So it’s been a heck of a week around here. Probably was going to be the busiest week that we’ve had in a long time. And while it still was, nothing, and I mean nothing went the way we planned at all. (Old Yiddish saying- “Man plans, God laughs” kept popping up along with “Let go and Let God.” Which when I sorta followed the 2nd, I did get calmer)
Monday, Miss Clara Grace turned 2! Hooray! Now, we can totally blame the stubbornness on her age. Ha! Just kidding. The blonde hair and attitude are all from me.
The 3 of us girls were going to bake a cake to have after dinner. Chocolate with pink frosting. Which never happened because I was in extreme pain from a kidney stone!
I had a few small ones about 5 years ago that passed with a little help from some medicine. But let’s face it. There’s really no such thing as “small” when it comes to kidney stones. Natural childbirth is preferable to having to pass kidney stones (believe me, I know. I had 5 without pain meds. Kids, not stones) Stones are usually not smooth either. They look like someone stuck a bunch of pins, or tiny little shards of glass into a drop of concrete. They are terrible.
Since I had small ones before, I figured I could ride it out at home on my own. Breath through the nausea. Take some Tylenol. Drink a bunch of water and get it flushed out and then call the doctor on Tuesday to make an appointment for Wednesday if needed. (Joe thought this was a bad idea and had been pushing since quarter to 10 for me to go to the ER.) When I started to stutter because of the pain while talking to the girls, I decided it was time to call my mom.
This one however, the CT Scan showed would not be passing on it’s own. It was 1 cm. Which doesn’t sound like much compared to most things in our lives. But would have been like trying to squeeze the Matterhorn through a really thin garden hose. All those jagged spikes could have done some real damage.
But since it was a Monday, apparently the ER’s busiest day too, (they were full up when we got there at 2:30!) communication was sorta lacking (which I totally understand now that my brain is clear from the pain because when there are ambulances and people in much worse shape than a kidney stone are coming in, they have top priority). But, I got pain meds quickly (hooray!) and the results from the scan came back really fast and off the ER Doc went to call the urologist. So when a lady from anesthesiology showed up to say my surgery was on the books for Tuesday at 10 am, I had a meltdown. An absolute freak out. I calmed down (and my Momma was actually really calm. Normally she doesn’t do so well with shocking news, but she was a rock for me).
Being a mom, any kind of mom, means you don’t have time to get knocked on your hind quarters. Like I said to the poor women I flipped my lid in front of, I like to have my surgeries scheduled so I know my kids are going to be fine. And I know that they are, even when things like this happen, because I have an awesome family, both that I was born into and married into. But still. Being a mom has made me a crazy worrier.
A portable x-ray later and I was in a hospital room with cups and cups of ice water and the good ice. My dad stopped by after work. At which point, my nurse asked how my pain was and doing all the check in things said I was there for a 1 mm stone. I looked and asked if she could double check, because if that was the case, I was going home. Nope. She heard wrong. Still 1 cm.
Ugh!
Joe came up after he got home from work and made dinner for the kids. And then one of my sister-in-laws came up after she got off of work and made us all laugh with her kidney stone story. My sister and brother watched the kiddos, and Grandpa even brought over an ice cream cake for Clara. So at least she was sung to and got to blow out candles on her birthday.
And that was just Monday.
