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Monday: I drove out to the park to meet up with my sister and brother-in-law. It was a pretty day. I set up my tent though I didn't plan to sleep in it. I knew the nights would be chilly and planned to sleep in their bus.

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Tuesday: We started on our hike around 8 or 9 or 10. It was cold enough that we needed jackets and hats and ear coverings, but by the afternoon, it was hot.

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We hiked for 5.5 to 6 miles. My lower back was hurting, but I figured that was just from the long hike.

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We drove into Utopia for lunch then headed back to the campground. My back was still hurting, but I didn't think much of it until late in the evening. I recognized the pain from a previous experience with kidney stones. Every few minutes, I had to go outside for a walk and eventually started vomiting.

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The pain relievers we had on board weren't working, so we went in search of a medical center. The nearest one was an hour away in Kerrville, but it took longer to drive because I kept need to stop and walk/ move around.

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We got to the hospital around 10:30 and they put in an IV for hydration and gave me some fentanyl. I got a CT scan that showed a 6mm kidney stone which is about 1/4 of an inch. 

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They wanted me to stay overnight in order to see a urologist the next day, but this left Becky and Phillip in a jam: Where were they going to stay?

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They checked several nearby hotels only to find there were no vacancies (Spring Break), so they decided to sleep in the parking lot in my Xterra. It got down to 37 degrees that night.

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Wednesday: I finally got to a room around 5 AM that had a regular recliner and a recliner that pulled out into a bed, but Becky and Phillip decided to stay outside.

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Eventually, they came inside, and we spent a lot of time just waiting and waiting.

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The big question was whether to have surgery in Kerrville or go home for it?

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Having it in Kerrville was the quickest solution, but then where would I stay to recover? Would I be up for a five-hour drive home after having surgery? Would we find hotel rooms, sleep in the bus...? Or do we drive home and see a urologist then?

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We decided we'd go home, and it still took the hospital quite a while to release us.

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We spent one more night back at the campground with me getting up periodically to move about. I found that the bench in the bathroom that forced me to sit up very straight was comfortable and I would sit there for short naps before returning to the bus.

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Thursday: We drove home. Becky drove my Xterra with me in the passenger seat. I figured it would be more comfortable than in the bus.

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We called a urologist on Wednesday, but the earliest he could see me was Monday, because he does his surgeries on Thursdays and Fridays.

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Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: The thing about the pain is that it wasn't consistent. I went into the hospital with a ten, they gave me one dose of fentanyl in the emergency room and a hydrocodone pill up in the room, but that's it. Sometimes the pain would be at zero and sometimes it would go up to four.

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The hospital would not prescribe hydrocodone, but they did give me one pill before we left. 

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I got a prescription for Tylenol with codeine that I told them wouldn't work and a pill for nausea. The nausea pill said it could cause headaches and constipation, so they told me to start taking a stool softener.

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Back home, I got some hydrocodone from an unnamed source. Becky and I had time the Tylenol to see how long it took to take effect and how long it lasted, and I did the same measuring at home with the hydrocodone. I didn't take much of the nausea pill because my stomach wasn't bothering me.

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We ate Tuesday after the hike, Wednesday after we left the hospital. On Thursday, I had half of a Danish. On Friday, I had a can of soup; on Saturday, some popcorn.

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When my stomach did start to hurt, I figured I was just hungry. I drank lots of water and apple juice.

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The pain was so bad Saturday, that's when I decided to take the week off. Originally, I just figured I'd go in to work, suffer through the day, and then go to my doctor's appointment, but I realized that wasn't going to work.

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I slept on and off, in multiple positions, but found the most effective one was to put a pillow on the floor next to my bed to kneel on, prop my belly up on the bed, and my face down on another pillow.

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That was working fine, but my stomach was really starting to hurt. Becky texted me and asked if I had bought the stool softener like I was supposed to. I answered, yes.

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I had bought it, but hadn't taken any, so I decided to do that and within minutes all the pain was gone and hasn't come back. (I haven't pooped, either.)

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Now, I think they should take another CT scan to see if the stone is still there. I may not need any surgery after all.

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Monday: I remember being told originally that the stone was 9mm. Today, the new doctor said it's about 8mm

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I go in on Wednesday for the doctor to use lithotripsy to begin the removal process. 

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Tuesday: I had an 8:45 appointment at the hospital, and they called at 8:00 and asked me questions for 15 minutes. I told them I was on my way there shortly, and she said this would save time. At the end, she said she'd see me in a little bit, and I said I would probably be late now.

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Bills

 

161.36 Peterson Medical Associates (Kerrville)

16.50 Kelli McCall (Kerrville)

498.73 Clinician Services (Kerrville)

4246.12 Houston Physicians Hospital

220.15 Bay Area Urology

12.47 Walgreens 

60.52 Walgreens

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5215.85 total as of 4/7/22

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136.00 Bay Area Urology (stint removal)

35.00 Singleton Associates (radiological examination

8.00 Qui-something (urology tests)

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5395 4/20/22

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