24 Hour ordeal with a Kidneystone (friday/saturday)

[racermike]

7:30am - Get up, go for quick 4 mile bike ride. Another great morning, and feel great and looking forward to my day.

9am - I left for work yesterday about 9am and felt great, and was ready for a nice day. Stop off to get water and ice for cooler, and pick up iced coffee.

Actually getting to work near home for a promotional event for Charter communications with a billboard truck.

9:40am - I get to the storage unit where we keep the truck, and thats where the first sign of nausea set in. Thought maybe it might have been the bowl of Special K that was not agreeing with me, but my abdomen hurt and groin area. Also felt like just maybe I wanted to throw up but couldnt.

10am - Loaded up the truck and started heading south to Ashland, and only got halfway there before some real pain started setting in.

10:25am - stopped at a Shell station and spent 20 minutes in the bathroom, not knowing wtf was going on with me. Couldnt use bathroom as I had just used before leaving friday morning.

10:45am - Went back out to truck to try to walk off whatever was bothering me, taking some sips of cold water, and now keeling over in pain. Trying to sit against truck, lay flat on ground (was grassy area next to station so didnt look weird .. kinda camping area), and leaning into cab trying to drink more and more water. Now get physically ill and vomit several times.

11am - Call boss from gas station, and let him know something is going on and am taking truck back to Grants Pass and heading home or to hospital.

11:15am - start driving back, but in extreme discomfort and pain, literally pull off the freeway 4-5 times on the 30 mile journey back (in retrospect, I should not have driven, and called ambulance). Twice stopped to vomit again on side of freeway.

12 Noon - Yes, it took me 45 minutes to drive 22 miles on freeway, get back to storage unit, lockup and get into my truck, and head to my apartment, calling my mom to meet me there ASAP.

12:10pm - Meet mom at my place, and by now I can barely get out of truck I am in agonizing pain, she helps me over to her Jeep and head for hospital.

12:20pm - Go to ER, and they get me checked in and triaged right away, getting first shot of morphine when I had not even been there for 5 minutes. The amount of pain at this point was something I could not even describe, I can handle quite a bit of pain, but I was almost in tears crying and moaning with the pain with this.

12:45pm - Am now in drunken stupor over pain meds, but cant feel anything except for abdomen being tender. Go into CT scan..

1:00pm - Doc comes in, and goes over what they find. Very small kidney stone that is very close to passing. That is good news as he said what I experienced was actually minimal compared to others. Said is would be 24-36 hours before it passes.

1:45pm - get Last shot of morphine and anti-inflammatory injections

2:15pm - Check out and head for home. Get prescription for Percocet, Motrin, and Zoflan.

3:00pm - At home, but body still rejecting everything, and get sick again.

4:00pm - Mom stops by after getting prescriptions for me, but am afraid to take any of them at this point because I cant keep anything down yet.

5:00pm - Take meds, as pain is coming back

fast forward to 9am this morning, with a lot of sleep as drugs knock me out.

9:00am today - Finally pass the stones, and a huge sense of relief. My system is still very sore and will stay on pain med, anti-inflammatory, and motrin for next 24 hours.

3:00pm today - Feel much better, but groggy at best. Now I feel more sick then anything, but probably just exhausted from the 24 hours of trauma I went through.

By far, this was most painful thing i have ever experienced, and didnt even know there was pain like that. When I broke my wrist 2 years ago, it was pretty painful, but not even in same ballpark as this.

[trish]

I'm glad it wasn't anything worse and that you're feeling better. I hope I never get one (or more) of those.

[Methanolandbrats]

I drove a friend to the hospital during one of those. He was screaming and thrashing around and tore the door handle off his Honda. :eek:

[Dvdb]

Had my episode a couple of years ago. Began with back pain and knew I had a problem when a friend asked why I was ashen.

Made it home to the couch, where I writhed in pain for an hour. Tried to pee several times with no success.

At one stage I'm laying on the floor in complete agony, trying to get enough breath to make a phone call.

Ended up laying on my side, trying some bio-feedback and felt that @#$%*& move. Ten minutes later felt like a million bucks.

Finally passed it six months later and it was much larger than I would have thought.

I really wouldn't wish the experience on anyone.

[nissan gtp]

I'm hoping lots of beer will keep the system washed out

[Elmo T]

Welcome to the club!

Been there, done that. Several times. :yuck: The first one is the worst, mentally at least. You think you are dying. Really. Glad you are feeling better.

I was in last month for a 7mm stone. They gave me a few weeks to pass the stone. No luck. I ended back up in the ER and the doc said surgery would be needed for this one. Surgery was easy, they knock you out and I was already packed full of pain meds. What they didn't exactly explain was the installation of a stent after the surgery (while I was still out). The stent runs between bladder and the kidney.

Turns out the stent is to be removed DURING AN OFFICE VISIT. :saywhat:

Two weeks later comes the office visit. I'll spare the details, lets just say that same as the surgery, there are no scars. Going in, I told the doc I was glad it was a short trip for him to get it out (rim shot please). Well, when the doc says "that is where it was supposed to be" while looking at the video monitor - I knew I was in trouble. He is forced to "retreat". Time to schedule another surgery.

Back in hospital Thursday for stent removal. Wife dropped me off at 0630, took me down to surgery at 8, lights out 0805, back home on the couch at 10AM.

Feeling great now. :thumbup:

Stent removal in the office? :thumdown:

[Mr. Vengeance]

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/1040/thunderstruck.jpg (http://img193.imageshack.us/i/thunderstruck.jpg/)

[dando]

My father had one when I was ~12. I thought I was going to have to drive him to the hospital he was in so much pain. :eek:

-Kevin

[cameraman]

Been there, done that several times. After the first time you know exactly what is happening the instant another one starts. At the very beginning of the last one I headed straight for the ER, I walk up to the triage nurse and said kidney stone, she looks at me and says yup. About ten minutes after walking in the door I am hooked up to the morphine drip...

[Elmo T]

B I walk up to the triage nurse and said kidney stone, she looks at me and says yup. About ten minutes after walking in the door I am hooked up to the morphine drip...

The triage area was packed. I checked in, telling them kidney stone. I continued to pace around the waiting area trying to get comfortable.

A few minutes later, another nurse came up to me in the crowded room, addressed me by name, and took me back. When I asked how she knew me, she said she looked at the chart with kidney stone - one look across the crowded room and she said "it is obvious who is having the kidney stone attack". ;)

[Gnam]

Mystrey abdominal pain is never good.
Glad you feel better. :thumbup:

[ChampcarShark]

Glad you are feeling better,

My son had a stone pass by a couple months back. We almost had to carry him to take him to the ER, he's 23.

He was very upset, after we got the bill. over 6,000 just to go pee at the ER.

He passed the stone there, they only gave him a pill for the pain. He passed the stone waiting to be taken to the ct scan. After wards they let him go.

[trish]

Glad you are feeling better,

My son had a stone pass by a couple months back. We almost had to carry him to take him to the ER, he's 23.

He was very upset, after we got the bill. over 6,000 just to go pee at the ER.

He passed the stone there, they only gave him a pill for the pain. He passed the stone waiting to be taken to the ct scan. After wards they let him go.

Did you get an itimized bill to see what they were charging him for?

[cameraman]

He was very upset, after we got the bill. over 6,000 just to go pee at the ER.

He passed the stone there, they only gave him a pill for the pain. He passed the stone waiting to be taken to the ct scan. After wards they let him go.

Not a surprise if he had the CT done. Didn't his insurance contract make a huge portion of that bill disappear?

[STD]

:rofl:

[racermike]

I am afraid to see what my bill is going to be, considering I let my insurance lapse last June.

I just could not afford the premiums anymore after being raised 3 years in a row, and nobody in my field of work hires permanent employees anymore, so insurance is out of the question for me.

[ChampcarShark]

Did you get an itimized bill to see what they were charging him for?

We got a couple of bills with all kinds of charges, there was a change of doctors and nurses and everyone got a piece. Even a charge to analyze the stone. Lab work, draw blood, 100.00 for a band aid, 50.00 for kleenex tissue, which we took home. Needles, IV starter kit, no IV just the kit and so on.

Unfortunately we had no insurance at the time, so we are paying 10.00 per month. That is all that we can afford.

The bills all went to collections, cause the hospital does not accept payment plans, and we are dealing with three different collections agencies.

No wonder the medical system is gone to the dogs. It is being managed by bill collectors and not the medical system.

I feel like suing the government for not having assistance to low income families with children over 19. There is medicaid for males under 19, women's health insurance for women over 19, but nothing for males.

[trish]

We got a couple of bills with all kinds of charges, there was a change of doctors and nurses and everyone got a piece. Even a charge to analyze the stone. Lab work, draw blood, 100.00 for a band aid, 50.00 for kleenex tissue, which we took home. Needles, IV starter kit, no IV just the kit and so on.

Unfortunately we had no insurance at the time, so we are paying 10.00 per month. That is all that we can afford.

The bills all went to collections, cause the hospital does not accept payment plans, and we are dealing with three different collections agencies.

No wonder the medical system is gone to the dogs. It is being managed by bill collectors and not the medical system.

I feel like suing the government for not having assistance to low income families with children over 19. There is medicaid for males under 19, women's health insurance for women over 19, but nothing for males.

The first thing my hospital did when I called about my bill was offer me a payment plan. I just assumed they all did it. If your son doesn't care about his credit and he was of age when the bill was incurred, I'd probably stop paying it just out of spite. If he's a college student, it might be a smart move to take advantage of any insurance plan they offer.

[Indy]

I am afraid to see what my bill is going to be, considering I let my insurance lapse last June.

I just could not afford the premiums anymore after being raised 3 years in a row, and nobody in my field of work hires permanent employees anymore, so insurance is out of the question for me.

Rush Limbaugh says we should be happy with what we have, so just stop your whining.

[cameraman]

We have full double coverage for the family (that would be three of us). It pretty much covers everything but prescription coverage can't be coordinated so we have to pick and choose between the plans to see which one covers any given drug the best. It covers medical, dental & vision at essentially 100%.

I pay $822.00 a year.
My employer chips in $12,345.84 a year.
Wife wife pays $4,279.08 a year.
My wife's employer pays $9166.56 a year.

Total cost for the year $26,613.48 :saywhat:

Rush Limbaugh can go pound sand.:irked:

[ChampcarShark]

Rush Limbaugh says we should be happy with what we have, so just stop your whining.


That is because he owns major insurance companies. :flame::flame::flame:

We need to stop electing insurance owners.

My son is a college student, and now he is under my insurance. I pay about 140 per month, which is great, and he will be covered till age 24.

My gallbladder surgery bill was at about 60,000.00 give or take a few pennies. I only paid about 3,000.00. (no complains here)

[nrc]

I pay $822.00 a year.
My employer chips in $12,345.84 a year.
Wife wife pays $4,279.08 a year.
My wife's employer pays $9166.56 a year.

Total cost for the year $26,613.48 :saywhat:

Rush Limbaugh can go pound sand.:irked:

Coordination of benefits is rarely worthwhile. You're basically paying double for a small increment in increased coverage. It's kind of like buying two cars when you can only drive one. It's nice that you have that choice.

I'm pretty sure mentioning Rush Limbaugh is some kind of litmus test for things becoming political.

[cameraman]

Coordination of benefits is rarely worthwhile. You're basically paying double for a small increment in increased coverage. It's kind of like buying two cars when you can only drive one. It's nice that you have that choice.

We both have several plans to choose from through our employers. Her birthday comes first in the year so her insurance is primary for my son. That choice is made by statute. Her dental is terrible and she has no vision. My plan is the lowest cost one available through my employer, even so the prescription, dental and vision coverage is far better and that more than makes up for the $822 annual out of pocket cost to me.

We looked at benefits/retirement just as much as salary when looking for jobs.

[Elmo T]

We looked at benefits/retirement just as much as salary when looking for jobs.

I've worked for local gov't in one form or another since I was 21. I have what some might call one of those "gold-plated Cadillac" health plans. The retirement plan is meh.

I've passed on jobs in the private sector because of the health benefits (or lack of). I've also missed out on a great deal of $$$$ and other perks by not making the jump. Cashing out seems great until someone gets sick.

Reading the tales here makes me cringe. This whole health care thing isn't about gold plans, death panels, or illegal immigrants. It is about being made well without having to remortgage the house.

[Gnam]

[blank] is rarely worthwhile...It's kind of like buying two cars when you can only drive one.
You say that like it's a bad thing. :)




There's a huge sign outside a local Post Office:
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE &
TO SERVE YOU BETTER,
our new hours are 10am-4pm.


Their hours used to be 7am-6pm. :gomer:

[cameraman]

I've passed on jobs in the private sector because of the it isn't what I want to do for a living, same for my wife. We have good jobs that we actually enjoy doing with good benefits that pay at about 40% (for my wife) and 60% (for me) of what we got paid in the private sector.

That is one reason why Universities and the Courts have good benefits, to make up for the pay scale. Although the pay and retirement for my wife was significantly better in the private sector too. Only problem with her job was being a corporate attorney:yuck:

Oh yeah and anyone who says that government jobs are for life is a fool. You either find funding for your research for some/anywhere or you are gone. There is no stability beyond the grants you have in hand.

[oddlycalm]

I am afraid to see what my bill is going to be, considering I let my insurance lapse last June.

I just could not afford the premiums anymore after being raised 3 years in a row, and nobody in my field of work hires permanent employees anymore, so insurance is out of the question for me.

Sorry to hear about both the physical and financial pain Mike. :(

oc

[Brickman]

I am afraid to see what my bill is going to be, considering I let my insurance lapse last June.

I just could not afford the premiums anymore after being raised 3 years in a row, and nobody in my field of work hires permanent employees anymore, so insurance is out of the question for me.

Well I hope the bill is less painful than the stone.

Hope you are filling better.

[cameraman]

Well I hope the bill is less painful than the stone.

Hope you are filling better.

Shouldn't that be emptying better?

[ChampcarShark]

There's a huge sign outside a local Post Office:
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE &
TO SERVE YOU BETTER,
our new hours are 10am-4pm.


Their hours used to be 7am-6pm. :gomer:

At least is not closed like many post offices around the country. Count your blessings.

Nevertheless, they need to change the sign to read... for our convenience & to not serve you better...

We got an announcement in the news that they were going to close two recently opened offices locally. After a week or so they decided to keep them open.

[Brickman]

Shouldn't that be emptying better?

:rofl: