If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have luck at all!

Lots of updates to write here. I went to the urologist and promised to tell you about that so here it goes. I had a long talk with Dr. Sehkon and he doesn't believe the lapband contributed to my stone unless, of course, I wasn't drinking enough water. I can tell you, I drink loads of water. Every morning I always have 2 cups of coffee and then it's water throughout the work day until I get home when I may have 1 glass of decaf/unsweet tea. He believes it may be hereditary as my grandpa has had loads of stones. When I went back for my checkup, my stone was still there. He found it really strange that it was no longer bothering me. He decided against going in after it since I seem to be feeling ok. It may pass in the next couple of months. As far as prevention, here's what he recommended. Drink lots of water, drink a glass of lemonade, grapefruit juice, or orange juice daily, and don't salt your food. I am seriously failing when it comes to the salt. I have a terrible salt addiction and I know how bad it is for me. I was raised by a salt addict. My mom would salt all my food growing up and I have acquired a taste for it. I've decided that I will work on lowering my sodium sort of as my New Year's resolution. Strangely enough, my New Year's resolution has always been to lose weight and this year it's not. I feel like that's a small victory in and of itself!

In other news, I was scheduled to work last night and when I woke up from my nap (I'm working nights), I felt awful. My body was hurting, chest felt like I had an elephant on it, and my head was pounding. I thought about calling off but this was only my 3rd night working and I don't want them to think I'm unreliable so I took some medicine and dragged myself in. I was doing my first assessment on my baby when I felt this wave of nausea come over me. I thought, "Oh God, I am going to puke here at work." I sat down for a bit and it passed. I tried to ask the other nurses if I could go on home but one seem really irritated (nurses are not the nicest people). So, I tried to truck on but then my head just really started throbbing and I felt hot. I took my temp and it was 101.5! I told them, " I have to go home, my temp just keeps going up." I came back to the house and loaded myself up on medicine and slept. I didn't eat for 24 hours due to the nausea. I'm just now feeling better. I just hope my work doesn't stay pissed at me over having to leave. I really need this 2nd job! The only bright side is I lost 3 pounds due to this illness LOL Reminds me of Romy and Michelle's high school reunion when Romy says Mono was the best diet ever! Please take a look at my ticker. My BMI is 30.3, now only .3 away from just being overweight!! No more obesity! I'm going to try and lose the other 2 pounds this week so I can hit this milestone. Will keep you posted on my progress =)

Another Kidney Stone Victim

Well, I have been MIA from my blog and for good reason, I had a terrible experience with a kidney stone. It all started on Monday. I went for my pre-employment physical and the nurse said "your heart rate is a little high and your temperature is up. Are you getting sick?" And I thought no, I feel fine and the rest of that day I did but on Tuesday I was at work and just not feeling right. Can't really put my finger on what was bothering me but I felt off. I had a couple of patients to see that morning and I dropped off a pack n play to my first one and after that visit I started noticing some pain in my back. I thought maybe I had pulled a back muscle maneuvering that pack n play. By lunch time the pain was starting to get bad so I canceled on my next patient and went back to the office. My coworker, Peggy, who is just the best sat with me while I tried to stretch my back out on the birth ball we have in our office. I took a couple of Tramadol pills (pain pills that I have for my migraines) and hoped that it would take the back pain away. Well, it helped and I made it through the rest of the day at the office.
When I got home that night, I noticed that I was having a weird feeling when I tried to go to the bathroom and instantly the thought popped into my head that I probably had a UTI since that could explain the back pain and the urination problem. So off I go to Publix to pick up some AZO pills and I tell myself I'll call Dr. French in the morning and get some antibiotics. Well, no longer than about an hour after I got home, the back pain became excruciating. I was bent over crying and I told Duane that I had to go to the ER because this was not right. So, he calls my dad and asks him to watch the kids while he takes me to WF ER. I remember telling my dad, we'll be back soon cause it's probably just a UTI *LOL* Oh how stupid was I?
So we get to the ER and now I can barely walk and I'm just crying. Of course, the damn place is packed with idiots who don't know what an ER is really supposed to be used for. I have to vent here because this is such a pet peeve of mine...DO NOT use the ER as your primary care physician. There were people there just laughing a joking around. Can you seriously be in need of emergency care when you're goofing around with your buddies waiting to see a doctor?!?!? This is why the people who truly need to be seen have to wait so damn long but I digress. There was another little gal (appeared to be a teenager) that I did feel sorry for. She and I were the only 2 people screaming and crying in the waiting room. Apparently, she had fallen while playing volleyball and hurt her ankle. I felt bad for her even through my own pain but we were both just having to sit there waiting our turn.
I couldn't get comfortable in my seat. I kept standing up and walking and then sitting down, crying and holding my back. Then all the sudden I started sweating profusely and this is in a hospital that everyone is wearing jackets because it's so cold. Then I felt faint and I sat down and looked at my husband and knew I needed a bucket like now. So that's when the vomiting started. Just a side note about vomiting. It's like I can't do it since being banded. I kept throwing up but it wasn't stomach contents, it was tons and tons of saliva. Weird, huh? So this goes on and on for over 2 hours while I wait to be taken back. Finally, they call my name and by now I am just moaning, groaning, screaming, yelling. etc. Let me just tell you that I had my first daughter with pitocin and no epidural and this pain was equal if not worse than that. I hope to never go through something like that again.
It was taking so long for the nurse or doctor to see me and I was being so mean to my husband. I kept yelling at him to get the nurse and tell her that I am dying. I need something for the pain right now. My poor husband would open the door and try to tell them that his wife was in an insane amount of pain. Finally, Dr. Gonzales (who is fantastic btw) passes by the room and he says, "honey, I think you have a kidney stone and I'm gonna get you something for the pain, just give me 1 minute." So, my nurse, Tiffany, comes in and starts my IV and gives me some medicine. It took about 20 minutes but finally the pain was gone. OMG, I felt like a different person. I apologized to everyone I had yelled at. I went to CT and they confirmed that I had a stone. It was blocking off my ureter and the urine and blood was backed up. It was almost to my bladder which is a good thing because that's apparently when the pain subsides. Dr. Gonzales said the stone was about 4 mm in size. He said I would be able to pass it on my own but I needed to follow up with a specialist. They gave me more fluids, some prescriptions for pain meds, and I was finally able to go home at about 5 am.
I've been at home for the last 2 days in a coma almost. I ended up sleeping for what seems like an entire day. Every time I got to the bathroom, I have to strain my pee. You're supposed to try and catch the stone so it can be analyzed by the urologist because certain foods can cause stones. I have to admit that I'm pretty sure the band contributed to the stone. I guess we'll have to wait and see what the urologist says. I feel terrible not in pain or anything but just washed out and depressed because my energy is down and I've been missing work and just gross because I've laid out on the couch for 2 days. UGH. I feel so bad because now I know what Bandita was going through. It's just horrible. I haven't passed the stone and I am thinking mine might have broken up into tiny fragments because I've been straining my urine for 2 days and nothing. I keep debating whether I should go into work tomorrow or just give myself the rest of the weekend to get better. I'm going to call the urologist and see about my appointment now. It might take me awhile but I plan to catch up on all the blogging I missed and if you made it through this whole post, Bless you!