I'm "ok".

I spent 5.5 hours in the ER on Wednesday night for a probable kidney stone.

Confirmed kidney stone. It's high up. In the kidney but causing havoc so I get to have surgery to have it shot and yoinked in pieces out of me. I don't know when surgery is.

Mask is hospital policy because we have a lot of mild to moderate covid cases here and I was in too much pain to care.

They floated an armada with the fluids I was given. 2.5 bags in 5hrs.

Stone is 1.8mm x 1.1mm and shaped like a Morningstar. It needs to leave, but with surgical assistance. It is the only one I have.

So, yeah. Most of my poor health shit for the last 3 months are likely this stone's fault.

The stone is named Dave. (It was the first name to pop up when it occurred to me it's been in a longer relationship with me than my 1st boyfriend was.)

I suck. I'm aware of this.

Today is 9/12. I had my first surgery to remove the kidney stone on 8/12. It didn't work. A stent was placed hoping to dilate the ureter that caused the surgery to fail. The ureter junction with the kidney appears normal on pyelogram, however there was a significant stricture just below the upj. Small enough the stent was snug when being placed. The stent was latex free and a body safe silicone coated plastic*.

My follow-up with my urologist stated we'd be going ahead with a second attempt 2 weeks later on 8/26. I kept the stent in for the full 2 weeks.

8/26 I had my second ureteroscopy, syent removal and attempted lithotripsy of the stone (hereafter named Dave.. I picked the name out of a hat). Again the surgery failed. Remember the * above? Yeah that's where I bring up the stent they put in on 8/12 had "issues" during removal. Basically according to the urologist who did both surgeries, "it looked like a latex allergy to the stent. The stent was sent off for pathology and testing. Results were, there's no latex in the stent but the lining of the ureter appeared to have chemical burns from the stent. (Yay.)

My doc requested a different brand and style of stent to install and hope for the best by the following week. Dave remained but had been knocked off his high horse annoying position and dropped into the collecting system. I woke up from anesthesia and surprised the posy op nurse by having a full coherent thought the second they woke me up. "It's not gone is it?" They didn't answer me. I knew and was devastated. I've missed 19 days of work since starting my job in March, all because of Dave. My urologist believes the constant nausea, back pain, general malaise, and GERD have been brought to epic levs because Dave acts like he wants to move out bur can't quite be convinced.

A new stent of a different type was placed on 8/26 and removed in the office on 8/31. A plan was made. Meds were refilled. And tissue was again sent to pathology. 2 brands, 2 different types of non-latex stents both caused a latex type shedding of ureter lining. I was given a 6 day course of prednisolone. I went back to work. I still have a 30lb lifting limit. Most of the stuff in my department is well under it. Then there's the requirement that I walk certain products to the register. Most of those are well over 30lbs. I usually have to call someone else to come do my job because I can't lift things.

I lost 18lbs during the prednisolone course. I had another urinalysis on Thursday. For the first time since April I don't have a bacterial culture growing in my pee. But I still am pissing blood. However the amount is significantly less and less concerning. It's mostly hemoglobin not white blood cells.

So it's 9/12 and I have 15 days to go until my 3rd surgery. I will be having an appointment with interventional radiology on 9/16 to have a nephroureteral drain placed in my back to the site of Dave's current residence. Then on 9/27 I will again have surgery to remove Dave's stubborn ass from my premises. The surgery on the 27th is a percutaneous nephrolithotomy with Holmium Laser lithotripsy.

Oh, did I mention that Dave is measured in centimeters not millimeters? 1.8cm x 1.1cm x 1.2cm vaguely fat oval egg shaped but uniform on both "ends".

No wonder I've been in pain.

Foc had already agreed I should be able to take a piece home as long as they can send one to pathology to make sure he's the same type as the last one I had removed in January 2021.

So for the previous 2 surgeries I was released from the hospital within an hour of regaining consciousness. This upcoming one I will remain in the hospital for 2-3* full days after the surgery. (*doc says assume 4-5 days because if there's a bell curves I'm going to fuck it up and be more difficult, he's probably not wrong.) I will then be sent home to recover for 3-5 weeks (again doc is being generous because it's me). Work has approved a leave of absence for me for up to 12 weeks without affecting my job. I am waiting for a call about short term disability and because of the previous 2 surgeries I am most likely only going to be responsible for the $300 copay for the doctor, because I've hit my out of pocket max for the year.

I called in again yesterday because while I had been fine, Dave started doing gymnastics in the basement again and I spent the morning puking before work and trying not to sound like I was being murdered in my apartment because of the pain.

I've learned that I really like my doctor. He's one of the top urologists in the Midwest snd and he uses unconventional treatments that work. The meds I'm on are Levsin which is prescription but NOT FDA approved. Generic is hyoscyamine an anticholinergic/antispasmodic that works specifically on gut and other smooth muscle like bladder and kidneys. It's the primary toxic alkaloid found in Henbane & Belladonna. It was used to treat and prevent seasickness during the invasion of Normandy.

The one of the other drugs I'm on also came about from WWII. Pyridium which is an Azo dye that relaxes ureter pain & discomfort during a UTI.

So...it's been a bit and a lot of happenings since my ER visit almost 45 days ago.

I'll probably maybe be around more while I'm off for 3-5 weeks recovering.

....

Kansas voted to maintain abortion protections today.

That said it's still possible for more Constitutional ammendments to go up for vote at a later time.

Less than 500k total votes to shoot down a state Constitutional amendment in a state with 2.2million people over the age of 18.

For now:

Kansas law generally prohibits abortion at twenty-two weeks LMP and post-viability.[1] The state asserts that life begins at fertilization.[2] It prohibits D&X procedures[3] and D&E procedures, although the latter ban is enjoined,[4] and abortions sought for reasons of sex selection.[5] Pregnant people who seek abortion care must undergo a mandatory twenty-four-hour waiting period and biased counseling.[6] Kansas also limits public funding for,[7] and private insurance coverage of, abortion.[8] Kansas law generally requires that both parents, the legal guardian,[9] or a judge[10] consent to a minor’s abortion.

Kansas’s targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws include requirements related to facilities,[11] temporarily enjoined admitting privileges,[12] and reporting.[13] Kansas law restricts the provision of abortion care to licensed physicians,[14] and restricts physicians from using telemedicine for the provision of abortion care,[15] although the latter restriction is enjoined.[16] Providers who violate Kansas’s abortion restrictions may face civil and criminal penalties.[17

Based Kansas. Save the babies.

It's still a leftist hell in the cities. Though had the senate & other races been final vote not just a primary, Republicans would have won every seat available including governor.

I can't stand Governor Kelly except for the finally getting rid of the ridiculous grocery taxes. 10% state, county and city here. It will only reduce it to 4% but that's 6% states have been taking even on food stamp purchases.

Little bat sleeping in the Camas Public Library 🦇📚

@kitty-batass