Kidney Stones, Again!! And a shout out to Peter, my kidney stoned bro

Well...this week, I got kidney stones. Yep, again. This time wasn't nearly as bad as it was last October, in which I had to go to the ER multiple times and then I finally had surgery when it was really bad and my ureters had already been severely damaged. I had to stay in the hospital for a while and was laid up for a couple of weeks. This time, it was much, much better.

On Tuesday, my left side hurt a little bit. I thought that it might be back pain, or kidney stones, or even appendicitis because it kind of hurt over into my epigastric area. I took a pain pill and took it pretty easy that day. I felt okay that night and the next morning, so I went to work. I was actually feeling pretty good until 8:00. It started to hurt again. I thought that maybe it would be like the day before I would just have to deal with it. By 9:00, it had gotten awful and I was diaphoretic and nauseated. I told my charge nurse and said that I needed to go to the ER. But I had to wait until my replacement got there. It was about 11:00 by the time I my replacement had gotten there and I gave report and got down to the ER. I didn't get back into the actual ER until 12:00. By this time I was in so much pain that I was on the verge of tears. However, I work with a lot of people there and I didn't want to be seen crying in front of them.

Well, the nurse that I had was really overwhelmed and busy and so I kind of went over his head on some things. The ER doctor hadn't even seen me and they hadn't given me any narcotics for pain and it had been another hour. I was frustrated, so I called my urologist from before directly. I called the office first and it had a number to reach him. The funny thing is that I called that number and it was to his cell phone. I was a little embarrassed about that, but I explained who I was and what the situation was. He was really nice. I really like him and his whole group that he works with. They are really chill about me calling them and stuff. He said that he was actually heading down to IMC hospital (where I was at) and would be there in an hour. He had me write down some tests and drugs for me to take. I got off the phone with him and the ER doctor came in. I told her what the doctor had wanted done and that he was coming straight to the ER in the next hour. She was like, "Oh. You just did my whole job for me, didn't you?" I was kind of embarrassed, but I told her that they all seemed busy and I thought that this would help everyone out. I wanted to ask her if that meant that I didn't have to pay her, but she didn't seem like she would laugh, so I didn't. So she put in the orders and I finally got some pain medicine and my CT scan. I actually got onto the computer and looked at the CT scan before anyone else had. The nurse walked in as we were looking at it and freaked out. I apologized. He finally figured out who I was and where I worked. I think that he felt a little silly that he hadn't put it together yet. I explained that I knew I wasn't supposed to look at the computer when I wasn't an employee, but I also said that if I got into trouble that I have the right to my own information and the doctor would come in and show me soon anyways. He warned me that I might get flagged, but I didn't care and apologized for freaking him out again.

The urologist showed up and we looked at the scan together and talked about options. Spencer was there with me, he left work to come be with me through it. The stone was 6-7 mm, which I would not likely be able to pass. The doctor had to go to surgery for another patient and said that he might be able to squeeze us in afterwords. He left so that Spencer and I could talk about it. We decided to just do the surgery because it would probably need to be done anyways. I knew the number to the OR, so I just called up there and asked for Dr. Waterman. They asked if I was a nurse, and I said yes, because I am one. So they transferred me to him. I said that we wanted to do the surgery so he said to get the nurse to get the paper work and get me up there in the next half of an hour. So I called the nurse and told him what was up. I think it tripped him out that I was doing all of his work for him. So we got all ready and got up there fast. He must have told the OR nurses when he was getting report about how I was a nurse in shock trauma ICU and he probably told him how crazy I was and a difficult patient because I just kind of took over my own care, because the nurses knew that I was a nurse when I got up there. I think that the nurse was a little upset about it all, but maybe deep down a little relieved. I wasn't mean to him or anything. I just laughed because he kept telling me things in lay person terms: "Now this is a pain medicine called dilaudid. It should help with your pain." I just laughed under my breath at all this and acted like I was stupid, "Oh, okay..." It was funny to me. Especially when he tried to act like Tordol was going to help my excruciating kidney stone pain. I wanted to call his bluff on that one, but I didn't because I use the same trick.

Anyways, the OR nurses knew that I was a big "shock trauma nurse." This is a big deal to people in the health care in Utah. We have a name that precedes us everywhere we go, but we are usually called "shock trauma bitch" behind our backs. It is a sad truth. I had no idea about this reputation when I came up there to work because I was from out of state. But I have been put in my place and learned it well since then.

Recently, one of our nurses was transferring a patient to another floor. There were some misunderstandings and miscommunications and the nurse up on that floor was being really rude and our nurse needed to leave but the floor nurse wouldn't go look at the patient. Well, after waiting a half of an hour, our nurse told the floor nurse to go see the patient because she needed to leave. They had a little bit of a confrontation and the floor nurse actually called her "shock trauma whore!" The nurse was like "I can hear you." It got written up and spread through our unit like wildfire. Yeah, that floor nurse has no hope for ever, ever working on our unit. She might as well leave the state. We really can be bitches, even me. Although, I really try not to be.

Anyways, so I went in for surgery and the funniest part of all...the anesthesiologist that came out to talk to me was one that I had written up for making a mistake. He had at one point after the incident e-mailed me to personally apologize. He didn't even recognize me. Or at least, if he did recognize me, he hid it really, really well. I just started laughing again, but didn't say anything. After all, my life was about to be in his hands. And it would be better if he didn't remember. He had the ability to make me really, really nauseous afterwords. The whole thing was really awkward...having to be a patient where I worked. It reiterated to me how much I dread getting in a trauma. I couldn't cope with have my close co-workers working on me. I knew one of the OR nurses but not the other one. They were really nice to my face, but who knows when I was under anesthesia....

The doctor told Spencer that it was a really good thing that we decided to do the surgery. He said that the stone was stuck where my ureter got a lot smaller. He said that there was no way that it would have passed on its own. He also said that doing it so quickly would minimize the swelling and damage done. I found this out later, and I was really glad that we had gone for it while we could.

I came to...eventually. I was pretty out of it at first. I hate that time when I am awake but it is hard to stay coherent. I was put in same day surgery for a few hours. I had a really sweet nurse taking care of me. She was really funny and Spencer liked her a lot. I guess her daughter works in thoracic ICU. I didn't recognize the name, and she thought that I would, but I didn't. I felt pretty good, so we went home. We stopped at Costco on the way and got me a hot dog. I have been craving them for like a month now.

Today, I haven't needed to use the oral narcotics once. It only hurts when I have to pee. So I pee a lot. I have a stent in on the left side, and I can get it out on Monday. When I have to pee, I think that the stent makes my ureter spasm and it hurts like there is no tomorrow...but after that it settles down. I am going to try to go to work tomorrow. I told them that as long as I could pee every 30-60 minutes that I would be alright and to keep someone on call just in case I can't handle it. They said that it would be fine. We'll see how it goes. But so far, this was so much better than the last kidney stone experience.

They think that my stones are probably caused by uric acid (possibly a problem caused by my chemo treatments). So they will hopefully put me on a medicine call Allopurinol, which is supposed to help break uric acid down.

In fact, I read an article that shows how humans are not from monkeys because monkeys can break down uric acid better than humans and therefore don't get kidney stones. It goes on to use it as an example of how we were created by God and not completely by evolution. It was meant to replace your faith in God, but I'm not sure how I feel about the idea that God gave us kidney stones on purpose. Maybe it is a way to humble people. I tell you what...that pain is truly humbling. And it definitely pulls you down on your knees. I don't know. I just found that article interesting.

I will let you know how the rest of the kidney stone thing goes. I sure hope that this is my last. I have been humbled enough. There is one more small one hanging out in my kidney, I just hope that it comes out small and that we don't have to pay for this again. I am so done!

I also want to shout out to my brother-in-law, Pete. He just did this last week. He still has his stent in. So we are bonding through our pain. Pete, I literally feel for you at this very moment. I hope that we both can never have these again. Nat and Mom, I know that you can feel for us, too (they have had them before). So Pete, hand in there. You'll get the stent out soon, and it will get better. I hope that they put you on that medicine, too. Spencer's boss, Mick, used to get kidney stones and since he has taken this medicine, he has had one again. Anyways, I've been thinking about you. And thanks for your shout out to me on your blog. I appreciate it.


Here is a joke about kidney stones. If you have never had one, this is seriously how it feels. I describe it as a knife being dragged through your side up-and-down, over-and-over. It is horrific pain.




Kidney stone crystals, coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). Kidney stones are usually formed by the precipitation of the mineral salt calcium oxalate from the urine. The resulting hard, round stones (calculi) may cause severe pain, especially as they pass down the urinary tract. Large stones may need to be surgically removed or broken down using ultrasound therapy

Yeah, an up-close kidney stone. It tears and caused pain, but the real pain is when it blocks your urine from coming down to your bladder. It backs up in your kidney and causes swelling in your kidney and ureter from all of the pressure and the acidity just sitting there. It is just horrible.






And here are some stones.
The one on the right is about my size, 6-7 mm. The one on the left is about 4 mm.





Here is a poem I found:



A kidney stone
A thing so small
Is hardly worth a mention
Unless your trying to pass the things
They quickly get your attention
There is a cure
I promise you
That this is not a joke
Puree a bunch of asparagus
And chase with a liter of coke


Some "cures" if you ever have to pass them because they are too small for surgery:
Beer
Asparagus
Apple cider vinegar – (1 T. daily for two weeks to help digest stones)