Tales of a Kidney Stone (Part 3)
This is the third of several posts concerning my kidney stone adventures. You should read parts one and two first.
The next 17 hours or so were spent in complete agony. Those who have had kidney stones probably know what I am talking about. If what I am told is correct, those of you who are mothers also know what I am talking about, except at the end of your pain was a cute bundle of joy. I had a trashcan that smelled like vomit. I would totally make the t-shirt “I spent 17 hours in labor and all I got was a pee filter and a vomity trashcan.”, but I doubt it would sell well. The most succinct way I can describe the pain is that of being kneed in the groin and then stabbed in the gut with a screwdriver. None of the pill type medicine I was given ever did any good. Nothing I could do actually eased the pain at all. I tried taking a hot bath, I tried walking around, I tried lying down, I tried laying in the fetal position and stretched out. At best, I would distract myself for 2 or 3 minutes.
I would try to sleep without much success, but even then I would impulsively get out of bed feeling like I needed to go do something or go somewhere only to realize there was no where to go and nothing to be done and go back to bed. Add on top of this the fact that the location of the pain causes reflex vomiting. My stomach didn’t bother me at all, but randomly from time to time, with about 10 seconds notice, my stomach would empty itself, regardless of whether or not there was anything to empty. Since the whole thing started just before lunch, it meant that I spent the whole time starving and dehydrated, and completely without sleep. When the pain finally died down around 5AM, I was completely beat. Though she couldn’t actually do much for me, Amy came through again here. After work, she came down to help in any way she could. She tried making dinner, though I wasn’t able to eat much of it, and she was ready to take me to the hospital if I ever really needed it. She spent the entire night on my couch which she hates, painfully aware of every time I stumbled around the apartment or vomited.
This concludes part 3, stay tuned for more.