It's gonna be a very long day... or two

Another update....

Op here with the latest in my kidney stone saga. After 6 days of no pain whatsoever it struck back big time Wednesday night. Violently ill {barfing} due to extreme pain but knowing i had a followup appointment with the VA for Thursday morning I gutted it out with a lot of help from the prescription opioids.

The 90+ mile drive down to Phoenix was no fun {no meds for the drive} but the VA got took me in and immediately sent me to there ER where I spent the day. Another CT Scan revealed that the stone was still lodged halfway between my kidney and bladder and even lots of morphine wasn't doing much.

The VA hospital surprisingly enough does not have the facilities to blast the stone so at the end of the day I was taken by ambulance to the Banner University Hospital a few miles away {all on the VA's dime}. I was scheduled for the procedure for Friday afternoon and enjoyed all of the joys only a kidney stone can bring through Tuesday night and most of Friday.

I alternated whimpering like a whipped puppy and crying like a little girl for most of the night as the meds just could not begin to tame the pain. Finally the procedure was done and allegedly went well. The stone was blasted by the laser they "sent up" to the stone and a stent was placed between my kidney and bladder, I'll have that removed hopefully next week and at that point should be done.

Lessons learned: When we drove down to Phoenix I expected to be home by noon with a little shopping {Trader Joe's and Total Wine} thrown in after my "Followup Appointment. Yes, my mother raised a foolish child. We were not prepared for three and a half days out with no change of clothes and worst of all my brides meds {which she desperately needs}. We will now pack "Go" bags for each our vehicles to include meds, clothing, toiletries etc.

Our daughter, a CNA, flew in Friday from San Diego and was a huge help especially for her mom as well as supporting dad. We got them into a nearby hotel and dropped her off at the Phoenix airport this morning at 5 and then drove home. We are exausted and look like hell but feel the worst is finally behind us.

Thanks again for your support... I need a nap.
 
Holy smokes, Capt Steve! Your sure do have a penchant for sucking the most adversity possible out of your medical adventures! (I recall your knee saga of years ago.)

Very glad the worst is over, and best wishes for cruising out of this one smoothly hereafter.
 
Glad your feeling better. Had one 15 years ago. Three ER trips, three time admits, and three litotripsies. And a bout of eboli. Not fun.


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8 in my lifetime.....never, ever, ever ever become dehydrated.

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Capt Steve, glad to hear you are doing better and the stone was removed. Not sure what to tell you to expect for when they remove the stents. They put me under general anesthesia to remove mine. When it was all over with, it felt like they had pulled a pumpkin through a garden hose and hurt like the dickens for a week or so but it still wasn't anything as bad as the stone.
 
Oh my. Kidney stone story.
I was prescribed Xarelto due to my having Afib. Took it for one day and saw blood when I voided. Called the Dr. and he said to stop taking it. Tests were done, and I learned that I had two fairly large kidney stones, and if they had not been discovered, I would have lost a kidney due to the location of the stones.


I had no pain or symptoms from the stones. Dr. removed them and all was well. I get examined yearly now and so far I'm good.
 
You will NOT. believe this..

Started feeling worse on Sunday afternoon and a LOT worse by Monday. Severe Pain in my stomach/upper GI. At 5 my bride rushed me back to the local ER.

My pain was beyond measure, made the kidney stone seem like a bee sting… I kid you not. Lots more morphine did almost nothing. They finally got me
stabilized around 9. Serious liver function issues with a side of suspicious Gaul Bladder was their best guess.

Two days later after another CT scan, ultra sound, EKG and finally an MRI this morning I just got the word from my surgeon.. I go under the knife at 0730 tomorrow to have the GB removed but wait it gets better.

I have GB stones where they don't belong and they have to go ASAP. They may or may not be able to remove them here if not it is into an ambulance and down to another hospital in Phoenix for that procedure.

I never believed in coincidence but seems to be just that-not related to the kidney stone. Do you freaking believe it???

Still trying to wrap my head around all of it.
 
Ah Morphine, mother of exaggeration…

Yes the pain Monday night was bad, way worse than the kidney stone but I confess to getting carried away with the bee sting metaphor. Must be almost time for another shot…
 
Look at it this way, things have got to get better. Good luck with your next procedure(s) and hope things do truly improve for you.
 
Capt Steve said:
Started feeling worse on Sunday afternoon and a LOT worse by Monday. Severe Pain in my stomach/upper GI. At 5 my bride rushed me back to the local ER.

My pain was beyond measure, made the kidney stone seem like a bee sting… I kid you not. Lots more morphine did almost nothing. They finally got me
stabilized around 9. Serious liver function issues with a side of suspicious Gaul Bladder was their best guess.

Two days later after another CT scan, ultra sound, EKG and finally an MRI this morning I just got the word from my surgeon.. I go under the knife at 0730 tomorrow to have the GB removed but wait it gets better.

I have GB stones where they don't belong and they have to go ASAP. They may or may not be able to remove them here if not it is into an ambulance and down to another hospital in Phoenix for that procedure.

I never believed in coincidence but seems to be just that-not related to the kidney stone. Do you freaking believe it???

Still trying to wrap my head around all of it.
Click to expand...

Best wishes for a successful outcome! Interesting, about 6 weeks ago a friend ended up in hospital with severe pain, gall stones. He has the gall bladder removed and 3 weeks later back in the hospital with a kidney stone, also removed. I have no idea if there is a correlation but at best a strange coincidence.
 
Final wrap-up...

I had the Gaul Bladder removed a week ago today. Later that day they ambulanced me down to Phoenix where they went back in and managed to capture and remove the stones that had migrated out of the GB. Spent four days in post op recovery {not much fun}, lost 13 pounds.

It was easier to get folks out of Kabul than to get me out of the hospital. They shipped me the 90+ miles down to Phoenix but refused to get me home. There I sat with only an old hospital gown to my name. They wanted $390 for transport but had no drivers and told me it was my problem.

Sunday night my next door neighbors SIL stepped up and drove down to Phoenix picking men up at 9 and getting me home at 1030. There are no words for how grateful I will always be. Wow, just WOW!

This is day 4 of home recovery and I have weened myself down to one 5 mg Percoset every 24 hours and hope to be done with them soon. This is a far cry from the IV Morphine and Diladen or 10 mg's of Percoset I got every 2 to 3 hours in the hospital every day for a week straight. The stitches are all dissolved and surgical drain was removed {yanked out - Ouch}.

Hope to be back to my old onry self in a few more days and wanted to say one last "Thank You" to one and all for your support.
 
Capt Steve, glad to hear you are back up and around. Take it easy on fatty foods (meat in particular) for a while until your body adapts to not having the Gall Bladder to help break down the fats.
Mine came out in 2003.
 
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