Some minor surgery tomorrow

[Blackfeet]

I have been there and know this pain of which you speak. Nine of them so far, some from both kidneys.

[William]

I have been there and know this pain of which you speak. Nine of them so far, some from both kidneys.

Nine?!?    You have my utmost sympathy my friend, 4 have been more than enough for me over the course of 12 years.

[twobears]

keep your head up=look at all the shooten ya can do when its all over easier said than done but keep the faith an we will keep the prayers headed your way=good luck me freind

[beowulf]

yup ! just take it easy and do what the the dr.s tell you to do ! and you`ll be back at it in no time !   had kidney stones they do hurt something fierce , but that just makes it seem so much better when the hurting stops !

[Blackfeet]

I actually got a sort of perverse pleasure, after I learned what was going on , in riding the waves of pain and knowing that they could be defeated in true Zen fashion, in that they would pass, and they will pass, both the pain and the stones. This was of couse before I learned that the last one was 8mm

[William]

I actually got a sort of perverse pleasure, after I learned what was going on , in riding the waves of pain and knowing that they could be defeated in true Zen fashion, in that they would pass, and they will pass, both the pain and the stones. This was of course before I learned that the last one was 8mm

Yea, you let me know how that Harry-creeshna/Zen stuff works out for you.  
Menawhile I'm going to rely on getting pain relief through modern chemicals   the next time I have an attack, and I'm darn sure not going to wait until I throw up all my pain pills before going into the ER either!  

[William]

Just to update everyone, my doctor decided to leave the stint in place until this coming Monday as I have not yet passed the stone debris.  I am fairly certain that he is going to have to do another surgical procedure to physically remove whatever remains.  Things could be worse, I realize that and there have been many times in the past that I've been far closer to checking out than now, but I am very frustrated nonetheless. 

Thanks again for all the prayers and well wishes, I hope I can return the favor someday.

[Hawken50]

I hope everthing goes ok William.

[Dogshirt]

Three little words, LOTS OF BEER! I drink 3 pints a day, except when I have 4. Never had a stone, don't expect to have one.
For those that cannot do beer for whatever reason, still the same logic, LOTS of a liquid you CAN have! Keep those kidneys flushed!

[William]

Yep, they are going to have to use a laser to vaporize the remaining stones sometime within the next week so until then I have to be uncomfortable with the stint still in place.  The largest stone measured 7 mm and he said that if he had removed it that I would be in the ER within and hour.  The last two lithotripsy procedures have only managed to break up one stone and move the other an entire 3 inches to just outside my kidney.  I should demand that I get a freebie for this next one!  That's only fair, right?

[Blackfeet]

  (susp)Wow, I passed all 9 (so far) of mine That doesn't sound too fun. A couple of LARGE ones took two months and got caught several times but I found a quick way to relief, or the ER, depending upon how it went. I got rid of 4 of them in two days. I was lucky. Hang in there William

[William]

Thanks Blackfeet, I trying my best not to go stir-crazy with boredom.  I keep getting on the internet and thinking that I should spend money on more rondy or trekking gear but fortunately the stones start to hurt and I have to take a pain pill, which makes me fall asleep and I don't order anything, so maybe that's a good thing?  yep, it is crazy.  At least we finally have some cold weather and I get to keep warm in the capote that Bulldog Lady made for me a while back.  It reminds me that I have so many friends that are helping me through tough times and for that I am grateful, despite the pain.

[Blackfeet]

Glad to be of some comfort, you have my e-mail, feel free to contact me anytime.

[William]

Glad to be of some comfort, you have my e-mail, feel free to contact me anytime.

Will do my friend.  Just got a call and the surgery is scheduled for Monday afternoon so hopefully this will be it as far as kidney stones go, but I'm going to now have yearly x-rays to make sure that if they return they won't grow so big before I can get treatment.

[William]

This is turning into a soap opera, and I want to first say that I sincerely appreciate all the prayers and well wishes I have received during all this.
The laser surgery was supposed to take an hour, and it ended up taking 2 hours with the surgeon stating that the stones were "more challenging than first anticipated".  When I left the surgical center it was already dark and I reported for pre-op at 1pm as directed.  Waking up from the general anesthetic I began to have a reaction and started shaking uncontrollably and they quick administered Demerol and morphine into my IV.  While it stopped the shakes it felt like my arm and half my chest had caught fire; it was terrible and I have no idea how long that lasted.  Probably only a few seconds but it was the most pain I've felt since blowing out a disc in my back 17 years ago.  I slept off and on in the recliner that night at my parents house and came home yesterday, still feeling half beaten up.  They had to install another stint so that the stone debris can pass and I will go in for another x-ray Friday morning to see if any of this has worked.  If so then the doctor will remove it, if not then I'm in for a fourth procedure and this time they will cut me open.  Ironically, back in October when all this started I was pain free and thought that one lithotripsy treatment (sound waves) would do it.  Apparently the X-ray was looking at the two stones from the side and they where 3-4 times longer than they were in diameter, so that's why all this mess clogged up my pipes and has put me on pain meds for going on 5 weeks now.  Ironically this is not the worst medical problem I've had in my life, so I can tell you with a straight face that while I've been better, I've been 10 times worse.  I was also hoping to use the Christmas Holiday as my sick leave since I work as a substitute teacher (trying to get a fulltime position BTW) but now I have had to take another week off to recover and I don't get paid for not working.  This month will be tough as not only are property taxes due but so is my home owners dues, two expenses that don't normally occur in the same month.  Looking on the bright side of things, we had over three inches of rain in the last two days, lessening the drought we've been in and the first test of the new roof that was put on my building last month.  No leaks anywhere so no more damage to the interior of the condos or anywhere else in our 20 unit/3 building complex.  I had to sell my SUV back in November in order to pay for the special assessment levied on all home owners here to pay for the new roof and other necessary repairs but fortunately my mother agreed to sell me her unused Nissan Altima.  Now for the kick in the teeth- remember that "affordable health care act" that went into effect January 1?  Well, it DOUBLED my co-payments and added $15 to any ER trips.  No telling what it's done to any lab work or X-ray co-payments but my insurance company didn't even notify me me of any of the increases when they sent me my new card.  The only thing that didn't go up was my premium.  I chose a more expensive PPO over an HMO because none of my specialists were on the list of HMO doctors.  Now, here's my request that you keep up the prayers and well wishes for not only myself but for several other members of TMotC who, believe it or not, are worse off than I am.  I am not in any danger of losing of home, defaulting on my mortgage or declaring bankruptcy, just some pain and a very tight budget this month and probably the next.  There are some folks here that aren't fairing as well as I am but they will remain anonymous, I just want to put that out there and say that believe it or not I have been blessed with love and support from my family and friends and I consider each and every one of you to be my friends.  No matter where you are in life, count your blessing and you will see how rich you really are.  That's all, that's the update, I'm turning in for the night.  I hope you are warm, dry and happy whereever you are.