Oh wow. I missed that. I really hope deborah's OK.

Funny you should page me because the doc called just 15 minutes ago. He had sent me to the hospital for blood and urine tests. He said there's blood in my urine but white cell count was fine so it's not an infection. He believes it's a kidney stone. He's called in prescription for Tylenol with codeine and an anti-inflammatory. He's also going to schedule a cat scan to confirm and hopes that can happen tomorrow. I'm also supposed to get a urine strainer to catch and save the stone.

The pain right now is fairly bad, but not as bad as it has been.

I was going to make a post asking about kidney stones, but this is good enough:

Has anyone else had them (jonmc comes to mind)? Sharing some info/anecdotes would be great.

Ouch, never had them deborah, but I have had family members and friends with 'em. Good luck with it! And I'm glad to hear it's nothing life-threatening... :)

Thanks, y'all.

I found jonmc's kidney stone thread.

Right now I feel like I gotta pee like a race horse but I only get a trickle. This sucks and blows.

Eyagh, that sucks. i think there are things you can take to make it easier to pass but they all elude me right now.
i'm pretty sure i just have cramp, i hope.

Oh deborah, I feel for you. Take care of yourself, vent to bunnies.

Ugh! I had one a month after my daughter was born and I actually think it hurt worse than childbirth. Of course mine was big and nasty and I had to get a stent put in and have lithotripsy to break it up.

I hope yours passes easily! Drink lots and lots of water.

Glad it's nothing more dangerous, deborah, though I'm sorry about the pain.

My mom had one. If I remember correctly, the worst part about it was that she had to carry that little strainer around and she was really embarrassed to wash it out in public restrooms.

My brother had one and his toddler kept trying to wear the strainer as a hat.

The good news is that the stone broke itself up after the MD did something. Sonic-ed it? The bad news is that it hurt like nothing he'd ever felt before, (and he's not a wimp). Sounds like you've got that covered already, though.

I've had, I think, 6 episodes? I used to get them once a year. They've ranged from so bad I couldn't walk to just a twinge and a burn when passing.

What I've learned:
The cat-scan will show the location and size of the stone. I found it comforting to know where they where so I knew where I was in the process. It really sucks to feel that bad and not know exactly what’s going on inside. You should be made aware that there are no actual cats involved in the cat-scan. This is often a huge disappointment. It was for me.

The stone hurts when it is being pushed out of the kidney. Some stones are so big they can't leave the kidney. In these cases, sonic blasts are used to break up the stone. DefLepard, IronMaiden, that sort of thing. This procedure goes off smoothly if, and I stress that if, if you have a mullet and tight acid washed jeans.

In most cases, however, the stone leaves the kidney and travels down the ureter to the bladder. The ureter is narrow. It is very narrow. Hence the pain. This is where some of the blood in the urine comes from. You see, the stone is actually a crystal with sharp edges scraping its way through and out. It is not uncommon for it to break up as it goes along.

The transition into the bladder is called, and rightfully so, The Tunnel. Expect some pain here too. This is part of the journey that can also be very painful. In all of my episodes, once the stone passed through the tunnel, the pain just stopped. The stone was finally just floating around in the wide open spaces of the bladder. I almost felt relieved and could finally get some real sleep. But it's not over yet.

Throughout, I found that heat really helped even though I was told to use cold. See, it's the inflamation that also hurts and cold is supposed to help with that. I stood under a hot shower, with it on my back, during the worst of the pain. It helped me, it might help you. Start with ice and see how it goes.

Continue to drink lots of water. Lots. You'll feel the need to pee, duh, but you won't always have anything to void. That's okay, just keep at it. The water is flushing away the crystal(s) but the crystal(s) may have hurt you so you may feel like peeing when you don’t have to.

Eventually the stone completes it's jpourny and ends up in the strainer. You have now earned the right to call out to everyone you know to come look at your pee and see the stone. You have climbed the mountain and seen the light of day.

It's a pain in the ass to strain your urine, especially when in pain, but having the stone analysed is real important in determining how the stone formed. You'll likely have a common type and will be able to make adjustments in diet. Certain food combinations increase stone production. Your Doc will give you the low-down.

Most people that pass a stone only pass one. That is good news. There is a small % that will have another episode. A fraction of these people will be what is called a producer and continuously give birth to stones.

And speaking of giving birth . . . I’ve heard it said over and over again that passing a stone is like giving birth but, you know what, I believe it can be harder to pass a stone. At least with birth there is a Dr at you side for the whole thing. With a kidney stone, it can be frightening if you are alone, especially if it is the first one. But you will be okay. You will be fine. It may be easy or difficult but you will get through it and statistically speaking, you'll probably NEVER have to go through it again.

Aw, deborah! :(

XXs & {{{{}}}}s & ♥s

Keep us updated, please!

Thanks for checking in, deborah! I hope it passes soon, and quickly.

Thanks again for all the good wishes! It really means a lot to me.

MonkeyButter: thanks for the hilarious blow by blow.

I drink lots of generic diet Coke, so I'm probably going to have to change my poison. I also drink a lot of just plain water, but I'll have to up the intake.

No word yet on a CT scan appointment. I'm supposed to call around 11am if I haven't heard anything.

I thank Buddha for the mister. He picked up my drugs last night and they're working very well.

Oh, and I meant to post this last night:

≡ Click to see image ≡

That's Abigail's cat-scan. I don't think the doc would find it very helpful.

NOt helpful but cool. Hang tuff!