is right!".

The details; (I learned from Lauren this summer that you only have to tell your story once if you blog it)

As I lay in bed in Omaha Saturday morning a pain began to develop in my lower back. At first I thought, this is different. Within minutes I was thinking, I am going to have to go to the hospital. As someone who does everything possible to avoid doctors this is not a thought I have had more than a few times in my life. I decided I wasn't going to die immediately so I should shower and clean up before going. By the time I finished showering the pain had subsided leading me to believe I was going to be OK. Minutes later the pain returned gaining more intensity than at first. About the only thing I knew about kidney stones was that they existed....or are there just gall stones. I'm pretty sure there are kidney stones, especially since I'm also pretty sure I have one.

Having survived the second attack, I went to my computer and searched "kidney stones" then clicked on the wikipedia site. When I read to drink lots of water I immediately went to the kitchen and drank as much water as I could tolerate and threw in 1000mg acetaminophen for good measure. Next I read I would it would come in waves and would be the most painful thing I may ever experience and I would need the strongest pain medication I could get along with an anti-inflammatory. Hydocodone seemed to be the drug of choice. With a small store of random prescription drugs I googled them, tossed out the ones I have no reason to keep and made notes on the rest. The Naproxen (labeled fever, inflammation and moderate pain twice daily) which was only expired by 18 months seemed the best bet. I took 500mg. I also kept Nitrofurantoin Macro (Urinary tract antibiotic) on hand in case I needed it.

It sounded like I could plan on days, weeks or perhaps up to a month of this so I called Janae and asked her to figure out where I should go to get some good pain killer, Flomax ("which acts to reduce the muscle tone of the ureter and facilitate stone passage") and an x-ray to make sure the stone was small enough to pass and see if there were others. Pete had told me he was taking Flomax so I called Colleen and got the low down.

With it apparent I was not going to die immediately I began work on installing a water heater in apt 7 with Donald. He had once had a kidney stone that took 3 days to pass so I asked him everything I could about it while installing the water heater. This, however, was interrupted several times by attacks. I would tell Donald I had to go to my apartment to get through the pain then return to work. I would go to my apartment, lay on the floor and roll, stretch, pant or anything else that seemed to help until it was over. One attack was so sever I broke out into heavy sweating, became nauseous and vomited for several minutes. When I returned to work Donald said my wife would have driven me to the emergency room right then if she had seen me.

Donald had to run an errand so I went to lay down for a bit. Before he got back I decided it was time to go see a doctor. I headed to a doctor Janae had arranged. When I walked in I told them I was passing a kidney stone and I needed some Loritab and Flomax. She talked to the doctor and told me to go to the emergency room. (so much for calling ahead) Being Saturday it was looking like the only option. I called Rachael and asked if she had any other options. She called her doctor and got back to me just as I arrived at Creighten University Medical Center. He also said to go to the ER. Wanting to avoid the ER if at all possible I discussed going to the main desk instead with Rachael. She agreed so off I went. Unfortunately they were closed for the weekend so up to the ER I went.

First came the urine test to see if there was blood in the urine. Twenty minutes later came the results, positive, meaning a kidney stone was likely...Duh. An hour later I was taken for a CT scan followed by a visit from a young woman claiming to be a doctor. She asked if I wanted the good news or bad first. The good news was the stone had passed to he bladder. The bad was that it still had to pass the rest of the way and it would be like peeing razor blades. After four hours I left with the Loritab prescription I had asked for on the way in. Oh, and the receptionist stopped me on the way out and collected $900 "for the room". I suspect there will be more bills coming for the CT and who knows what else.

In preparation for the upcoming very painful but short event I began taking the Hydrocodone and continued drinking as much water as possible. The doctor told me it should pass within 24 hours. Through the night I continued to drink water, take the pain killers and pee. My theory was that my best bet was to drink lots of water, hold it as long as possible and pee a large volume each time. I had this fear of having the stone only get half way out and running out of urine. I also figured this method would expand the urinary tract as much as possible. The doctor had given me a strainer to pee into to catch the stone. 6:30 Sunday morning I noticed a spot in the strainer. My first thought was that can't be it because it was so small and I had not felt it come out. Then I thought it has to be it. Sure enough, it had passed without pain in a large volume of urine. 16 hours later I am still getting rid of the over-saturation of water but it was worth it.

What I wished I knew at the start. Most kidney stones pass in less than one day and with two good kidneys there is little risk of waiting out one day if you can endure the pain. By the time I went to the ER I had survived the pain. Since I had not had attacks for several hours it could be assumed it had passed to the bladder and was therefore small enough to pass the rest of the way. A visit to the ER was unnecessary. Of course, they won't tell you that. However, some stones can be larger but the pain would continue longer.

I did learn it was the only one in both kidneys and if it happens again I will take the strongest medication I have, drink lots of water and stay away from the hospital.

If you are curious how big it is look at the attached picture. Just under the heading of the letter there is a dime and the kidney stone just to the right of the dime.