Things were starting to look up...

Then it all went down hill, starting last Thursday. Well, Monday really. I started with this pain in my back that felt mysteriously like my kidneys feel when they are acting up. But it had been years since I had an infection & previously I would go months before having them treated with no problems. I also had just started my period & thought maybe it was just bad cramps.

Come Wednesday they weren't any better, but not a ton worse either. Advil was still taking it away but I couldn't get up & walk around too much or my whole pelvic area would ache. I went to bed that night & woke up around 1am with convulsive shivers that wouldn't stop. I actually woke Jon up I was shaking the bed so badly. The first time they happened I was shaking for a good 45 minutes straight.

I had Jon get me the themometer & I had a temperture of 103 at some points. I laid in bed & tried to sleep, but it just wasn't working & my pain was getting worse. I finally ended up going out to the couch & I was able to sleep maybe 2 more hours or so on & off, I had a couple more shivering episodes & my fever was still 101 or more.

Come morning I decided that I couldn't wait for an appointment with my doctor & I needed to go to the ER. We got Isis up & dressed, all the while my pain was getting worse. By the time we got out the door to take Isis to my MIL's, I was bawling & every little tiny bump on the road was agony. Jon decided to drop me off at the ER & then take Isis to his Mom's.

I bawled my way into triage & had pretty well decided by that point I had a kidney stone, not just an infection. They saw me really quickly & actually I had already seen the doctor by the time Jon got back. Between putting an IV in & trying to draw blood, they had to stick me *9* times before they found good enough veins.

But, once they finally got the IV in, they gave me Morphine, Tramadol & some anti-nausea meds & I started to feel much better. They did a blood & urine culture on me as well. The ER doctor came in originally & told me I had very "dirty" (read: infected) urine, so they put me in for a CT Scan. He said if the CT Scan showed that I didn't have any stones they would send me home on some Antibiotics & pain meds.

Well, the CT Scan showed that I had a small (2-3mm) stone that was blocking my ureter. Fluid was unable to pass through the kidney, so as a result of that the kidney was very large & swollen. There was also an obvious infection backed up behind the stone.

The ER doctor came back & told me they would need to admit me at least over night & do surgery to insert a stent (tube) into my kidney that would open the ureter & let the stone pass & also let the infection drain.

Needless to say I was pretty scared. They took me "upstairs" & admitted me to a room. The anesthesiologist came to see me shortly after I got there & said they were going to take me right in. In the middle of talking to me, he got a call for an emergency C-section so he ran away (literally) & came back another hour or so later. (Oh & just a note here, apparently the C-section never happened. The woman said she needed to push & she delivered vaginally on the OR table. How lucky is that?).

They took me to the OR, gave me some vercit (the anesthesiologist said "this will be like a 6 pack of beer with no hangover, all the men will look good). He was right, good stuff. They moved me to the OR table & gave me some oxygen & that's the last thing I remember before I woke up in the recovery room.

That was the first time I've ever been fully put under (I've been sedated before) & I was scared I would be sick. The anesthesiologist assured me he would do everything he could to prevent it & I kid you not I could have ate a 7 course meal in the recovery room. I felt great.

I spent the next day or so in a hospital room, bored out of my mind while they pumped me full of IV antibiotics & asked me a gazillion times if I had any pain (I had very little). Come to find out the stone must have passed after they gave me the Morphine when I relaxed, but the stent was still put in because my infection was so bad the ureter was swollen shut.

They sent me home & gave me a prescription for oral antibiotics. That's when I got sick. I went through 2 different ones before I finally told them to give me a different CLASS of them.

I'm on a new one now & finally today am feeling about 95% better. I never, ever want to go through this again. I have a CT Scan today to make sure the infection is going away & the stone is gone. Then on 4/2 I will have the stent removed in the doctors office.

I told Jon if I ever have cancer, he should take me out back & shoot me. I never want to deal with so many doctors ever again.