Have you ever had a kidney stone? It seems as though everyone I know except for Vince has had them at one time or another. Both my parents and my sister have had them. Mine have been tested and there’s nothing dietary that I can change to prevent them from forming. I’ve probably had them at least a dozen times, have had surgery twice and lithotripsy done on both sides. The lithotripsy was done in Nashville by a wonderful urologist in 2004 and he told me I shouldn’t have any more problems for at least 5 years and it’s been almost 10 years. I wish I could see him again!
When I was planning my trip to MO in January, I knew I had a stone. It was just a dull ache in my left side so I put off my trip til I saw what it was going to do and after a few weeks, it appeared it was going to just hang around as a dull ache and it’s been with me, off and on since then. For the past week, I’ve been walking around holding my left side but felt bad enough yesterday that if I had already seen a urologist here in town, I would have called him. Went to bed last night about midnight and woke up about 1 in pain. That’s what a kidney stone is supposed to feel like. I tried to hang on til morning and not wake Vince but about 4:30, when I decided I couldn’t avoid a trip to the ER, I took a shower and was drying my hair and Vince woke up. He said “Are you ok? It’s 4:30 in the morning!” I told him . . no, I have a kidney stone so he knew to get dressed . . we were heading to the hospital.
We were supposed to meet friends in Brady for lunch and about 4:30 this morning, I fired off an email to her “Sick. Not coming. May be a kidney stone!” We were supposed to go to another friend’s home for dinner tonight. Not happening either. Darn . . too bad this happened on a day we had fun things planned.
I was planning to go to MO soon but had to wait til I saw the eye doctor this next week, now I’ll be waiting to see what the urologist says. Could be worse . . thank goodness kidney stones, though quite painful, are easy enough to deal with.
It’s those trips to the ER that make me really appreciate small towns with little to no wait in the ER. Nice doctor, nice nurses . .
And speaking of Vince never having had a kidney stone . . we stopped by the pharmacy to get the prescriptions and Vince said “Do you feel good enough for me to run in Big Lots for just a few minutes?” Sure, dear! I’ve been up since 1:00 a.m., I’m in pain but you get your shopping done and when you have a kidney stone . . I’m going to find a yarn shop and leave you in the car!
Yep, it’s probably time for me to go back to bed! 🙂
Carol says
Sorry to hear that Judy. My husband had a kidney stone last week. He was pretty miserable until it passed. Not to be too graphic, but he took my favorite little “micro” strainer to pee in so that he could catch the stone for testing. Needless to say, we will be purchasing a new strainer! Hopefully can find a strainer just like the one we had. I hope that you are getting relief from the pain, and able to get some rest.
JudyL says
They gave me a strainer at the hospital so I can use that and not have to use the one from the kitchen. Glad your husband got rid of his.
Yes, they are usually pretty generous with the pain meds once the stones show up on the x-rays. I think I’ll be fine til I can see the urologist next week.
Barbara says
I hope you feel better soon, Judy.
Vince with the shopping….always so funny.
I’m 70 and have never had a kidney stone and my three siblings are all around my age and haven’t had them…our mother is 95 and has never had one…father didn’t either. It isn’t something our family every even thought about.
Chris at the Resort says
Ohh, I feel for you! I’ve had them, too, and truly know your pain. Hopefully the meds will help you feel better until it passes. Dan had one after I had had several and he now has a real appreciation for how it feels. Not that I would wish one on Vince!
Joan says
I hope you feel better soon! In the meantime, be sure Vince waits on you hand and foot!
Gisela Suski says
I have had kidney stone, lots of pain, pain. It started when I was in TX, it was hot and I was traveling back to home so I didn’t want to drink much. Bad Bad mistake, a nurse said that it could have been from being hydrated. My neighbor gets them all the time and drinks beer. My DIL is veggie and she was eating too much cheese dairy so she has had quite a few and ends in the hospital. I was in the emergency last week for a urine infection, kidney stones is worse.
JudyL says
Yes, dehydration really contributes to stone formation and I wonder if my getting so hot and tired in the garden may have contributed to this. I’m not going to blame it on that though . . I’ve had stones since I was a young adult and I haven’t always worked outside so much.
Linda says
Some say drinking a lot of water helps. I don’t know if it does or not, I drink a lot of water and have never had a kidney stone. My husband drinks very little water, has had kidney stones a few times. I know they can be very painful, hope I never have one. Hope you get this and your eye problem solved soon. Growing old is so much fun.
Diann says
Daughter had an attack while pregnant and her diagnosis was kidney stones AND gallbladder needed to come out. She was hospitalized several times during pregnancy and treated as best as they could for those conditions that couldn’t be addressed . Right after delivery it was into surgery for gallbladder and zapper on the kidney stones. Our little grand dau. suffers periodically from skin rashes from meds mother given to aleve her pain and keep baby healthy until birth. It was several agonizing months and daughter drinks TONS of water now per dr.’s advice to help keep away more stones. So far, so good.
JudyL says
Oh, I can’t imagine having kidney stones while pregnant. That must have been scary AND painful. Drinking water is about the best thing I can do but even that isn’t a sure fire way to keep them away. Hope your daughter never has them again!
Tina in NJ says
Feel better, Judy. Maybe the MO contingent will come to you this time?
JudyL says
It’s hard for them to come here since Chad only has so many weeks vacation and he enjoys spending time with the family in Louisiana and hunting so it’s easier for me to go to them and then they can do what they want with his vacation time. Also, I worry about scorpions and spiders biting Addie when they come here.
Tina in NJ says
I hadn’t considered the bugs. I kind of figured vacation days were a factor. Maybe you can convince Vince that you need to sit and knit?
Sherrill says
Oh MAN! No, I’ve never had a kidney stone but the diverticulitis gives you wicked pain in the left side as well!! First time I ever had that, I walked around doubled over for the first couple of days til I finally got into the doc. That was AWFUL so I kinda know how you feel. Get better!!
JudyL says
Yes, I’ve heard diverticulitis is not a fun thing to have either.
Dottie N. says
Sure hope you feel better soon!
Marlene says
My husband has had a kidney stone twice now – once at about age 22 and not another one until age 69. But both times it was an awful thing to even witness! blessings, marlene
Judy S says
Feel better real quick! You’ve had quite enough to deal with lately! Check out my blog at http://stitchalongwithme.blogspot.com/2014/05/fun-and-long-weekend.html for a fun yarn shopping photo to make you laugh, or maybe scare Vince?! Hugs, too!
JudyL says
Thanks! That picture is funny! Yes, Vince is going to find himself in that position some day! 🙂
Nancy says
The doctor recommended adding a little lemon to my glass of water. No stones since I started doing that 7 years ago. Hope you feel better soon.
Janice says
I also recommend adding a little lemon juice to your drinking water. This was recommended to me by my neurosurgeon in Nashville who is one of the top 10 neurosurgeons in his field in the world, so he should know what to do.
Haven’t had a stone since doing this.
Tricia says
I have never had a kidney stone but you describe them so well that I found myself holding MY SIDE while reading through your post! For a woman as active as you are, it must really be difficult to have to rest and curtail your activities.
Take care!
P.S. What did Vince buy at Big Lots?!
JudyL says
Some kind of M&Ms with pretzels . . one of those things that you really HAVE to have . . even though your wife is in pain! 🙂
Joyce says
That sounds horrible. I’ve never had one, and I hope I never do! Not that I would wish pain on anyone else, but I know what you mean about wishing someone knew how bad you hurt…I used to get really bad cramps, and I used to wish other people hurt that much, so they would understand why I was doubled over and soaked from a sick sweat…(I don’t miss that at all!)
Ranch Wife says
Owie. Owie. Owie. I’ve not ever had one, but hubby has and it brought him to his knees. I have heard that it is the closest a man will ever come to feeling the pain of childbirth. The kids were little at the time and we had to drive 75 miles to the hospital. My MIL has had horrible bouts and has had surgery for them. I think they are hereditary. Here’s hoping you find relief really soon.
I’m betting Vince’s need to stop was just his way of handling the fact that he was worried about his sweet bride.
Jackie says
So sorry to hear this – my husband has had them twice and he was in unbearable pain. I hope you can still knit!
Marie Gilkey says
Sorry you are going through this. Have had them since I was 8 yrs old and they aren’t any fun at all. I have learned that a heat pad, crangrape juice (can’t drink straight cranberry juice) and vicodin gets me through passing almost all of mine. Had to have one removed that was too big and lodged. Don’t wish that on anyone and the catheters are a ROYAL pain!! They are worse than the stone!! Take care of yourself and try heat. It does help!
Cindy F says
I hope it passes quickly and thank goodness for good pain meds! My husband had one 4 years ago and I had no idea how much pain it could cause. I just got caught up with your blog and wanted to wish you well on your eye too.
Patti says
Oh Judy! I’m so sorry to hear about the stones. Hope you feel better soon. Please rest and don’t worry about the chickens or the garden. Take care.
wanda j says
Oh no not again. You know I wondered when you said you had loads of lime in your water what that was going to do with kidney stones. It has got to stick to kidneys like it does to everything at your house.
You said that it was not what you eat causing them. Do you take Calcium Citrate to prevent them? My kidney/surgeon doctor swears by them. Also drinking tea is our number one source of getting them here in Texas. He says that in the summer we drink so much of it that they know they will see more people with kidney stones. But where I live we have tons of calcium in our water so I have to drink bottled and take the citrate regulary.So far so good for the last 8 years. Yeppie
Again I’m sorry you are in pain. It is the worst pain a person can have. I’ve had 10 lb baby breach naturally no meds, teeth pulled very little meds, 3 back surgeries no meds afterward and kidney stones the worst. I take Tordal for mine when I had them works wonderfully. Keep it on hand now. Have a standing order once a year just in case.Judy you might ask for some of that drug for the future.It isn’t expensive at all.
Dawn says
I had kidney stones. they are not fun. I passed mine and then felt better. a holistic help is massage and fresh lemonade. they didnt even give me pain killers. but real lemonade helps keep them from coming back. it also helps to pass them.
VickiT says
Ouch Judy. I’m sure it hurts, although I have never had one either. My Grandfather who lived in Neosho, MO for as long as I can remember had horrible problems with kidney stones however. He had to stop drinking any type of water except for Spring Water. A few times a year he used to drive to a Spring down there and get his water to bring home. I wish I knew where it was to tell you but I haven’t got a clue. Once he started drinking nothing but Spring Water however, he never had another kidney stone. I can’t recall now what the tests were that helped him find this out but have any of the doctors checked into this possibly? Good luck.
CindyM says
I feel so much sympathy for anyone going through a kidney stone attack. Our daughter has had them. The first time she was only 17 and in high school. She was at a small Lutheran High School in the next town over and when she got it, called me, but I couldn’t leave to get her right away (we had no idea what it was)… The principal would not let another student drive her home and no school personnel offered to drive her… so she eventually drove home herself, in all of that pain… then I took her to her dr., and they misdiagnosed it as possible kidney infection (duh… no fever, no real sign of infection)… so later that night, in really severe pain, we finally went to the ER and it took them 30 seconds to guess kidney stone (although rare in a teenage female). Unfortunately her 2nd was was in the middle of a mission trip to Tanzania, so she got to experience an ER in Africa, as well as their IV of pain killers, then a bumpy ride down the rocky road from the orphanage a day later. So there are worse places to have one!!!! Fortunately, she had those 2 in her teens and hasn’t had one now for 10 years!
Janice says
The first one my husband had, I found him laying on the bed when I got home from work in so much pain he couldn’t speak. I thought he was having a heart attack and called 911. The ambulance came and took us to hospital. He didn’t pass it for 2 days and spent that time on Demerol in a total fog. He’s had a couple more since then, but none as bad as the first one. Judy, don’t be too eager to get out to the garden and the chickens. Get lots of rest and drink LOTS of water. Thinking about you.
Angie in SoCal says
I’ve had three and like you, Judy, my diet isn’t the cause – I have problems with calcium. My first was back in 84 and then the next one was in 2008 while we were in Hawaii for our 40th. My urologist said that the three worst pains are childbirth, abscessed tooth or kidney stone. I’ve had all three. After my last one, I was told to use lemon in my 8 glasses a day and it has helped slow down the stone making. I know I have one building, but doc says it hasn’t moved to a painful place yet. I very much sympathize with you, Judy.
Theresa says
My husband had calcium oxalate kidney stones early this year and I’ve never seen him in so much pain. His urologist recommended adding lemon to water and drinking more water in general. Since diet doesn’t affect these stones, I searched for studies and found that Harvard found a huge reduction in stone formation among patients taking 180 mg of magnesium and 10 mg of B6 per day. So that’s what I have him doing, and so far so good. Don’t know if this’ll help you, but if you let me know what kind of stones you had, I can do a web-crawl for studies.
http://www.drwhitaker.com/how-to-prevent-kidney-stones
Cindy in Louisiana says
Yes I did. Two weeks of torture then finally surgery. That pain really compares with a ruptured cyst. No fun! Hope you feel better real soon and it just goes bye bye.