To say that this has been a rough week would be an understatement… I guess to get the full overview I will go back one week and start with on the 1st. I’d gone to church, had a busy day with Primary stuff and then got the kids down for naps afterwards. We’d been invited over to the Olsen’s for a barbeque at 4:00 with a bunch of other families and we were really looking forward to it. At about 2:00 that afternoon I started feeling ‘off’ and knew that another kidney stone attack was coming. I was not happy! The pain wasn’t too bad at that point, just achy, so I thought I would see how it went at the barbeque. I only lasted about half an hour before I had to leave. Lennard stayed with the kids, but I couldn’t sit any longer as the pain was getting worse. I went home, took some pain pills and went to sleep. I was able to sleep for a few hours and thought that I’d be okay. I had an Primary orientation with the Stake that evening and so I got dressed and headed up to the church at 7:00. I was still in some pain, but it was manageable at that point. I got to the meeting and within a half hour I was in a lot of pain. At one point I was on my knees hunched over the chair trying to watch the training video. (Ridiculous!) The meeting finally ended and I headed home to get more meds. I managed to sleep the night and figured I’d pass the stone over night. No such luck.
I managed to keep the pain somewhat under control on Monday and still thought I would be able to pass it at home, but at about 2:00 Tuesday morning I couldn’t stand it any longer and headed down to the ER. Of course, as soon as I get there, the pain subsided some and I really thought it had finally passed. They gave me a shot of pain med and sent me home. Again, managed to make it through another day without crazy amounts of pain, but not feeling great.
Thursday morning, I was still hurting and so I made an appointment to go see my family doctor. He decided I needed to go in for a CT scan in Lethbridge, but they couldn’t get me in until the next day. It was Ben’s birthday that day, so I tried to put on a brave face and have his birthday party. Thankfully, he won’t remember that I didn’t personally make him a cake and that Dairy Queen ice cream cake was a good substitute!
Mom and Dad drove me in to Lethbridge Friday morning for my CT scan and I was completely pain free that morning. I was sure that I’d passed the stone, but figured I would get the scan done anyways. Well… as I was waiting for the scan, the pain started in earnest again. Of course I hadn’t brought any kind of medication with me, so I was in agony. They got me through the scan quickly and then I decided I’d better try to go to the ER. I got checked in and then mom asked if I could get anything for the pain. Of course they said no… I had to wait to see a doctor. When asked how long it would be, they informed us that it would be a minimum two hour wait! Yikes! There was no way I could handle sitting there for two hours in pain, so we decided to head home and go straight to the Cardston ER. Thankfully, they got me in right away, but it took a while for them to finally get an IV in and get pain meds going. They pumped me full of gravol first as morphine makes me sick, but before they got any pain meds in my pain went through the roof. I don’t know if I’ve ever been in so much pain in my entire life. EVER! Lennard had gone home to be with the kids, but after calling for help over and over and no one coming, I finally called him and asked him to come back. I just needed him with me. Finally, they got some meds that took the edge off but didn’t take the pain away completely. At that point, something was better than nothing. The doctor on call sat down with me and said that I needed to consider having the stone removed surgically. I wasn’t too excited about that option, but I couldn’t take any more pain.
He made the call and within the hour, we were told to drive back in to Lethbridge and meet the urologist at the ER. My mom and dad came in to stay with the kids and then we were on our way. We had to wait for a half hour in the ER, but then I was seen by the doctor who then informed me that they probably couldn’t get me in to surgery that night! Grrr! Thankfully, they hooked up my IV and gave me some amazing drugs that pretty much knocked me out. I was slurring my words and really tired. I finally send Lennard home and then waited for them to get me transferred upstairs. It was after 9:00 when I made it upstairs and then, just as I was almost asleep, the nurse came in to finish admitting me. Then it felt like every half hour, someone was in the room either for me or my roommate. I definitely didn’t get any sleep. I just about bit off the night nurse’s head when he came in at 2:00am and flipped on the light. He asked me how I was feeling and I growled, “I’m tired!”.
Anyways, at about 10:00 Saturday morning I was taken in to surgery. By that point I hadn’t had much to eat in the past 5-6 days and absolutely nothing for the last day and a half! When I got out of surgery, I was starving! I couldn’t get enough food in to me. I was still extremely tired and sore, but at least I wasn’t in as much pain as I was before. We got home just in time for dinner that mom had ready for us. I don’t know what we would have done without their help. I truly pray that I will never have to go through a week like this again… ever! I wouldn’t wish that kind of pain on anyone.
