A night in the ER...

Thursday night, during the first part of Mack's class (when he was giving his motivational talk), I started getting a very intense pain on my left side.  It felt sort of like a very severe and sharp cramp and there was nothing I could do to feel better.  Mack eventually noticed that there was something wrong with me and he pulled me out of class and made me go get a drink of water and lay down on the floor of the women's locker room.  (It's air conditioned in there and the floor is nice and cool.)  This very nice lady, Alex, came with me to make sure that I was alright.  Apparently I looked pretty bad because everyone seemed pretty alarmed when they turned around and looked at me.  I suddenly felt very nauseas and ran to the bathroom -- where I just dry heaved.  (This is turning out to be an awesome class by the way.)  Alex left me alone in the bathroom and I tried not to vomit/dry-heave again.  I ran back into the bathroom and, wouldn't you know it, that's when Mack came in and called for me.  He talked to me about the pain and he got some ice for me from his restaurant and I put in on my side.  I had no idea what's wrong with me.  [In my mind, I already think I have cancer though....]  I've never felt pain like this before.  It sort of takes your breath away and there is no relief.  Mack had me sit in a chair and put the ice on my side and I slowly started to feel better.  After a while, I put the ice aside and went back to class.  One of my friends had been taking notes for me on Mack's lecture (such a sweetheart) and I rejoined the class and actually worked out with the rest of the class during the physical (torture) part.  After class, everyone was asking me what the problem was and I told them that I must just have had a cramp.  I felt really stupid though because I REALLY overreacted if what I had was just a cramp.  I've definitely had my share of charley horses and this was nothing like that at all.

I went home and ate dinner and, unfortunately, the pain started up again.  I put a bag of frozen peas on it but the pain wouldn't go away.  I tried all different kinds of positions but the pain just got worse and worse.  I started feeling like I had to urinate but I couldn't get very much out.  [Too much information...sorry.]  As much as I hate ERs and the interminable waiting times (due in large part to the amount of uninsured and illegal people waiting there), at 1 am I could stand it no longer and got out of bed, put on a bra and some jeans and drove to the nearest hospital I could remember.  It turned out to be this weird hospital called Banner Good Samaritan.  Well...the name sounds good.  I went in and the triage nurse got me first.  She took my blood pressure (which was 145 over 120...pretty bad) and asked me a lot of questions about the pain.  She then asked me to give a urine specimen.  Now...the instructions on this box for the urine specimen were EXTREMELY complicated and they, honestly, required a team of people.  I had to wipe myself with 3 different wipes and remove tops and place lids near certain protective layers...yeesh.  All at 1 in the mornng!  Anyway, after making it through that harrowing ordeal, I had to find a place in the waiting room that didn't look like it was going to give me some other ailment.  I settled for a plastic chair (I didn't want to think about what was soaked into the fabric chairs).  There were 3 tvs on the walls which all were showing an infomercial on nutrasystem.  Really...is that what people in a waiting room want to see?  Several people were actually watching it though...so you never know.  There was one lady with a baby who had a fever or something (she was beside me at the triage station -- even though she only spoke Spanish, I got the gist).  A woman sat near me and proceeded to have a conversation on her cell phone.  Come on.  I don't want to hear your stupid conversation.  She also didn't seem like she was sick...get out of here and stop slowing up the line.  There was a woman in a hospital gown holding onto a rolley thing with an IV attached.  Aren't people like her supposed to be done with the waiting room and on to the hospital part?  This place is extremely depressing.  I tried to read some of the Economist I had in my purse but it's hard to read when you're in pain.  The longer I stay here, the more likely I am to catch the plague or something...

After about 45 minutes, a young intern-looking fellow called my name and I was taken back through different corridors named after colors (i.e., purple, green and blue) and put in a room.  He told me to put on the hospital gown.  I put it on but kept my jeans on.  (No need to expose my butt for no good reason -- as if there's a good reason -- actually, there COULD be...).  This "doctor" came in with a clipboard to ask me questions.  I put quotations around doctor because this guy looked like a fat slob.  He also had a cast on his left arm.  He asked me a bunch of questions about the pain and I seemed to answer every one of them wrong.  Do you ever get that feeling with a doctor?  Where you never seem to answer the questions right?  I don't think I told him that the pain was in the right location and my explanation about first feeling the pain at Mack's class definitely threw him.  This guy is going/went to medical school?  Our health care system is in VERY BIG TROUBLE (for a variety of reasons).  Anyway, after the failed interrogation, this dude examined me and I watched as he tried to put a latex glove over his hand that was in the cast.  Very entertaining.  He poked my stomach a few times.  I don't think he had any idea what he was doing.  Afterwards, he left and I heard him talk to the "attending" about my case.  Do these doctors think we can't hear beyond the curtains or something?  I was glad that a real doctor was going to see me.  When the attending came in, I was relieved.  He was a smart looking, very handsome Indian fellow who was all business.  He asked me the same questions (I didn't seem to answer them wrong this time) and he told me that he thought I had a kidney stone.  Wha?!?  Blood was found in my urine specimen and I was going to get a CT scan to confirm his diagnosis.  He asked me whether I wanted something for the pain....OF COURSE!  I don't know if you got that from this post so far but...it hurts...A LOT!!  Like someone threw a javelin and I caught it with my left kidney.  I'm sure there are more painful things in this world...but I can't think of any right now.  Also, I don't feel like an idiot any more for being in such pain in Mack's class.

This nurse guy came in and he was extremely chatty.  He told me all about getting certified as a nurse in Arizona (he came from Florida).  I don't really remember asking him about that though...  He put an IV in the top of my right hand (very expertly, I might add) and took some blood and put some anti-nausea medicine and something to relax my kidneys (I don't know exactly what).  Anyway, after a while it made me feel better.  I got wheeled to the CT machine (which looked like it had been through a few war zones).  It's weird to be wheeled around a hospital on a gurney.  You feel sort of nervous as corners approach because my feet were hanging over the edge.  I didn't want the guy to think I didn't have faith in his driving abilities but I was a little concerned about knocking my feet.  Anyway, I made it there and I got put on this machine.  I had to put my arms over my head and hold my breath as the machine scanned my body.  The first two scans were relatively short but the 3d scan was very long.  I couldn't hold my breath that long -- especially without warning.  Thanks for the "heads up" dude.  Anyway, I got wheeled back (and my feet survived).  The chatty nurse guy came back and gave me a blanket and turned the lights down so I could get some "rest."  Yep.  I actually started to feel a little comfortable (for the first time since before Mack's class).  Then, the real doctor came back and told me that the CT scan had confirmed that I have a kidney stone and it's only one stone that's about 3 mm.  He told me that was pretty small and that it should pass on its own but that I should drink a lot of water and put lemon juice in the water to help break down the stone.  OK.  When do I get out of here.  He left and a different nurse came in and told me that there were still waiting for the lab results of my urine specimen -- didn't they already find blood in it?  They did a quick test with a strip or something but sent it to the lab to make sure there wasn't something else wrong.  I had to wait for that.  Alright.  20 minutes later I got the OK on that test too and I was discharged with prescriptions for Vicodin, Ibuprofin and something to fight nausea.  Of course, it was almost 4 in the morning and I had no idea where any 24 hours pharmacies were located.  So...I just went home and slept.

I had to get up the next morning because I had promised to cover a Behavior Health Examiners Board meeting.  The meeting was pretty tedious and it lasted until almost 11 am.  Then I called work and told them about my kidney stone and that I was going to go get my prescriptions filled and go home. 

That was the official start of my Vicodin-dream weekend.  I wasn't sure that the vicodin would help with the pain but it did.  Of course, I'm such a light weight in that department that it put me to sleep right away.  I basically work up every 6-8 hours, drank water and lemon juice and took more pills.  I'm pretty sure I watched some TV in there but I can't remember what it was.  I had to pee through a strainer to try and catch the stone.  That led to several comic episodes where I missed the strainer and hit my hand...no end to the high jinx when you're on drugs and peeing through a strainer (just like they always say...).  Friday...no stone.  Saturday...no stone.  Late Sunday evening...STONE!  Actually it came out in 2 pieces and it was a dark brown or black color.  The first piece didn't make it in the strainer but the second piece has been preserved.  I don't know why but I thought it would be whiteish.  I guess it's actually "crud" so I shouldn't be surprised that it was a dark color...and of course, there was blood involved so it sort of makes sense.

Oh, by the way, during a drug lull, I went by Mack's restaurant to pick up some food and he was there.  I told him about the stone and he told me that it was because of all the soda I drank before I came to him.  He really is a ray of sunshine.  Thanks for the encouragement.

Well, now I'm still at home because the pain actually hasn't gone away.  I'm not on vicodin anymore but I feel like I've been in a kung fu fight and lost pretty badly (and the guy kicked me in the left kidney repeatedly).  I didn't have anything scheduled at work today so I took another sick day.  I still feel twinges of pain in my kidney but that's to be expected, I guess, after the trauma my little organ went through.  I hope that's to be expected...

I think I'm going to do something crazy now...like take a shower.

Comments

[thecook]

hope you are feeling better! that totally sucks. the blog is great~ keep it up!