Lunch 06.17.09

I won't lie, I ate my lunch before I took a picture. Just some tuna, crackers, light cheese and some trail mix.

I'll take this opportunity to bitch about the fact that Tiste and I can't find a gym within a good radius of the house. Everything seems out of the way (opposite direction of our lives or too far out). We're planning to drive around on Saturday and see if we can find one that we could work into our 'route'.

Bleh.

...Surgery Follow-Up...

I had my follow-up visit on Monday for the Extracorporeal Shockwave Lithotripsy.
(Now that I've had the procedure I can actually remember the name and I've been throwing it around like candy.)

Anyway...

I went to the doctor's office and had my check-in. There really wasn't much to it but to talk about the surgery, that I'm feeling good and that my urine test checked out as normal. Which, I guess means that I'm not bleeding out and that they didn't shockwave something they shouldn't have, right?

The doctor would like to take some preventative measures though. He requested three labs which I won't go into detail about but suffice it to say I'm just going to stay home all day when I have to collect the samples.

From there I'll drop the samples off at the lab and they'll run tests. Then, I will have another x-ray and follow-up with the doctor to go over the results and make sure no other stones are forming.

I'm actually debating on if I even need to do this... I just want to be done with this!

I get why he wants to check it all out - first kidney stone was a BEAR in size (7mm) and he is concerned that it will happen again and be persistent. If they find out that my body is or isn't doing something then they will be able to... do what? Prevent the kidney stone? Tell me my kidney's suck?

I know I'm complaining but I'll probably do it. Can't hurt, right?

Feeling..

every inch of my right kidney kinda sucks!

Meanwhile, I thought I was seeing things on the way home from my procedure last Friday so I took a picture to make sure it was real. Tiste saw it too; I am not crazy. Not this time.



Recovery is slow but I guess I'm doing better today that yesterday. Although, I'm feeling a bit like I need to lay down and I can't wait to get home.

...Extra Corporeal...

This may be too much information but I thought you guys might want to know what’s going on with me...

I will be having a Extracorporeal (yes, that’s right – EXTRA CORPOREAL... Sounds all very SciFi) Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) to treat my kidney stone as it can not pass and is blocking (off and on) one of the tubes flowing out of the kidney. Sadly, there can be 3-5 days for the passage of all the pieces of stone (or longer) and the recovery from the procedure itself. The soonest I can have the procedure is next week and even then, I’m in the throws of preparing for my brother’s wedding. And, to be honest, don't want to be trying to get everything done and attend the wedding while 'recovering'!

I’ll be off work for Joel's wedding 05/13/09 - 05/18/09 and will be taking sick leave on 05/21 and 05/22 in order to get my labs done and have the procedure. I’ll have the long weekend (Monday is Memorial Day) to recover and hopefully be back at work on Tuesday, May 26th. The procedure is 85% successful and if it doesn’t work I will have to have surgery.

In the meantime, I am in pretty consistent back pain (the level of pain comes and goes) and may still develop an infection (yay!). The good news is though... Wait, I don’t have any right now. Well, actually, the good news is that I can do some work from home. I’m making some arrangements to do just that in the event this all goes wonky or I need more healing time.

*** Read more about being Extra Corporeal below ***

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is the most frequently used procedure for the treatment of kidney stones. In ESWL, shock waves that are created outside the body travel through the skin and body tissues until they hit the denser stones. The stones break down into small particles and are easily passed through the urinary tract in the urine.

Several types of ESWL devices exist. Most devices use either x rays or ultrasound to help the surgeon pinpoint the stone during treatment. For most types of ESWL procedures, anesthesia is needed.

In many cases, ESWL may be done on an outpatient basis. Recovery time is relatively short, and most people can resume normal activities in a few days.

Complications may occur with ESWL. Some patients have blood in their urine for a few days after treatment. Bruising and minor discomfort in the back or abdomen from the shock waves can occur. To reduce the risk of complications, doctors usually tell patients to avoid taking aspirin and other medicines that affect blood clotting for several weeks before treatment.

Sometimes, the shattered stone particles cause minor blockage as they pass through the urinary tract and cause discomfort. In some cases, the doctor will insert a small tube called a stent through the bladder into the ureter to help the fragments pass. Sometimes the stone is not completely shattered with one treatment, and additional treatments may be needed. (UM, ugh!)

As with any interventional, surgical procedure, potential risks and complications should be discussed with the doctor before making a treatment decision.

...kidney stone, part whatever...

Finally, I have a follow-up appointment to my ER visit! On Monday I'm going to see my primary care physician since I can't get the Urologist's office to call me back. I'm just not sure how to feel about how long it's taken to secure an appointment. *heavy sigh*

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty okay. The pain hasn't been amazingly horrible. Thankfully, yesterday, my friend Bea came over to keep me company. We chatted for almost 3 hours and it really helped the day pass. I'm thinking that this afternoon I'll try to go out or do something. Being in the house so much is ... wow, it's kind of driving me nuts! LOL

...kidney stone...

Feeling better today but, overall, still feeling like my body is off. The kidney stone hasn't passed that I've noticed. One would think I would notice so let's not pretend I passed it w/o noticing. I'm interested to know why I wouldn't have as much pain as most people are telling me I should have... Although, the sharp pain when it happens (very off and on) is intense. Yeah, I don't know. The brain is active and here I am stuck at home. I think I'll go into work tomorrow.

...Sickness..

I hate being sick; it's the worst things EVAH. Sadly, I've been feeling under the weather since about Saturday. It's just been general slight nausea and headache. Hell, I thought even possibly I might have news for everyone. Sadly, no. After 5 days of feeling nauseous I took a pregnancy test that came out negative. Then I KNEW I had to be sick. If I'd only known how badly!

I won't go into details; it was horrible. However, I survived and that's the important part! I have decided that I watch too much House though... I was waiting for my kidneys to fail and for me to die! Isn't it amazing how a TV show can get you all paranoid about stuff?

Thankfully, I am alive and on the road to recovery!

Irrational Mood Swings

Over Labor Day Weekend Tiste and I went down to visit the folks in NC. I just so happened to be experiencing irrational mood swings completely unrelated to anything -- or, so I thought.

I use a website to track my monthly cycles. I logged in this morning to input some data for the last two months and discovered that the weekend we were in NC was the very same weekend I was beginning my ovulation cycle.

It's funny to know that something that simple (and yet, complex) was the root of it all!