Living with Kidney Stones

It began with a pain in my left lower back last Saturday evening. I thought maybe it was the wooden chair I was sitting in at a small festival. By Sunday, I thought I had a UTI, except that I always voided. I have only had one UTI in my life and I don’t remember having back pain with it. I started drinking cranberry juice and water, all day, taking ibuprofen, and using a heating pad, alternating laying on my side, stomach and back. I called my gyn on Monday morning and went in for a urinalysis. The doc wasn’t in but her nurse was; I had blood and lupocytes (sic?) in my urine and my doc’s partner put me on Cipro. My pain continued. Later that night, I woke up to pee and has excrutiating pain. I called the gyn’s office again on Tuesday morning, crying, and they told me to go to the ER after asking me if it felt similar to labor pains. I woke my husband up and told him I needed to go to the hospital and away we went.

They took me to the back right away, thank God, and got my urine and blood from me, and put me in a room. The doctor finally arrived, questioned me, and then a nurse came in and gave me intravenous painkiller (Torinal) and immediately, my pain was gone. Then, they gave me a CT scan which showed that I had a 2mm stone. I was discharged with orders to see a certain urologist a strainer and a prescription for 12 percocet. As the week went on, I realized that I was running out of painkiller and hadn’t yet passed my stone. My appoint with the new doctor wasn’t until 9/3. So, I called the urologist’s office and got in yesterday.

I saw a doc other than the one I had been referred to and left with a prescription for more painkiller with instructions not to take it unless I had pain. I wish he had talked to me a little more. But at least I got my pills. I never want to be unprepared for that kind of pain ever again. But I asked if there was anything I should or shouldn’t eat and he told me no, just to drink lots of water. He also started out at one point asking me, “How many kidneys do you have?” “Two” “OK, so, when one is blocked, the other one is the one producing the urine.” Why did he talk like that? I’d have rather heard some other help hints. Jeeze.

I am scheduled to go back to him on 9/10. I tried to get an appointment with the original doc but they told me that they like you to stick with the first one you saw. That kind of freaks me out because I wonder if the one I was going to see would have talked more to me. The one I saw wasn’t mean but I don’t know…and after looking them up online, the other one also specializes in female incontinance — not that I am incontinant but the other one doesn’t have the female specialty.

Now, today, I passed some stuff into the mesh that looked like a little grainy drop off somekind. I looked at it under a magnifying class and two pieces of it looked sort of amber and white. I mean, they are teeny tiny but I saved them anyway. I just hope they are part of the stone and not some toilet tissue. I’ll feel like an idiot if they are.

I guess I’m just sort of confused right now and if anyone has anything to offer, please let me know. Thanks.