I've had five kidney stones before this one. The first one (in 1995) was the worst because I had no idea what was going on. I was hurting and scared and thought it might be appendicitis because the pain was in my lower right side.
After a trip to the local emergency room, appointments with two doctors, several prescriptions, one test involving a day of preparation and several hours of having dye put in my veins and x-rays taken, I was told it was a kidney stone.
I was working at my first newspaper job and still living in my hometown at that point, so my Mama took me to the ER. It was at the hospital where I used to be a phlebotomist. Mama gave me all kinds of grief after I was feeling better because she said, "As soon as that triage nurse saw your face, everybody just started rushing to get you taken care of. There could've been people way worse off in the waiting room, but no, they had to take care of little Kimmy." Of course, on the actual day, she was as worried as I was, and she was glad they took me back as fast as they did.
I needed medical intervention for the second one, too. I was living in a different state by myself, so that one was harder emotionally than the first one. The next three didn't hurt any less, but because I knew what they were, I was able to get through them on my own.
The longest it's taken for any of them to go away is two weeks, so when this latest one went past that point, I knew I better get some help. I found a great urology group here in town (well, except for the incompetent office person I had to deal with when trying to make the initial appointment).
The doctor was very personable, and he seemed impressed that I could tell him the dates of the stones I've had, what the stones are made of and how long it took them to go away. And when I told him about the tests I had done, he said those tests are now outdated, and they use CT scans instead.
I'll tell you this, the CT scan was a whole lot easier and less painful than the tests they used to do!
Anyway, it's finally gone, and I'm feeling a lot better. Although, I have been exhausted for the past three days. That whole process takes quite a toll on your body and your emotions.
I've read that kidney stones are hereditary, but I can't find anyone on either side of my family who's had them. I guess it has to start somewhere, though ... lucky me. But that makes me worry a bit because I don't want to pass bad stuff on to Biscuit. And there's quite a list of weird ailments I've had.
- Kidney stones: I've heard they're worse for men than they are for women, and I'll tell you, between labor pains and kidney stones, I'd have hard time choosing the least painful. So I pray that Biscuit didn't pick up on those genes from me.
- Shingles: I had shingles not long after Jeff and I got married. I was so sick, he had to bathe me in the shower. I felt so bad because he had washed my right leg, then seconds later, I threw up on it! Then I cried about throwing up on the leg he just washed. It was very pitiful. But you only get shingles if you've had chicken pox, and Biscuit had a chicken pox vaccine. So hopefully, that's one he won't ever have to worry about.
- Hallux rigidus: This is an arthritic condition in my big toe. As a matter of fact, the term "hallux rigidus" translates to "stiff great toe." All the soft tissue where my big toe attaches to my foot is gone. So when I walk, my toe bone and foot bone rub against each other, which makes it painful to take steps. A friend of mine at work asked one day how far I could walk before it started hurting. I wasn't trying to be a smarty pants, but I said, "Do you see that printer over there? That's about how far I can walk before it starts hurting." The printer is 25 feet away from my desk. Other than fusing the bones together, which would cause a permanent limp, there's no way to fix the problem. And again, it can be hereditary because it's an arthritic condition, and it's based on the shape of your foot, both things that can be affected by your genes.
- Pertussis (aka whooping cough): A couple of years ago, I had a dry cough that just would not go away. It got so bad that I would throw up from the coughing. I went to the doctor, and they did a blood test and told me I had whooping cough. They might as well have said I had rickets or scurvy because I didn't even think people got whooping cough anymore. Come to find out, the titers don't always last as long as they should. Plus, there was a group of parents in the past few years who didn't get their babies vaccinated because they thought vaccinations were causing autism. Instead of autism, a bunch of those kids got sick with diseases that were eradicated in our country years ago. Could you imagine having your baby die from chicken pox or measles or whooping cough? Biscuit is up to date on all his shots, so hopefully, this is one thing he'll never have to worry about.
- Fifth Disease: Yet another weird one. Remember this? For kids, it's splotchy read cheeks, aches, pains, fever and chills. For adults, it's swollen and painful joints, plus nausea and fever. The good thing about this one is that you can only have it once (thank goodness), and Biscuit has had it already.
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