My Very Own 'Diagnosis'

If it can be called that. I am no doctor.

I know you guys have heard me whining about this for days now. After the last time I posted, I did some analysis of the symptoms, exactly where the pain was, and what symptoms I wasn't having. After 4 days I still wasn't having any issues with urination or blood in the urine. The pain never progressed to the point where it would have if this had been an actual kidney stone. Also when I took the time to lay down on the couch and have my wife 'poke' my back in different places and realized that the pain, which had now subsided just a bit, was a tad too high and closer to the middle of my back. She found the very spot where the pain was the worst.

I have a cracked or broken rib !!!

I decided not to go to the doctor because what are they gonna do for a broken rib besides try to wrap me up maybe. And that won't work for me because I have emphysema and I can't have my chest being restricted. They might would give me some pain meds but I had already gotten to the point where I knew I could make it without them.

The reason I'm making this post is because I knew you guys were hanging on the edge of your Lazy-boys wondering if I was okay. Actually, I got up wrong this morning and rolled the wrong way and I think I cracked that bastard again. I'm in pain again. Gonna call my doctor this morning and after I convince her I'm not insane ... because I convinced her this was a kidney stone ... I'm gonna have her cancel the CAT Scan that isn't scheduled until April the 10th for f*cks sake, and see if I can't get a much sooner appointment for a simple x-ray ... and get a script for some pain meds. I really need them now.

Anyway, I'll try to keep the posting going but I may be slack for a day or two.

Posting Reality

Well, I haven't went to the ER yet, still no blood in the urine, still no problems urinating, so I have no idea what is going on. Still have pain about a 6 maybe, in the kidney stone area of my back. I am self medicating when the pain gets a little much.

So the self medicating and the pain are combining to slow down my attention to the blog. 

Bear with me, gotta get over this so I can concentrate.

 

UPDATE: Posting Will Be Delayed This Morning

For the past week I've been having some consistent, moderate pain in my right side where your back hurts when you have kidney stones. After the one I recently passed this makes me nervous because about 6 years ago when I was passing a stone, they did x-rays and said I have at least 6 or 7 more in my right kidney. I'm not having to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes like you normally do when the kidney stone has dropped into the ureter and starts blocking the flow to the bladder. So, finally, I'm worried that my right kidney may be full of kidney stones causing me pain and any day they're gonna start dropping into the ureter and causing severe pain and maybe other more serious problems. I'm not one for going to the doctor to take care of stuff preemptively but kidney stone pain can make the most bad-assed man cry like a baby. Gonna go get it checked out. I'll be back. Have a great morning.

 

UPDATE

 

Okay, back from the doctor. Urine test says no blood and no infection so that's good. She said I could go to the ER and get a CAT scan of my lower abdomen and groin but going to the ER, especially the one they have here in this town is usually a nightmare. So I'm going to call and schedule one, she gave me the paperwork, which may be a week but it'll beat going to the ER ... IF ... the pain doesn't get much worse. If the pain gets much worse, I'll take a pain pill and drive to the next city over where they have a real hospital.
So, in the meantime, I’ll just deal with the pain as long as I can and just hope it goes away … those may be famous last words?

Kidney stones are a real PIA.

I Survived Another One

And I feel so much better this morning. Thank you for the well wishes and the prayers. The kidney stone I passed was about half the size of a BB. It continues to surprise me how something so small can cause such intense pain. Not to mention, to be in such pain one minute and then pass the stone and the next minute you are pain free ... well, the lower back pain from soreness lasts for a little while, but it's almost like a switch has been flipped.

Kidney Stone Relief

Well, when my wife got home from work today, I got up to go fix her a glass of tea and when I got in the kitchen the pain overrode the pain medication and I almost passed out. When my knees hit the floor my wife came running into the kitchen trying to help me get to my feet and the whole time she was saying 'Let's get to the truck.' When you have a kidney stone, you need to pee all the time, usually just a drop or two. I told her I needed to pee first. As soon as I started to pee I felt that little chunk pass through and got weak in the knees again for just a second. It's done. Hallellujah. It blows my mind how something so small can cause so much damn pain.

Thanks to those who commented. It is done.

Kidney Stone Update

Still haven't passed this thing. I'll give it until tomorrow morning and then go to the back-up plan and head to the hospital. The wife dug through the medicine cabinet yesterday and found a bottle of Flomax from several years ago and I've been taking them also along with drinking lots of plain water ... yukk. I usually drink about a half gallon of sweet tea a day. No tea since yesterday. We'll see. I don't want to spend hours in the hospital.

The wife has an appointment to have a heart stint put in Friday in Ocala and that involves another long drive there and then back plus 5~ hours for the procedure. Not anticipating any problems. This has been scheduled for a while and this sort of thing is fairly routine now ... but nothing is ever really routine.

Posting Alert

My body has decided to drop a kidney stone. I've been afflicted with them for many years, although it been about a two years~ since my last one, and rather than go to the emergency room and have them charge me outrageously to give me a shot and tell me to go home and piss through a strainer, I'm self medicating at home with left over pain meds from the last stone. I never do pain meds unless I have severe pain so the effects are usually extreme. So posting today may be hit or miss or it could be extreme. We'll let the pain medicine decide.