I've got to say, WOW. What in the heck just happened? I didn't feel 100% last Friday but worked a full day and then went to some friends for dinner and beverages. Let me say that it had been a hectic week with extra hours at work and busy, busy at home. This friend took me for a ride on his new SXS which made me realize my Mule is more of a child's toy, which I'm fine with. Saturday I didn't feel well and stayed in bed most of the day and there would be an outline of a wet guy in the sheets when I'd get up. I was getting fevers periodically but stuff I normally power through. The one weird thing was that I couldn't stand up all of the way. My lower back was killing me. Sunday I was now wetting the entire side of the bed with sweat so I began medicating myself (big no-no) and Jennifer even bailed and was sleeping in the guest room. My O2 saturation was 96%. Low for me but no biggie and the lower back is now freaking me out. I'm thinking the flu, or Covid, or maybe a bladder/kidney infection as my abdomen was a little tender too. I wasn't urinating much but I'm 47 and I think the last time I had one of those nice long pees was somewhere in my mid 30s so nothing new really. I could tell that work Monday might not happen and let's face it, calling in sick for me isn't an option I have so we started adjusting schedules. Jen is urging me to go the the ER but I'm tough so I'll just power through it. I had some Cipro and pain pills in a cabinet somewhere so I'll be fine. Fast forward to Monday at about lunchtime and I've got a splitting headache and my lower back must have a knife or two sticking out of it at this point. At least it felt that way. I'm trying to stay hydrated..... Jen is panicked and keeping the humidifier pointed at me and I swear that must be why my O2 saturation is now 92%. Wait.... Now it's 88%? Uh, oh. Okay, let's go to the ER.

ER#1 is not feeling right as soon as I walk in. People are sitting in every other seat and are there for all sorts of things, one of those being suture removal. They won't let Jen come in to help with registration because family isn't allowed in but I can hardly breathe or see straight. After a few minutes of an intake process they seat me in the waiting room where I'm the kid you DON'T want to know. Everyone is slowly inching farther and farther away from me. I'm now moaning, panting, my clothes are soaked through with sweat and I've had tears running down my face so add a little snot in to boot. Yes, tears, I said. I can count one one hand how many times I've shed a tear in in adulthood but this got added to the list. After about an hour I could tell I was losing consciousness so I asked if I could lie in the floor and the young, chubby receptionist told me that wasn't allowed. When I asked for a drink of water she just chuckled at me and shook her head. I'm so puzzled at this point I wasn't sure what to do. Oh yeah..... When I arrived and they put me in a wheelchair, she put a pulse ox on my finger and told me I was at 99% and that I was fine. Then during the little intake meeting the pain took my breath away and we saw it go to 72%. When I asked the man if that was accurate, he said it was and I needed to stop hyperventilating. Okay, I get it but my body isn't cooperating at this point.

Then, my phone rings which I typically ignore but Jen said she spoke to Baylor Rockwall and they could get me back immediately. As I hobble out of the wheelchair and apologize to everyone the chubby gal shouts out that it's illegal for me to leave the facility with an IV started. Oh, you mean the IV that nobody will do anything with? This IV?

I arrive at Baylor, they get me back immediately and the young buck gets a CT ordered and tells me that even without looking at the diagnostics, I have a kidney stone. Impossible! I'm so young and healthy. Yeah, right. They get me to Baylor Lake Pointe later that night and over the coming days I thought it might be the end of me. First of all, I know I'm not tough. My wife can take physical pain like few I've seen and I bow out quickly. This was how the conversation went though: "We've given you 4 milligrams of morphine, some Toradol and some hydrocodone. Is that keeping you comfy?" It's like they knew this wasn't anything made up..... They had the big guns drawn and knew what it was going to take. I was so high my eyes were crossing but I was finally comfortable. Over the next three days it was "I'm fine" vs "God help me!"

I guess I got a stone or "blockage" that backed everything in my right kidney up and then it got infected (pyelonephritis) which was no fun. I passed the blockage early on but getting rid of the infection was the puzzling part. It was this cyclical process that had spikes of high fever, splitting headache, back ache and sweating a few gallons over a short period of time. I couldn't eat, hardly drink and would think it was over until it wasn't. I never realized this was waiting around the corner. Of course nobody really knows why this happened. The blockage appeared to be of the uric acid variety or I shed a calcified one in the other waiting room which would be why we only saw evidence of where the blockage was and not the stone itself. Either way, it got the system infected which took some undoing.

This was one of the worst weeks in the ol' Beaner logbook. All I've learned from this God awful experience is to stay hydrated. I'm also going to assume you olds talk about this all of the time and I just didn't pay attention? What else have I got to look forward to that's on the pain level 10 out of 10 variety? I'm not sure I've got many more of these left in me.

Stay hydrated folks!

J

Second part of the lesson, if your outboard is not peeing right would you keep running it? Glad you're on the mend.

While this was happening to you someone else on this forum woke up with a frog in his face.
There is a curse on the OT clan.
Glad you’re better sir

Wow, you were in my neck of the woods there Doc. Glad you pulled through it. I heard these kidney stones are no fun at all. Been lucky so far. Hope you stay well !!

Jackson -- Your symptoms are almost identical to severe prostate infection. I have had several. I had one once when I was in the UK on business and working 80-100 hour weeks. I actually thought I was going to die. I was in a lot of pain.
all caused by not staying hydrated and too much coffee.

I've passed 20+ such stones and had two they had to go get.....since I was 27....I'm 55 now and if it's not 6 mm + I just ignore it....passed a couple at home on consecutive days in my late 40's that were 6mm and looked like flint and crystal arrowheads ....generally just makes me throw up

dang, you olds are scaring me

Now that's a blog boys. Oh and glad you feeling better JB, suks you had to go through that

Next time tell them only dilaudid works on you.

From one who’s been there, glad you’re recovering. The first is the worst because you have no idea what’s going on. It helps if you get a doctor that’s had them, they spare nothing to send you to happyland.

I’ve got a stone the size of a half dollar in my left kidney, every once in a while it’ll send a skud missle out to remind me who’s really boss. Such is life when you spend a lifetime drinking hill country well water.

It’s going to be better if it happens again.

If your first visit was to the Greenville hospital, I could have told you not to do that. I have so many friends with horror stories from there...my boss went there once for similar symptoms and they just medicated him for 3 days trying to figure out what it was. He finally told them he felt better so they'd discharge him. Drove straight to presby rockwall and within a half hour they had an x-ray with a diagnosis of a blocked intestine - gave him some meds and better in 24 hours.

My buddy's wife was a nurse there and wanted to have her baby there. Her doctor bailed to go on vacation as soon as the baby was born. 4 hours later at 3am, she started bleeding a bunch. ER doc said he wasn't available, backup doc was a half hour away. Fortunately the anesthesiologist had stopped by to check on her and he was the only MD in the room when she flatlined. He resuscitated her and got her stabilized and she made it. But the incompetence at that hospital is amazing. My running joke is that if I had a heart attack in the parking lot, I'd call Baylor Rockwall or Rockwall Presby and let them know I'm on the way and drive as far as i could. That would absolutely be my best chance at survival.

Sorry to hear of your issues. You're scaring me for sure. I'm in my mid-30s and don't want any of that.

Dang Bean, I started hurting reading your story. Glad you pulled through that.

Dayuum! Glad you are doing better.
Some nurses at the surgery center got me in the habit of filling a gallon water jug before work every day and finishing it before I get home. A minor beating to carry a gallon of water into work every day, but very beneficial (unless you have congestive heart failure or end stage kidneys)

Sorry Doc Bean. I've endured three stones. One caused me the same pain as you had, trip to the ER, more pain and I finally passed it. Second one was too big to pass so they went in there and busted it up with a laser device I think, and the third was lodged in my kidney so they put me in a "tub" of water and broke it up with some kind of sonic waves. Kidney stones ain't for sissies!

Dang I thought I had the record at 13, guess not. The last one was 6mm or so it came out with only an hour of pain and vomiting. The one prior in 2017 was 14mm and they had to go up my boy and get it. I was under so no pain during the procedure but the pain of peeing blood afterwards was a whole nother level of pain.

You are correct, stay hydrated. Water is your friend.