How I spent much of this holiday season.

A Little Medical Emergency


Ever since I was a teenager I have had occasional episodes of pain in my lower right side. It happened about two or three times a year. During the afternoon or early evening my side would begin to feel a kind of dull ache. Over the next few hours it would grow worse and worse, until it became quite painful. I could not be comfortable in any position. If it happened while I was driving on a long-distance trip—and for some reason it usually occurred while travelling—it could become quite agonizing. Sometimes it would be even if I was sitting still.

Usually a good night’s sleep seemed to get rid of the trouble. Now and then the pains would persist at a low level for another day or so. On three occasions over the years the pains became so severe that I had to go to the emergency room. The doctors treated me by giving me strong pain relievers. I’d sleep after that, and then I’d be better. Then I would carefully husband my supply of prescription pain pills and use them to control the pain on the next few occasions.

They never did figure out what was causing it. The pains resembled the early stages of a kidney stone (of which I have a strong family history), but the condition did not develop like one. For a long time the working theory was that it was some kind of irritable bowel problem. I would carefully watch what I ate whenever I traveled, taking laxatives if necessary to keep things going smoothly, and praying that I didn’t get the pains. Now and then they still came. In recent years they have occurred less often—but have tended to be more severe when they do happen. I had gone close to a year without having any trouble with them.

And then one Thursday evening recently I felt that telltale ache. I took a pain pill I had left over from my wisdom teeth surgery a few months ago and got a good night’s sleep. The next day the pain was still with me. It got serious enough that I went home from work around mid-morning. For the next couple of days I kept taking pain pills and trying to manage. I also felt bloated and nauseous much of the time. One evening my usually cast-iron stomach rebelled on me.

Sunday morning I felt better and went to church. By early that evening I was getting worse and worse. The pain pills weren’t controlling it. Finally I decided to head for the emergency room, before the pain became debilitating.

When I was married I had to take my ex to the emergency room on a number of occasions. I spent a lot of hours in there holding hands, holding up an emesis bowl, speaking soothingly, wishing so much there was something I could do to make it all better. Now I was there as the patient, and there was nobody to hold my hand. It didn’t seem fair. All I had for comfort and distraction was a book I had brought with me. I got a good bit of reading done that evening.

The room they had me in was a typical doctors’ examining room, with the little examining table, the sink and paraphernalia, and the chairs. Since I had to wait a good while, I sat in one of the chairs and read. Eventually the emergency room doctor came in. It so happened that he was the doctor I went to as my family doctor. He had recently stopped holding regular office hours and gone on emergency room duty. It was good to see a familiar face.

The doctor had the usual tests of blood and urine samples taken. They found blood IN the urine. The doctor then ordered up a CAT scan. This involved lying on a platform and getting an intravenous shot of radioactive isotope dye that made me feel warm and flushed all over. The platform then slowly pulled me through the CAT scan device. It was a big, humming, ring-shaped machine that looked and sounded vaguely science-fictionish. Then I went back to the exam room.

The doctor informed me that the scan had turned up a big cyst on my right kidney. So it WAS kidney trouble after all! He sent me home with a small number of Vicodin pills for pain and told me to see his father, who is also a doctor, in the morning. I took my pills and went. As soon as possible I swallowed one. When it did not seem to help I swallowed another. The pain continued to grow worse.

Finally I could stand it no longer. I ran back to the emergency room and let them know that I needed more help. I tried not to let the pain show too much. There’s not much I hate more than feeling like a crybaby. But I apparently got my point across. Soon, though not soon enough for me, I was whisked upstairs to a hospital bed.

By now I was writhing in pain. I know of a woman who has both had kidney stones and given birth. She says that the former was the more painful experience. The nurses told me I looked very much like I was having a stone. They stuck me three or four times before getting an IV into me with Demerol. Then I at last felt a wonderful easing of pain and dropped off to sleep. It was my first ever overnight hospital stay.

During the night a nurse awakened me to take another blood sample. In the morning the doctor whom I was supposed to see came to see me. He asked some pointed questions about whether I had a family history of cancer (I do). He said I must get someone to take me to a certain specialist in a city about two hours’ drive away. If I could not get a ride, they would send me in an ambulance. I had a bad cyst and a badly swollen kidney, and might possibly have to have my kidney out.

I guess this was potentially alarming news. Fortunately I had too much to do to waste time getting alarmed. I had to line up a ride. There was no family in town, apart from a distant relative in her mid-80s. So I called my go-to emergency help—my Sunday school teacher. Her husband agreed to take me. Thank God for church friends! While I waited for him I ate some breakfast and mentally planned what I should pack for a hospital stay that might prove open-ended.

My ride came and took me home. I had him take me by the library so I could let the staff know what was happening. At home I packed quickly and made sure the dog had food. Then I called my parents, which I had not been able to do from the hospital. I couldn’t get either of them at work, so I left a message on Dad’s phone. Then we were off.

The Vicodin was enough to help me sleep on the way to the specialist in the city. It took a couple of hours to get in to see him. Since he was busy and I was essentially a drop-in patient that wasn’t really a bad wait. He ran his expert eye over my CAT scan images and concluded that I had a bad infection, not a cyst. The infection came from some kind of blockage. He needed to treat the infection before doing anything else. So he sent me off with prescriptions for an antibiotic and a quite powerful pain reliever that he warned me would make me unable to drive or work.

As I headed back to the lobby my first thought was to call my parents and let them know what I had learned. When I walked through the lobby door I almost literally bumped into Dad and my aunt and uncle who lived in the city. I don’t know when I’ve ever been so glad to see anybody. I was also glad that Dad had talked Mom into not dropping everything. She really needed to stay at the college and finish grading those finals.

We sat and talked in the lobby for a bit. I learned from the aunt and uncle that their youngest daughter—who, like me, suffered an unlooked-for divorce this year—had also had a kidney stone this year. I guess we’ve both had a bad year. We thanked the church friend who had brought me. Dad said he was taking over.

Dad drove me back to my town. I filled my prescriptions and went to the library to cut some early paychecks and let them know the situation. At the house I made arrangements to keep the dog fed while I was gone. Poor Cocoa wouldn’t know where I was! I took additional clothes besides what I already had packed, and loaded the Christmas gifts that I hadn’t yet been able to wrap into Dad’s truck. His gift went into the middle of the pile to keep him from seeing it. Then we drove the couple of hours back to Mom and Dad’s house.

I’ve been there ever since and came home just today. I spent several days in a haze of pain and medication. I was lucid, but less than alert, and slept about half the time. Things were improving by Christmas. I’ve now been more or less pain-free for several days without the medicine.

Though I feel about back to normal, it’s not over yet. On Monday I go back to the specialist to see what comes next. He gave me some literature to read up on. It suggested several possibilities of conditions that I might have and corrections that might be needed. We’ll see. I’m very thankful that I’ve had friends and family to help take care of me so far. I’ll get through whatever comes next.

I was wondering. Glad you are getting it taken care of and I hope for the best outcome.

I'm glad you came through it, and I will pray for your well-being as you continue to through this.

Ouch! Here's hoping 2009 is a better year for you, DL.

Best things to you DL.
Get well soon.

As the unofficial Emergency Medical Provider here at IMWAN
I will do all I can to alleviate your condition: Pray.
"Take two Our Fathers and call me in the morning".
Humor aside, you will be getting mentioned by name in my daily talks with God.
Keep us all advised, and know you are loved, sister.

i sympathise with you ! ive had them twice, and currently have a 2 cm stone in my left kidney which gives no end of trouble.unfortunately just a litle too big for lithotripsy,so like the otehr 2, i have to pass them on my own.
ill have good thoughts for you.

Hokey smokey. Hoping and praying for the best.

Wishing you good health, D.L.

Thank you. That means a lot, Tommy. And you too, Jay, and all the others. You all are nicer to me than I probably deserve.

They called from the doctor's office today and said I'll be getting a renal scan before seeing him. Don't know what that involves, but they say it doesn't require any fasting the night before or other special preparation.

Hate to hear that. The doctor has suggested that I might have been passing "dust" in my episodes instead of an actual stone, which would explain why I had the kidney pain but never felt anything moving out through the urethra. Or maybe something's been stuck in there all this time? We'll see.

I'll be sure to say a prayer for you that your stone goes soon and not too hard!

D.L., I hope things get better for you with this in the New Year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you. You are one of the nicest people here.

Oh wow. D.L. you are in my prayers, now! My mom said much like the lady you knew that had kidney stones and had delivered her babies... Kidney stones were worse. And from the people I know that have had kidney infections, they are no piece of cake either. I am so glad you had some go to people. And it is really good that your parents are that supportive.

You keep praying too. You know God is in your life.

D.L., I hope your kidneys get all better soon and that 2009 is a healthy year for you!

What makes you think you're not deserving? None here are nicer than you. Several equally nice, but none nicer.

Get well soon. Hope 2009 is better for you!

Best wishes and I hope the pain is over soon.

I hope this all goes well Daphne. Best wishes for 09.

Todd

Get better soon, Daphne. I hope you recover quickly and that the doctors can help you. God bless and take care.