Great news, Kidney Stone(s) and an ER trip

First, I have great news! I went a little over 3 months without going to the ER! That's almost a record!

Also, other great news! School starts next week!! I'll share more about that later!

Wednesday afternoon as I was getting dressed, the left side of my abdomen starting hurting a lot. It was a very deep pain in the middle of my left side, and it would shoot through to my back. After a while, the pain started to subside, but it was still there.

Thursday morning when I woke up, the pain was still there, but it wasn't too bad. I decided to clean the kitchen and vacuum downstairs like I try to do everyday now, and that is when the pain got worse again. But this time, it was in my lower left abdomen. It had moved. I took more pain medicine but it didn't do much.

By Thursday afternoon, the pain was more intense so I decided to make an appointment with my primary doctor. Since it was late in the afternoon, they couldn't get me in until the next morning (Friday).

I picked my brother and his friend up from school and took them to Sonic since it was the first day of school! The pain was getting worse so I was trying to get to Sonic fast and get back home. At Sonic, I realized that I didn't have my credit card and didn't know where it was. Thankfully I had a couple dollars to pay for our drinks, but I started to panic. Once we got our drinks we headed home fast. I looked everywhere at home for my credit card. The pain was getting worse again but I had to look for my card. I spent at least 30 to 45 minutes looking for it. I finally found it buried deep in the seat of my car!

After searching everywhere for my credit card, the pain was still pretty bad. I decided to go to the after hours clinic so that I could be seen before the next morning. I just wanted to know what was causing the pain. Since I have pain meds at home, that wasn't the reason I went to the doctor. But it felt like my abdomen was going to explode so I decided I needed to be seen.

When I walked in, the lady checking me in didn't take my co-pay because she said I didn't look good and they might send me to the hospital. Great. I really didn't expect to go to the hospital. That's why I went to the after hours clinic so that I wouldn't have to go to the hospital! They took me right back at the clinic and the nurse said he thought it was a kidney stone. They did a urine test and the nurse immediately brought me the results and said to take it to the ER if the doctor sent me there. The doctor came in and asked me about the pain and said she was pretty positive it was a kidney stone because of the results of my test. She said I needed to go to the hospital to get fluids to try and get the stone to move. She didn't even want me to go home. I called my parents and off we went.

We went to the hospital that I went to first when the severe bone pain started in April. It was not a good experience because the doctor was so rude and wouldn't do anything for me. But since this was a visible, acute problem we thought it would probably be okay. It's close to our house and is the hospital that our insurance covers the most. It's pretty new which is why we haven't gone there except for that one time in April.

I was immediately taken back to a room instead of going to triage and being sent back to the waiting room since it wasn't crowded! The nurse came in and helped me change into a gown and then she hooked me up to the monitors to take my vitals. She said they just had a lot of people come in so it would be a while for the doctor to come. It wasn't too long though. I was so nervous that it would be the same doctor as last time. Thankfully it wasn't the same doctor! We went over my history and told him what was going on. We told him that the after hours doctor sent me there for fluids. He said that fluids really don't help get kidney stones to move faster. Great, so the after hours doctor didn't know what she was talking about? He also said drinking lemon juice hasn't proven to help like everyone thinks. But I'm going to try anyway! It can't make things worse! So apparently different doctors have different views on what helps kidney stones move faster. This doctor didn't think that fluids help.

After telling doctors my history, medicines, and things I'm allergic to, they usually get less friendly. Not all of them, but a lot of them. The doctor Thursday night wasn't rude, but he wasn't real friendly at first. It all has to do with two words. Lyme Disease. Even if I'm not there for that problem, it always has to do with how I'm treated. But for acute issues, it's usually fine because it doesn't have to do directly with Lyme.

He ordered another urine test even though I brought the results from the one at the after hours clinic. But they always want to test for themselves. He didn't want to do a CT scan unless we really wanted one. We know it's a kidney stone so doing the CT wouldn't change anything, it would just expose me to more radiation. We told him how many CT scans I've had because of all the cysts, endometriosis, gallbladder problems, and appendix problems so we all agreed that I didn't need one unless the pain got worse.

The nurse brought my shot of pain medicine while waiting for the results. It was intramuscular (not in an IV) because that usually lasts longer, but it takes about 20 minutes to kick in. I didn't really think I would get pain medicine since I just came for fluids, but I definitely didn't turn down the pain meds! I was hurting a lot. Right after the nurse gave me the shot, someone in the ER started screaming so loud! She immediately ran out to go see what was happening. It was kinda scary! I hope they were okay. Twenty minutes passed and I really couldn't tell a difference in the pain.

Then the doctor came in with the test results. He confirmed that I had a kidney stone. And guess what? He was a totally different person!! All the sudden, he became the nicest doctor ever! He was talking to the nurse and realized that I have been on pain medicine at home, which means that I would need more pain medicine than the normal person because my body was used to it. He even said if the pain was too bad they would admit me to get it under control! I was so surprised that he was willing to admit for pain control! Where was this doctor when we really needed him last time?!

He said he would go order more pain medicine to get me more comfortable. It was like he was a totally different person! He was so nice and even stayed in my room to talk for a while. He even started joking around! Because of my history and medicines I'm on, the doctors are always suspicious. So once he confirmed that I really did have an acute problem, he treated me how he should have in the beginning. He was never really rude at the beginning, but you could just tell what was going through his mind. Since I wasn't there for Lyme problems, he never questioned us about it, but I knew what he was thinking. But it could have definitely been worse, and once he saw for himself that I have kidney stones he was great! It's just ridiculous how doctors treat you because of two words (Lyme Disease). They jump to conclusions without even talking to you.

So the nurse came to put my IV in and give me more meds. Since he didn't want to do fluids, I didn't have an IV since the first shot of pain medicine was intramuscular (in the hip). It was a new nurse because they had just changed shifts. She was so nice! She has been a nurse for over 35 years and has worked in almost every area of nursing. I told her that I was going to school to be a nurse and she told me not to give up! She said if I could get through nursing school, I could get through anything. I kinda laughed because she had no idea what I have already been through. I told her where my good veins were for the IV, but it still took two tries to get the IV in. We didn't even mention my port this time. I just wanted a peripheral IV. She gave me more pain medicine in my IV and it helped a lot!

The doctor came back in and I told him I was feeling better! He said it was okay for me to go home as long as my pain was better, so I got a little more medicine and then got to go home! I still can't believe he would have admitted me if I was still in a lot of pain. Yes this kidney stone is painful, but I've had worse pain where I should have been admitted but the doctor didn't want at admit me.

He did say that it could take a week or more for the stone(s) to pass. I didn't realize it could take that long to pass. Since we didn't do a CT scan, we don't know if there is more than one stone, where the stones are, or how big they are. I kinda wish now that we would have done a scan in the hospital just to know more.

I'm supposed to move into the dorms for college on Saturday! Please pray that the pain stays under control and that the stone passes very quickly! Classes start a week from tomorrow so I really need for the stones to be gone before Saturday! I'm so excited to move into the dorms and start school again!

Even though this is very painful, it's so nice to have a problem that is a visible, textbook problem that has no controversy. I still can't believe how different the doctor was until he confirmed that I had a kidney stone. But, that's just what I have to deal with, just because of the name of the disease that I have. It's not right or fair, but it's the way it is. You would think that I would be used to that after more than three and a half years of being treated like that, but I'm not.

I'm going to see my primary care doctor tomorrow about the kidney stones. I need to be all better by Saturday!

I will update again soon and tell you about school this fall! I'm excited! Thank you so much for prayers. Please keep praying!!!