Papa Was a Rolling Stone

Whenever there are things to be told I always have an internal debate on how I should tell them. Long, or short? I always toy with the thought until I realized today that I am basically incapable of telling short versions on any story. It's a curse, really.

Tuesday 10am- Grace and I come home from a walk, eat a snack, Grace goes down for a nap. I notice that I'm having really bad gas bubbles. Take a hot bath, put heat pack on my side. No relief. Take Tylenol. Gather mental list of possible problems, eliminate all expect kidney stones. Dang it. 

11:30am called Aaron, called family. I was ready to to pull my arm off and donate it to wolves if thats what it took to make me feel better. Instead I broke down and called a girl at church who I've only talked to a handfull of times to pick me up and take my to urgent care.

12:00pm- Urgent care CLOSED, yes, closed. Second urgent care "I'm sorry we can't help you." Off to the ER. I all but crawled into the ER. Name? DOB? Pain level 9-10. IV put in place, pain meds recieved, nausea meeds received. CT scan. "Well you have a pretty massive stone in there. 6-7mm. You're not going to be able to pass it on your own. You need to get in contact with a Urologist and they can take care of it."

(In the X-ray below count down from the very top. Between the 4th and 5th vertebrae you'll see a white blob. There she is my friends)

3:00pm- Released from the hospital, get something soft to eat, wait for meds, throw up in front of my friend for the second time (poor girl). Set up appointment, enlist the help of another friend.

Tuesday night was filled with attempts to control the pain, throwing up, and not sleeping well. 

Wednesday was a marathon day at the doctor's office. Exams, x-rays, CT scans, registration for the lithotripsy procedure, throwing up in front of more people I didn't know. I was told that I could double the pain medication which helped me sleep through the night.

Thursday morning Aaron and I woke up at 4:30am and dropped Grace off at 5:00am (yes, thats right) at the relief society presidents house. Then headed to the hospital. More x-rays. IV explanation of lithotripsy- a device place at the sight of the kidney stone and using sonic waves would blast the stone into sand-like particles. Another IV, medicine to put me to sleep..... 

I woke up with an oxygen mask on my face and a nurse rushing off to get Aaron. I was wheeled back into my room, went to the bathroom (they couldn't release me until I did), and headed home. I feel pretty tired and loopy still, but I'll take anything but the pain.

As much as I would like to have this post be a "woe is me" situation I really wanted to dedicate it to the people who ran the show behind the scenes.  

Aaron- took care of Grace, stayed up with me in the middle of the night when I was in pain or throwing up, met all my needs, took me to my procedure.

Yissel- took me to the ER, told me she didn't mind when I threw up in a barf bag in the car, took me to the pharmacy, and watched Grace the rest of the day. She also watched Grace the next morning.

Laurel- Took me to the doctor's office (which was 45 minutes away) stayed with me through the hours and hours of tests and registration, rubbed my back when I threw up. She also insisted that she watched Grace at 5am the next morning.

Sarah: Bought dinner for Aaron the first night and gave it to him when he went to pick up Grace at Yissel's. Watched Grace ALL DAY, and prepared a take home plate of dinner for Aaron.

Laurel, Typhanie, and Sarah: All watched Grace so I could get my procedure done and spend the rest of the day recovering.

The kindness of others never ceases to amaze me. Everyone were so kind and selfless and didn't even think twice about helping me. The only way I was able to get through this whole ordeal was because of their help. I hope that I can pay them back or pay their services forward. Most of the women barely knew me but knew that I needed help and they were more than happy to do it, and Aaron, was as wonderful as always. 

So I raise my glass (full of water) to all of you selfless people in the world. The world is a much better place with you here. Thanks for everything.