Stone Update...

Well, I went to the urologist yesterday to figure out the right plan of attack for this stinkin', cheesy kidney stone. Well, turns out the xray they took at the ER was not going to work since I still had contrast solution in my body from the CT scan they did to diagnose the stone in the first place. So there wasn't much that could be done at the doctor's office without a good xray. I did give them a urine sample which showed I still have blood in my urine...pretty typical for stones. So they gave me an order ticket for a new xray. Before I went to get a new xray, she showed me my CT scan from the ER visit. They had trouble finding the non-contrast scan on the CD the ER gave me so they had to pull it up on some sort of medical network system. She showed me that I actually have TWO stones!!! One is floating around in my kidney and the other is lodged up high which is why it's giving me fits. Sheesh!!!

I went across the street to get my new xray. It was very strange. I got checked in...no biggy there. The xray tech took me and another woman back to get ready for the xrays. We went around the corner from the waiting room and there was a hallway with a bunch of little changing rooms along it. So I went in to the little changing room and had to put on these very attractive elastic waistband shorts and remove my bra. I came out of the changing room and they took me right in to get my xray done. The tech actually did two xrays since I was already there, and the urologist was thankful to have them.

After I got the xrays done, I grabbed a bite for lunch and took it over to Jen's. The babies were all headed to nap time so we had a few minutes to just chat and catch up. It was really nice. I can't even put into words what a blessing Jen and her family are and continue to be for me and my family. It was nice to actually have a few minutes to just visit with her instead of trying to squeeze it in when I'm either dropping off or picking up CCR.

Then I went back to the urologist's office. She was able to see my stones on the film. Whew! She brought in the doctor that will actually be performing my surgery so they reviewed my film. They found my xrays very interesting...I don't really know what that means, but they were commenting that I have very good bone structure - in other words no sign of osteoperosis - but that I have a lot of calcium depositing in my cartilage of my ribs. I don't know what causes that or if it's something to worry about, but they made the comments nonetheless. I'll inquire about that when I go in for surgery.

So here are the surgery details:

Monday, January 26th at 8 am.

I will be having a lithitripsy which is a procedure that uses shock waves that are administered from the outside of the body and used to shatter the stone(s) in order to facilitate my body passing them naturally. I don't know at this point whether the doctor is planning on putting in a stent in order to help pass the pieces easier and in theory less painfully...we'll see. I will be completely "under" so I won't know until it's over whether they'll be putting that in. I had one installed with my previous stone, and let me tell you - they are awful to get removed! But I'll do whatever is best to get this whole thing over with!

A little side note related to the previous post - turns out the enlarged lymphnodes are probably from the food-based illness I had late last week. I am going to follow up with my primary care doctor in two months to check my white blood cell count just to make sure, but it looks like it was just coincidental that I got a CT scan to diagnose the stones at the same time my lymphatic system was doing its job. Whew!!

So I was telling Doug about the scheduling of the surgery, and I heard a loud Uuhhh! on the phone...I completely forgot he is going to trial on Monday. He is trying a misdemeanor case, and his associate is trying a felony case starting on Monday. So he's totally booked. So that said, once again the Wilcoxsons to the rescue! Noel is going to drop me off for surgery and then come back to pick me up and take me home so that Doug doesn't have to file for a continuance on his trial...what a huge blessing!!!! And Jen will have CCR for the day which will allow me to fully recover at home.

I think that covers all the high points to date. Now I'm just trying to get from now until Monday morning. I'm allowed to take Tylenol for the pain, but othe than that, I'm not supposed to take any medication...sheesh! I'm not excited to have to deal with the pain of the stone until then, but I'm thankful that we have the means to get this taken care of for me.

Thank you to everyone's thoughts and prayers! I really appreciate that! I have been blessed with such wonderful friends and a fantastic family. Thank you Lord!