Sayonora Kidney Stone!

So my last post found me in pain from a kidney stone.  We left off at 12:39am early Monday morning.  The Loritab helped me sleep for a few hours but then around 3:00am, I woke up again in a good deal of pain and so I took a Toradol pill.  I was able to sleep until the alarm sounded at 6:30am and was not in any pain.  The plan was for me to call the urologist, make an appointment, my dad watch the kids and I would go see my urologist.  Things didn't go as planned.

I did call the doc and left a message about wanting to come in as I had been to the ER the morning before.  My dad did come over around 9:00am and I kept waiting to get a call back to come to the doc.  Hours passed and I was hungry.  Matthew had suggested that I not eat because if my 5mm stone were lodged in a position to be blasted, they would only do it today if I had no food in my stomach.  Well, around 11:00am I decided to eat regardless of the chance to blast the stone.  My doc's office had yet to call back anyway.  A little later I called them only to find out my doctor and her nurse were not even in the office today.  Argh!  Why didn't they tell me that earlier?!

Now the day was half over and I still didn't know if I would see my urologist so I declared a teacher work day.  Philip was happy to play with his friends and Braewyn was content waiting to begin Kindergarten for one more day.  The day continued on as normal until I had gone to the bathroom and then suddenly felt I had to go again.  I was trying to consistently use the strainer to catch that 5mm stone if it should appear.  Well, something finally appeared in the strainer but it was no larger than a grain of sand!!  Was that what caused me all this pain? I had heard that small of stone could bring a grown man to his knees.  I was glad to see something but sad it wasn't 5mm!  So now I wondered if the pain would hit again as the rest of the stone had to still be in there, right?

Around 5:15pm, my urologist's office called asking if I still needed an appointment.  I said I was feeling better but would like to know for sure where my stone was.  I would see the urologist on Friday and told to just take my pain meds until then unless I developed a fever which would grant me a fast pass to the office!

Fast forward to Friday morning (following four pain-free days!) at which time I dropped the kids off at their respective sitters (the best grandparents in the world!!), and headed to the urologist's office with a bagful of things to do (teacher's manuals, sudoko puzzles, a notebook to work on my book... that's for another post!) as I anticipated a lengthy stay.  It was 8:52am when I arrived at the office.

It was actually 9:55am and I was walking out to my car.  Done!  Miraculous event in itself but let me not skip the best part.  So I was seen almost immediately for my x-ray.  From there, I waited 5 minutes, gave a urine sample, had my blood pressure checked and was in the room waiting for the doctore under 15 minutes later.  I've been at this office for HOURS before!  I was shocked.  There was a slight snag as the nurse could not locate my chart and asked if this was the day my appointment was originally booked.  I said yes, and waited for my urologist to arrive. 

After reading about 6 pages of "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan (a must-read book which I need to post about as well!), my doctor entered (I'd love to recommend her to you if you need a urologist in this area; she's awesome!) and first thing to come out of her mouth was, "I'm confused!"  I thought she meant about my chart being lost but then she snapped my x-ray from last May on the screen and pointed out my 5mm stone snuggly in my kidney.  Next she put up my x-ray from that day and said, "There's no stone and you said you didn't pass it. I don't know where it is!"   The first thing to come out of my mouth was, "Thank you, Jesus!  He took that stone away."  We discussed my drinking a lot of lemon juice recently but she said that doesn't shrink stones, just keeps new ones from developing.  I knew God could zap my stone away if He wanted to and I am so thankful He did!! 

There's no doubt in my mind that the Lord worked a miracle in my life.  I am very excited to see what He has in store for my family and me next!  He is a great God and wants so much for you to let Him work in and through your life too.  His plans will just blow you away!!  They do that for me.

The Kidney Stone Strikes Back

Some of you remember that I was attacked by a kidney stone last summer and knew that a second one was present but just laying low, literally in my kidney.  Well funny thing is that second one has now decided to pass just about a month after Matthew suffered his first kidney stone.  People now wonder if there's something in our water!

I woke up yesterday (Sunday) at about 5am with some pretty severe stomach cramps.  I thought it was gas pains so took a Gas-X.  After 30 minutes and not much relief, I woke Matthew to say maybe it was that second kidney stone kicking into gear or maybe something else. I did take a pregnancy test because the fear of an ectopic pregnancy did worry me.  The test was negative.  At 6:30am, I called my Dad to ask if he would come over to watch the kids while Matthew took me to the ER.  Once he arrived at our house, Matthew and I did head to the ER with me breathing like I was in labor.  Not a good feeling, but I wasn't as scared as last time as I had a pretty good feeling it was the kidney stone.

After being admitted to the ER, I was given an IV to administer pain killer and nausea medicines.  The doctor said the blood in my urine sample and the pain site together indicated that I was trying to pass a kidney stone.  Released with a prescription for more pain pills and orders to see my urologist a.s.a.p., we headed home. 

Now it is 12:39am and I'm getting drowsy after taking a Loritab 30 minutes ago.  I went to bed at 9pm but woke up a little bit ago hungry and thinking my last pain pill would be wearing off soon.  I pray to be able to see my urologist in the morning and find out from the x-ray where exactly this stinker kidney stone is. 

The Brooks Academy was scheduled to have it's first day of school today; Braewyn is thrilled to be officially in Kindergarten while Philip would rather have more days of summer vacation.  Looks like Philip will get his wish.  I hope we'll be able to begin on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.  I really am excited to jump into our third year of homeschooling and teach my two favorite students!  That said I also am glad that the kidney stone is now moving. 

Around Juliet's 1st birthday, Matthew and  I talked and we decided to no longer take birth control and let the Lord decide to bring us another baby or not (they are all gifts from Him anyway).  It has been a test of my  faith knowing that it while left in His timing, the idea of being pregnant and then the kidney stone beginning to move and medicine choices not being as wide as when not pregnant is a scary thing. I'll be thankful when this stone is gone whether by passing it or blasting it if too large too pass.  We will see as the days pass if another Brooks baby is in God's plan or not.  I do trust that my God knows what is best for us.  I just wonder if Philip will be 16, Braewyn 14 and Juliet 10, when that little pregnancy test shows us two pink lines!  That would be an adventure!