Stoned..........

Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.

So I have known for several years now that my body does not process calcium very well. It all started when I was pregnant with Mat and I developed a kidney stone. My Mom and her mom, and my grandpa Foster all have had stones so I thought it was one more health issue I would have to face. The stone was sent for testing and it was a calcium stone (ironically the bump on my forehead is made of calcium also). I had two more stones since then, one when I was pregnant with Drew and one with Nick. The doctor seems to think that they develop when I take prenatal vitamins. So you can imagine my relief when I gave birth to the last baby with no stone in site........ so I thought.

Last week I woke at about 4 am with terrible back pain, the pain I had become much to familiar with. I had some left over Percocet from Ben's birth so I took one and turned on the heating pad and tried to endure through the pain. I didn't want to go to the hospital as I knew they would only give me more pain meds and probably send me home until it passed. I thought that I would save myself the expense of the hospital co-pay and just ride it out. Well that didn't happen. I was in such pain and was throwing up so much that I finally went in (I threw up out of the window of the car on the way to the hospital going 65 mph on the freeway....that's a fun story). A CT scan reveled a kidney stone 3.8 cm (in the world of kidney stones that is very, very big). I met with a urologist who said he would have to surgically remove it. I was admitted to the hospital that day and the stone was removed the next day. He had to place stents in my ureter as there was so much swelling. He also found a hole in the top of my kidney where it kinda exploded due to pressure caused by the stone. I had to spend another night in the hospital so they could give me some iv antibiotics.

I have had the pain of a natural child birth and these stupid stones. The stones are much worse, and you don't get the joy of taking home a cute baby at the end of all the pain.