I woke up Saturday morning feeling like I needed to pee right now! So, I did. 30 seconds later, I felt the urge again. So, I did. (I’m getting older.) And again. I realize something is off and I’ve had urinary tract infections (UTIs) before and even two kidney stones over the years. I ask my husband to pick me up some cranberry juice before he heads out on his adventures for the day.
I’m thinking if I’ve got a UTI and I’ve caught it early, the juice will do the trick to eradicate it. However, I remember the urologist told me to avoid masking my symptoms with juice like I did with my second kidney stone (nasty infection).
I go about the day with minimal discomfort.
I was sick as a dog that night. I didn’t want to go to the emergency room because I wasn’t dressed, my hair was dirty, and it’s the emergency room. Oh yeah, and I was on my belly, on the floor, fighting my way through and praying for the urge to push to stop. I was terrified I was going to push my insides out! I threw up. Eeeeew!
I woke up Sunday morning feeling okay. Just sore in every muscle in my body from the tension from the night before. The feeling I needed to pee was back. I drank more cranberry juice and water. I talked to my husband about my indecision about whether I should go to the ER or not. I showered. We both got ready, just in case. I felt a pain on the left side of my stomach area and was starting to feel pain in my left flank. I knew tests would be needed to confirm if it’s a stone and that can’t be done at Urgent Care. I knew I’d have to call early the next morning and wait on hold for more than an hour to find out if my doctor had a same day appointment and she wouldn’t be able to do the tests needed to confirm if it’s a stone. I definitely remember the pain I experienced with the first two stones and would rather not repeat. I’d rather give birth to another child. I opted to go to the emergency room.
The admitting nurse was so thoughtful when she arranged a room where I wouldn’t be seeing people pass through the hall, as that could have triggered my vertigo. While waiting, I drank 16 ounces of water so I could produce about 3 ounces of urine for testing. I was wheeled into radiology for a CT scan of my abdomen and gave me a warm blanket before returning me to the ER. The doctor came in and did an examination and asked quite a few questions. He asked if I’ve been diagnosed with diverticulitis (I have but am asymptomatic). He asked if I’ve had a colonoscopy (3 years ago when they told me about the diverticulitis). He asked if I have high blood pressure (no). High cholesterol (I take fish oil and niacin)? He left and returned a bit later to tell me there’s a lot of blood in my urine, I have a 4mm kidney stone in the ureter just above the bladder, there’s a cyst on my kidney, and the juncture of my small and large intestines appears to be thickening. He prescribed Flomax and Ibuprofen. The Flomax is to loosen things up in there so the stone can hopefully pass. He told me to follow up with the urologist.
A baby green pea is approximately 5mm. This stone is 4mm and covered in pointy spikes like a goathead thorn.
I’m taking the Flomax and I picked up some over-the-counter Azo for the urgency. The Azo made my urine very, very, very yellow! Cheerful.
I will be calling my doctor to request referrals for the urologist and gastroenterologist later today. Experience tells me to expect it to be months before I’ll be seen by either.
I’ll keep you updated.
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