I'm Stoned

I got to see the doc at 1 pm today. Tomorrow I check into day surgery and have they will attack this lovely 6mm kidney stone with Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL). The short version is that they blast it with a machine and put in a shunt that lets the pieces come out easier. They are going to see what's going on in my kidneys since there is some cloudy stuff they are not sure about but appears to be pre-stone materials.

I have to be there at 12:15, the surgery is at 2:15 and I will probably be ready to go home by 5. The procedure is scheduled to take an hour – plus the time that I need to be there before hand, recovery room and a few hours spent in day surgery.

I just hope I don’t have the same problem I had last time. Last time, I really had to go – to use the facilities – and the nurse said they wanted me to wait for a while since I probably didn’t ‘really’ have to go. I guess that sensation is common after the procedure. However, I ‘REALLY’ had to go. When I finally convinced them, I filled the container I had to use so they had so they could evaluate the stuff.

I will then need to strain it for a week or so and collect the pieces so it can be sent off to wherever they send it to see what its composition is. I have so much fun to look forward to, tomorrow. Bob will need to bring a book or two, and maybe some jogging stuff since he just can’t sit for very long. Emanuel hospital is nice – and large – so there would be a lot to see. That is where Natalie was born, Zander had his surgeries, and Alyssa also had her kidney stones taken care of.

Of course, it is much more fun than the other choice is. He – Dr Winchester – said it is too large to pass and it is at least partially blocking the exit point of the kidney.

I finally got anti-nausea pills this afternoon. By the time we left the doc’s office, got the pills and made a have-to stop at the grocery store, we were gone about four hours. We just got home a bit ago.

http://www.web-feet.us/RLS/htdocs/litho.html is a look at the procedure.

I will also be exchanging my APAP machine. Apparently this one has been used and shipped as new. I was able to get it re-set this morning. A good night’s sleep will be wonderful.

Wadda Knight

We are home after a very long evening. Our Andrea, her John and "our" Brandon invited their folks out to eat at Sweet Tomatoes for Father’s Day.

Brandon was parked between the two grandmas – someone needed to keep an eye on that boy… I just realized that he was in his car-seat-carrier the whole time and we didn’t get to hold him at all.

I took just a tiny bit of what my heart desired, which filled my plate. I began to feel uncomfortable in my abdomen and thought a trip to the powder room might help. It didn’t. We left because I was feeling worse. I had driven there but I couldn’t drive back. I continued to feel worse, every mile we drove. Just before the exit closest to our doctors’ office, Bob asked me if I wanted to see if any one was there. Yes, yes, yes indeedy I did. They have short hours on Sunday so there was a slight chance but not a very big chance after five and this was after seven. (They closed at three so there never was a chance.)

By the time we got there I decided to call the on-call doc who gave me the choice to go to the emergency room or to go home and try to wait it out. I chose the emergency room, which was just a couple of blocks and three turns away. By the time I had almost filled out my paper-work I couldn’t sit. I ended up leaning against the wall. The pain was worse in the general area of my left ovary and it radiated down my left thigh to my knee. The only thing I can compare it to was labor pains –rolling waves of pain that radiated down my leg.

Fortunately there wasn’t much of a wait – only one person was before me. When she finally opened the door to let me in I was able to lean on this sweet little (short and a bit substantial – just right for leaning on) admissions lady and shuffle my way back. I just needed to lie down. I kept hyperventilating from the pain and I was afraid I was going to pass out. They got me onto some funky little examining table just so I could answer the questions. They finally decided to just put me in one of the cubicle first and admit me later.

Then came the dreaded insertion of the IV and blood draw. Second time worked so I’ll have matching bruises on my forearms. Then came the pain-killer. J Then the cup needed some filling. Finally, at about 9:30 they wheeled me in for a CT scan and discovered it was kidney stones. One is 6mm – too large to pass - and several small ones behind that. My urologist was on call so he decided I need to come in to see him tomorrow then they sent me home with a couple of Rx for pain and nausea. I still had lots of Vicadin left over from breaking my arm almost a year ago and I ‘knew’ I had seen some pills for nausea just a few days ago so we went home.

I needed to take some pills so I tried to eat something. I got the pills down then ran to the bathroom. I made it but I have my doubts about any pills having a chance to dissolve – including the pain-pills I took before leaving the hospital. I feel ‘better’ but can’t wait for the stuff they put in my drip to wear off completely.

Remember when your mother was concerned that you had ‘holey’ underwear in case you were in an accident? Usually I just grab a pair of undies and put them on. This morning when I looked in the drawer, I actually thought – do I want to wear those old ones or the newer ones – in case I end up in the emergency room. I chose the newer ones.

When I was getting dressed to go this afternoon, I chose pull-on pants, a black camisole to wear under a lacy, pale chartreuse sweater and a long sweater-coat over the whole thing. Normally, I would just grab a jacket but I had decided the sweater looked best out over my pants so I took the long sweater-coat instead.

By the time we got to the emergency room, I had to pull everything down from my abdomen area altogether. The pull-on pants were snug enough to stay up – even while pulled to a new low. The green sweater came below my ‘new’ waistline and the long sweater covered all of the rest. How very comforting that I didn’t have to worry about exposing myself along with the concern for my pain.
It still isn’t over.

I have to get through tonight and through getting this taken care of. Now I just don’t feel good.

Happy Father's Day, dear Bob, and thank you for being there.

Well, we all went 'round the mountain, we all went 'round....

I have finally gotten some photos uploaded. It is so slow so this has been a few days in the making. Some of them are grainy because of the high contrast of the scene.

At the parking lot at Timberline. Linda, Karis and Toni admiring one of the Three Sisters on the horizon. I had taken panorama photos and stitched them together so it was a complete view from where we were. The proportions were too odd - too long and too short - I guess, since it wouldn't load up on blogger. This photo is a chunk of it and seems to be at least four different shots.

The View we were subjected to throughout lunch. Snowboarders kept coming down where Linda and Karis could watch them from their side of the table..

Below, the part of Timberline Lodge that faces south. We ate behind the center part of the building, facing north. The middle chimney in the photo is for the central fireplace/fireplaces - four hearths. It was to our backs and no fire that day. It wasn't necessary, except for atmosphere.

Coming away from the north side of Mt Hood, I pulled over to take a look. The best view was in my rear view mirror.

Looking north towards Washington, Mt Adams popped into view. Linda took pictures while I drove.

Karis and Toni in front of Bonneville Dam. What a beautiful day - and noisy with all of that water spilling through.

The view through the counting window in the fish ladder. The marks on the glass are different measurements. The fish are filtered through a narrow channel in the fish ladder where they can be counted. These are Shad. Some fellas at the old locks in Cascade Locks were catching and saving them in their freezer to use as bait when setting crab pots at the coast.

43,375 of these fish were counted the day we were there. 820 Chinook Salmon, 89 hatchery Steelhead (sea-going trout), 13 Wild Steelhead, 5 Sockeye Salmon and 15 Lamprey Eels were also listed that day (May 29, 2007) as having passed by this window. https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/b/fishcam.asp is a link to the camera there.

Lupin. Beautiful, peppery lupin.

At the Bonneville fish hatchery, the prime star is a Herman the sturgeon. Herman is a white sturgeon. When Herman was first introduced to his new home in 1998, he was 9’ in length, 400 lbs. and 60 years old. The first photo is this fella's face, the second, his mid-section. there was only so much you could get into view in each shot. They have built a larger pool for the big guys which has a little house containing an underwater viewing area.

Multnomah Falls

Karis was already up close taking photos while Toni, Linda and I took in the view. We walked up a ways above the bridge.

Crown Point

The gorge wind's version of Titanic's, "I'm the king (queen) of the world......"

The winds whip around this spot so fiercely that you can be knocked off balance quite easily. They were leaning into the wind, hair whipping around... it was exhilarating!

View from Crown Point looking east, up the Columbia River Gorge.

The view from Women's Forum State Park. This is a wonderful view of Crown Point (that white dot on top of the cliff) and the Columbia River Gorge.