The "Talk About Being Painful: Part I" Story

It was an ordinary day.  And then ….. they moved.  The pain was intense, driving me from my deep dreams onto the bedroom floor, trying to find a comfortable position to relieve the pain deep inside my left abdomen.  Scared?  You betcha!  Carol awoke to find me on the floor and alarmingly asked, "What's wrong?"  I told her, "I thought I had gas, but it's more than that.  It really hurts!"  A few minutes later she helped me into my Phillies lounging pants and a Quince Orchard sweatshirt and helped me into the backseat of the car.  I told her not to head to Lancaster General, since the ER will be packed and I need to lay down as soon as I get there.  As she speedily drove the few miles to the Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center, I followed the street signs and telephone poles as they whizzed by the window above me.  For years I took the same route to visit my mom at a nursing home close to the hospital, so I knew most all the landmarks and turns along the way.  As we made the final turn into the hospital, she asked if I could walk in or should she park by the door and have them help me out of the car.  I told her I could walk.  Directly inside the empty ER (I know that doesn't sound good, does it) we found chairs next to check-in.  After about a minute I climbed off the seat and rested on the floor on my hands and knees.  The lady at the desk asked my wife what I was doing on the floor and Carol told her it probably was the only way to relieve the pain.  The lady quickly called for help!  Within minutes I was in a bed, laying with my knees drawn up against me.  

Chart showing the internal organs of the
stomach and lower abdomen.  

Nothing relieved the pain, but at least I wasn't flailing around the bed.  After an immediate exami- nation a nurse placed an IV port in my arm and I was given morphine.  By now I was shaking all over and I knew it was my nerves more than anything so I tried my best to settle myself and relax.  I was given two bottles of water that had something in them that would show on a scan they had planned for me.  I tried my best to drink them, but only got about two-thirds of them down.  By now the pain had subsided and I was able to lay with my legs extended.  After a scan of my abdomen I was told that they could see two kidney stones that were at the lower end of the ureter which is the tubes that connects from the kidneys to the bladder.  They were close together and about 2mm in size.  I was told the two stones would probably pass in about a week or two.  I was given instructions to drink plenty of fluids and take pain medicine as needed as well as a Flow Max pill to keep my tubes open wide.  Well, my story has probably taken you maybe two or three minutes to read, but my excursion of the ER lasted almost four hours.  My son had a 5mm kidney stone two years ago which had to be removed by a doctor.  My sister-in-law had a kidney stone that caused so much pain that she passed out.  She told me it was much more painful than childbirth.  After those two stories I stopped asking about kidney stones.  Four days later I had another episode and I took the pain meds and drank an extra glass of water and the pain finally subsided.  I have just returned from a visit to my urologist and he reiterated what the ER doctor had told me.  He said the passing of the stones should not be as painful as my first experience. Yeah, right!  Scheduled me for a visit in three weeks.  I must get an X-ray of my abdomen before I go back to visit with him and if the stones are still in place, he may remove them instead of waiting longer for them to pass.  Not looking forward to any of this, but I will survive.  Part 2 will appear in a few weeks.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.