andipantz

The surgery for my kidney stones was yesterday. I ended up getting there around 9:15am and didn’t go in to surgery until 1:30. As always, the worst part of the whole procedure is getting the IV. It was noted on my chart back in 2004 that I was a bad stick so the nurse called the IV team to do it this time. Even they couldn’t get it after three painful tries. Now I have bruises all over my arms as a result. I had blood work done last week with no problem, but supposedly that’s different than getting an IV.

Before I went in, the anesthesiologist gave me a nice IV cocktail that made me feel drunk. I don’t even remember being rolled to the operating room. I remember the people walking around in the OR when I first got there and that was it. I was finished two hours later and woke up in the recovery room. I used to get really sick from anesthesia when I was a kid, but haven’t in recent years. The procedure was a bit long and I was under heavy anesthetics so it took me a good bit of time to recover and I ended up getting sick.

And bless my dear mother for driving down to be there for me. She met me at the hospital soon after I got there, stayed with me while I was waiting, drove me to the pharmacy to get my drugs, drove to get some light snacks and fluids, drove me home, and stayed with me overnight to make sure I was going to be ok. I almost took the train/bus to and from the hospital because my so-called friend for whom I’ve always provided support through thick and thin had offered to take me, but didn’t, which disappointed me and my parents in so many ways (again). But my mom was there and I am sooooo sooooo glad that she was. When I’ve had the surgery before, I bounced right back, but I felt awful after I left the hospital. There was no way in hell that I could have taken public transportation or even a taxi for that matter. And no one should have to go to the hospital for surgery alone because that’s just dumb.

And thank goodness for painkillers. I never would have made it through last night without them and probably wouldn’t have had them if my mom didn’t take me to the pharmacy. The procedure itself was not bad at all, but I don’t recall the recovery being as bad as it was last night. I really felt awful, in pain, and had no appetite even though I hadn’t eaten anything for almost 24 hours. I’m still in a lot of pain and probably will be for a while yet. So not fun at all. I know that my kidney stones are made of calcium oxalate but after this is all over with, I’ll have 24 hour analysis to measure the deficiencies and excesses of chemicals in my body that are promoting the stone formation.

And thank goodness also for amazing doctors. My urologist is located about 30 minutes away in the hospital where I had surgery. It’s a hike to get there, but I don’t even care because he is the best doctor I’ve ever had in my 33 years of existence. And the ladies in his office are so nice and know my voice when I call now because I’ve been there so much. (Heck, even the nurse at the hospital remembered me from 2.5 years ago.) But I just wanted to give a huge thank you to my doctor who has really been my saving grace so many times. It’s hard to find good, nice, reliable doctors (or people, for that matter).

My doctor did laser lithotripsy on the problem stone that was the size and shape of a Mike & Ike’s candy and actually embedded in the ureter wall where it may have possibly growing for the last 2.5 years. The other stone was the size of a pea and hanging outside of my bladder so the doctor removed that one and let me bring it home as my souvenir. I think I can see the Virgin Mary on it so perhaps I will start the bidding at $5,000 to cover: kidney stone birth and death fees, kidney stone finder’s fee, kidney stone adoption fees, hazard pay, and 2.5 years of creation time. After all, William Shatner did it.

I’m still having pain today…almost as bad as yesterday. I feel as though I’ve been going through pain killers like water. I only got 3 hours of sleep last night. I still don’t have much of an appetite and have only had a cup of soup and crackers/pretzels for the last 2 days.  I spent the day with my mom before she left and then slept and relaxed a lot. I hope that the pain goes away soon.

Many thanks to my friends and family and even the people who don’t really know me who have been helping me get through all of this in the last couple of weeks. It really means a lot to me and I am grateful to have such caring people in my life.