Got stoned this past weekend!

[Blackhorse]

Ended up Saturday night in the ER doing the hard rock dance with what turned out to be TWO fat kidney stones (7mm & 8mm). An 8mm stone is the same diameter as a 30-06 bullet…so think about a couple of those little brutes rockin’ and rollin’ around in there. Really priceless was the look on my wife’s face when the Dr. came in with the results of the scan. I thought SHE was going to pass out. Took us three hours to get seen due to all the Saturday night ambulances bumping me down in line. Glad I had popped 3 ibuprofen before heading over there. Glad that little episode is past. Thanks in advance for your good wishes.

 

[eggman]

I hope you're feel better. They going to blow them up, crush them, or slice them? Did you pass them? I've been raising gravel since 2001 so I feel your pain.

 

[ftrplt]

Experienced a bad spate of these several years ago. I told folks I didn't have kidney "stones," I had kidney "rocks!!" Awful experience!!! I feel your pain!! FTRPLT

 

[Carlos]

Pretty sure I related my lost summer last year due to kidney stones. They stuck a stent in me and I basically suffered for three months until they could get me back in.

And I had the choice of going in to the ER after noon on Saturday, and decided to tough it out and go in early Sunday morning after they had cleared out all the people. Virtually no one in there on a Sunday morning.

Hope all goes well!

 

[D.L.Ruth]

I've had one and wouldn't wish that experience in anyone. Mine ended up being an emergency removal, ended up with two stitches where the doctor ripped it out. Worst thing I've ever gone through

 

[Zeno Marx]

I can't imagine. I have an aunt who gets them all the time. No thanks. Best of luck and health.

 

[Blackhorse]

They gave me drugs to open the plumbing up as wide as possible (FloMax), stop inflammation (Ibuprofen) and help with pain (Oxy). So now it only seems kinda like what I imagine stuffing an angry feral cat down a garden hose would be like…after setting the cat on fire.

 

[Carlos]

So, you still have to pass them. With the help of a rather large plastic tube (stent) between my left kidney and bladder, I passed two. The 7mm shifted and in three months he was able to go back in and scoop it out with a basket, or net. The Flowmax helps. Still on that. I take a couple other drugs to help prevent more. For me, the stent caused a lack of control. And bleeding when I mowed because it flops around. Like a puppy, when I had to go it was right now. If the bathroom was ten steps away, I had better have my bucket by the third step. Be aware of the potential of feeling bad. Possible UTI's. I had two of those. Locals that saw me then thought sure I was dying. I was forbidden to use Ibuprofen because of possible damage to the kidneys. Maybe because I'm also diabetic.

 

[Blackhorse]

I remember your pain, my friend. Hopefully my path will be less torturous.

 

[Book]

Blackhorse,

I offer all the best wishes I can for a speedy recovery. I'm glad that Carlos, Zeno Marx, D.L. Ruth, and Eggman have been able to say something useful about past experiences: I've got nothing that is remotely as personally painful to offer.

For what it is worth, though, I've been in and out of hospitals for the past two months: my father has stage-four cancer.

I only say that to say this: emergency rooms suck the life out of everyone who is in them. So do in-patient rooms. If I never smell another one, I will be a happy man, so I sympathize with every moment that you have had to be in one.

Hang in there. This present moment will move to the past in due course.

(I am going to avoid the obvious joke so that no one - quite rightly - throws anything at me.)

Also, keep smiling. It'll scare the s**t out of anyone who tries to mess with you. (e.g. "Kidney stone and smiling. Back away, man. Back away fast." )

Hang tough. Be well. Stay out of hospitals as much as you can.

When you have to be in one, think of your most comfortable chair and your pipes. Maybe the sense-memory of a Latakia blend could swamp the (oh so lovely) sensations of hospital decor? (It's worth a shot.)

Best,
Book

 

[Book]

They gave me drugs to open the plumbing up as wide as possible (FloMax), stop inflammation (Ibuprofen) and help with pain (Oxy). So now it only seems kinda like what I imagine stuffing an angry feral cat down a garden hose would be like…after setting the cat on fire.

Also, and not for nothing, that is some powerful imagery. (Cats, garden hose, urethra, forsooth!)

Good show, sir. Yes. Well done. Wince Flaming cats: double wince

Hang (ooph) tough.

Best,
Book

 

[Blackhorse]

Book - thanks re your condolences. One of the few mitigating things is that I feel totally comfortable in a hospital setting. I love the smell…the linens, the bandages, the cleaning products…the nurses. See, my dad was an MD, my mom was an RN & I was a military corpsman, hospital specialist & licensed nurse in an SICU after that. From about age 10 dad took me on his hospital rounds and parked me in the nurse’s station by the delivery room (where I was born) and they doted on me. I loved it.

 

[Blackhorse]

Follow up doctor visit today with my regular MD. Fingers crossed…he figures I’ve voided the stones and will likely not be bothered further. Until next time, right? Anyway, cautious relief. We’ll keep a close eye on things for sure.

 

[Book]

Blackhorse,

I am glad that you have a better reaction to hospitals than I. I am, I will freely admit, somewhat phobic.

For the rest of it, I will keep my fingers crossed, too. May every last thing come to pass smoothly. (Both pun and best-wishes intended.)

Best (seriously, kidney stones are nothing to mess with),
Book

 

[Blackhorse]

Many thanks.

 

[Fr_Tom]

Kidney stones are a tough one. I have no personal experience (I am happy to report), but I have run by the hospital to pray with folks. Hope all has passed...

 

[Timbo]

Ouch mate, hope you're in the clear soon.

Keep up your water people, I know I don't drink enough of it...

 

[eggman]

To quote the great Bob Dylan “ everybody must get stoned”

 

[Blackhorse]

Well, this has been one of those “thrill ride” things for sure. The stones were chapter one. After that it’s the REST of the story…

In the middle of the second week home, all seemed pretty much normal, except I started hallucinating! Hmmmm. How festive. No voices, no dancing unicorns, etc. Just visual stuff. Roughly a few times a day in the evening mostly when I would open my eyes, something in my field of view would seem to float out in front of everything else…like a 3D movie image…a it would be much more intensely color saturated with a dark outline. Then after a few seconds it would fad back into a normal view. Also once in a while colors were overly saturated and intense…like colors seen in the late afternoon…warmer & brighter. Since we’re on a medical system that uses a “patient portal” computer access to our doctor I dropped him a message through the system and he got back to me very quickly. Dead end...sort of...he didn't have a clue what it was. So keep a watch and go see my eye doctor were the outcomes.

After the end of the second week the Flo Max was gone (except for two tabs I put aside for maybe a future need...ya never know). This is a few weeks prior to my eye doctor appt. And then the hallucinations started to be fewer and fewer and ultimately went away.

Eventually I go to my eye appt. I'm just wanting to be assured that there's no disease process or structural issues that might have caused the symptoms. Cool. So we have our chat. He does all the regular exam stuff...everything looks very, very healthy. No structural or disease issues. Phew! Then he pops open his cell phone, logs on to the internet and proceeds to hunt around for 5 - 10 minutes...yeah, he's a young one. LOL.

But he FOUND the answer. It was the Flo Max (as I expected). There's significant literature describing Flo Max taken together with one of my other long standing meds...a vaso- something er other...blood pressure thing. Several of my symptoms were described pretty accurately. Pretty major relief.

 

[Balisong]

I always check my pharmaceuticals on rxlist.com and webmd.com to look for side effects or interactions with other pharmaceuticals both script and over the counter.