WIL week 4 or Why My Kidneys Hate Me or How to get Arrested in the ER
WIL Week 4
- One of us missing is fine, two of us missing is fine, if all three of us fail to show up by opening cannon with no messages it will start a mild panic.
- Calling Janna only satisfies our obligation to informing the job we will be late, we have to satisfy our loved ones need to know we are safe as well.
- I would rather be at faire in costume and in the lanes being pretty wallpaper than not being allowed to go.
- Arriving on site halfway through the day is just bizarre.
- Missing a day of faire for any reason feels wrong.
- My friends are the best ever, from calling to make sure I am well, to sharing their super powers with me, to getting me pretty things, to embarrassing me horribly. I love you all for it.
So thank you to everyone who called and fretted over me this weekend I really do appreciate it.
And now for the full story…
Saturday morning we headed out, running about 5 minutes behind, and I was in a bad mood. I was frustrated and cranky and rushed, and I forgot to do what I do every morning before we leave for faire. I did not do inventory.
So we are on 35, just passing the zoo when Toni suddenly realizes we did not pack our skirts. They were at home in the dryer.
So we turn around and head back to get them. A message is left for Janna saying we will miss meeting but should be there before cannon. Toni is the only one of us with a working phone so she makes the call.
We finally get the skirts and back on the road and are heading to faire, when suddenly, just as we are passing through Lancaster area I start having this pain in my back and side. I think maybe it will pass, but it does not and I realize that this pain is familiar, and I am saddened to realize, this is a kidney stone.
So a second call is made to Janna saying we will be really late if we show up at all as we are now heading for the ER.
I got my first (and hopefully last) visit to the Waxahachi ER, and it was not faire related, though we were all in our bloomers and chemises, and boots, so we stood out as being from the faire.
The pain had subsided by the time we got there, so I waited patiently for about an hour and a half before I got called back.
We did realize about 10:00 that everyone was probably freaking out because we were not at faire yet, but since Toni was the only one with a phone, we did not have anyone’s numbers other than Janna and James, and we had already called both of them.
The entire experience was not bad. They took a long time, but they were pleasant and friendly and told me it was a kidney stone, gave me a shot of Toradol and a prescription for more and sent me on my way.
Now at this point Jessie and Toni both wanted me to go home, I however refused. I was already dressed, I was no longer in pain, and we were 5 minutes away from faire. So it was off to faire.
We arrived just before parade cannon and enjoyed the rest of the day. I took it really easy, I drank plenty, it was all good. About 8:00 though as we were standing in the parking lot I realized the fatal flaw in my plan. We did not fill the prescription for my pain meds before coming to faire. So in all due haste I made us leave.
It was too late though, the pain had started. The plan was to find the first pharmacy we could and get it filled but the pain grew increasingly worse at an increasingly fast rate and I realized that I was going to have to go back to the ER for this.
At this point we were about 25 minutes from Waxahachi ER and about 35 minutes from the one in Dallas where we knew where it was. I was still alert enough to realize if we were in the ER all night that 5 minutes to home after an ER visit was better than and hour home, so we headed into Dallas .
I was miserable, the pain went from really bad to unbearable, and just fluctuated between the two. I think Jessie was driving at about 95 but it felt like he was going like 50. Pain warps things like that.
We got to the ER and I went in, and it was not really busy, there were about 5 other people there, mostly people with children. Lots of children. I checked in and was told to wait for the triage nurse, and I started pacing.
I paced and paced trying to walk through the pain, and it just got worse and worse. About 45 minutes later I am still passing, and there is still one person in front of me. No one cared how much pain I was in, I was not getting triaged before anyone else, I had to wait my turn.
I am normally good with pain, but after a certain time I can not take anymore, and my body finally said NO, and I collapsed.
This also did not phase anyone other than the people I was with. The triage nurse actually came out of her room, where she was talking to someone else, and told me to get up off the floor and that I was next in line and when I told her I couldn’t get up she told me I would have to get up and walk in if I wanted to be triaged, and then she went back into her room.
After a few more minutes the pain subsided enough that I could get up and walk again, but that lasted about 10 seconds before I collapsed again. Finally after what seemed like forever the door opened and the person being triaged left the room. Jessie pulled me to my feet telling me it was time, but when we looked up the nurse was gone. She had walked to the back. So I crumpled into a ball in a chair and tried to wait it out there.
I have to say it seemed like another 5 or 10 minutes but again I have no sense of time. I know Jessie asked the people at the check in to go get her, and they told him to wait, and then I know he practically jumped some nurse who came out of the back insisting that he find the triage nurse and send her back. She finally came back, still not looking in a hurry or concerned. She took my vitals, asked me some asinine questions, and finally told me they would take me straight back.
Now the last time I had kidney stones and I was in the ER in this state when they took me back they drew some blood and doped me up right away. They asked questions later.
This time they were intent on not stopping my pain I swear. They insisted that I had to pee in a cup first so they could run a pregnancy test on me before they would give me any drugs or the CT scan they wanted to give me. Unfortunately for me and them, by this point I was barely capable of staying conscious let alone peeing in a cup.
After about 5 minutes I think Jessie physically dragged a doctor into my room and he took some notes looked in my ears and then said he would get me some pain meds and order a CT scan, but when the nurse came back a few minutes later it was the same thing again.
We told him that he could call Waxahachi and get the test results from this morning but they weren’t getting anything. So he left and then came back a minute later and asked “Well if we give you the pain meds, how do we know you will stick around for diagnosis”
Excuse me?
I mean besides the fact that I am in so much pain that you will have to dope me up to the point that Jessie would have to pick me up and carry me out of their, and besides the fact that I know that I need to stay at least a few hours to make it through this bout of pain? What the hell?
Of course I am going to wait around.
Jessie went out into the hall and was very angry and told them that he was under the impression that they thought we were there for something we were not, and suddenly everyone was very friendly and accommodating.
I managed to in a low point of pain (which was still enough pain that I could not stand on my own) to gain enough control to pee in a cup for them, and then they mercifully gave me pain killers. According to Jessie they maxed me out on Demerol and Toradol and had moved on to a third drug by the time I was released. I don’t recall much of anything. I slept mostly and would mumble out when it hurt or I was cold or anything else I needed.
We were finally sent home at about 3am with a handful or prescriptions for pain killers and antibiotics. In the end it turns out that even if I had gotten my prescription from the first ER visit filled, and had taken the entire bottle, I would have still been in enough pain to go back to the ER, so you know it was a wash in the end.
I am told the stone is 3mm (which is small compared to the last one which was 9mm) and the doctor said it will pass on its own. The only thing Jessie did not ask was where was the stone in its progress.
I spent all say Sunday sleeping and lazing on the couch. I am still sore and feel mildly hung over today, but it will pass.
I am hoping this all passes quickly and relatively painlessly, but we shall see.
I am now prepared with my pain meds for anything that comes my way.
Thank you again to everyone who worried about me. I will be fine.
I don’t know why anyone would eat rocks voluntarily with as much pain as it is to get them out….
- One of us missing is fine, two of us missing is fine, if all three of us fail to show up by opening cannon with no messages it will start a mild panic.
- Calling Janna only satisfies our obligation to informing the job we will be late, we have to satisfy our loved ones need to know we are safe as well.
- I would rather be at faire in costume and in the lanes being pretty wallpaper than not being allowed to go.
- Arriving on site halfway through the day is just bizarre.
- Missing a day of faire for any reason feels wrong.
- My friends are the best ever, from calling to make sure I am well, to sharing their super powers with me, to getting me pretty things, to embarrassing me horribly. I love you all for it.
So thank you to everyone who called and fretted over me this weekend I really do appreciate it.
And now for the full story…
Saturday morning we headed out, running about 5 minutes behind, and I was in a bad mood. I was frustrated and cranky and rushed, and I forgot to do what I do every morning before we leave for faire. I did not do inventory.
So we are on 35, just passing the zoo when Toni suddenly realizes we did not pack our skirts. They were at home in the dryer.
So we turn around and head back to get them. A message is left for Janna saying we will miss meeting but should be there before cannon. Toni is the only one of us with a working phone so she makes the call.
We finally get the skirts and back on the road and are heading to faire, when suddenly, just as we are passing through Lancaster area I start having this pain in my back and side. I think maybe it will pass, but it does not and I realize that this pain is familiar, and I am saddened to realize, this is a kidney stone.
So a second call is made to Janna saying we will be really late if we show up at all as we are now heading for the ER.
I got my first (and hopefully last) visit to the Waxahachi ER, and it was not faire related, though we were all in our bloomers and chemises, and boots, so we stood out as being from the faire.
The pain had subsided by the time we got there, so I waited patiently for about an hour and a half before I got called back.
We did realize about 10:00 that everyone was probably freaking out because we were not at faire yet, but since Toni was the only one with a phone, we did not have anyone’s numbers other than Janna and James, and we had already called both of them.
The entire experience was not bad. They took a long time, but they were pleasant and friendly and told me it was a kidney stone, gave me a shot of Toradol and a prescription for more and sent me on my way.
Now at this point Jessie and Toni both wanted me to go home, I however refused. I was already dressed, I was no longer in pain, and we were 5 minutes away from faire. So it was off to faire.
We arrived just before parade cannon and enjoyed the rest of the day. I took it really easy, I drank plenty, it was all good. About 8:00 though as we were standing in the parking lot I realized the fatal flaw in my plan. We did not fill the prescription for my pain meds before coming to faire. So in all due haste I made us leave.
It was too late though, the pain had started. The plan was to find the first pharmacy we could and get it filled but the pain grew increasingly worse at an increasingly fast rate and I realized that I was going to have to go back to the ER for this.
At this point we were about 25 minutes from Waxahachi ER and about 35 minutes from the one in Dallas where we knew where it was. I was still alert enough to realize if we were in the ER all night that 5 minutes to home after an ER visit was better than and hour home, so we headed into Dallas .
I was miserable, the pain went from really bad to unbearable, and just fluctuated between the two. I think Jessie was driving at about 95 but it felt like he was going like 50. Pain warps things like that.
We got to the ER and I went in, and it was not really busy, there were about 5 other people there, mostly people with children. Lots of children. I checked in and was told to wait for the triage nurse, and I started pacing.
I paced and paced trying to walk through the pain, and it just got worse and worse. About 45 minutes later I am still passing, and there is still one person in front of me. No one cared how much pain I was in, I was not getting triaged before anyone else, I had to wait my turn.
I am normally good with pain, but after a certain time I can not take anymore, and my body finally said NO, and I collapsed.
This also did not phase anyone other than the people I was with. The triage nurse actually came out of her room, where she was talking to someone else, and told me to get up off the floor and that I was next in line and when I told her I couldn’t get up she told me I would have to get up and walk in if I wanted to be triaged, and then she went back into her room.
After a few more minutes the pain subsided enough that I could get up and walk again, but that lasted about 10 seconds before I collapsed again. Finally after what seemed like forever the door opened and the person being triaged left the room. Jessie pulled me to my feet telling me it was time, but when we looked up the nurse was gone. She had walked to the back. So I crumpled into a ball in a chair and tried to wait it out there.
I have to say it seemed like another 5 or 10 minutes but again I have no sense of time. I know Jessie asked the people at the check in to go get her, and they told him to wait, and then I know he practically jumped some nurse who came out of the back insisting that he find the triage nurse and send her back. She finally came back, still not looking in a hurry or concerned. She took my vitals, asked me some asinine questions, and finally told me they would take me straight back.
Now the last time I had kidney stones and I was in the ER in this state when they took me back they drew some blood and doped me up right away. They asked questions later.
This time they were intent on not stopping my pain I swear. They insisted that I had to pee in a cup first so they could run a pregnancy test on me before they would give me any drugs or the CT scan they wanted to give me. Unfortunately for me and them, by this point I was barely capable of staying conscious let alone peeing in a cup.
After about 5 minutes I think Jessie physically dragged a doctor into my room and he took some notes looked in my ears and then said he would get me some pain meds and order a CT scan, but when the nurse came back a few minutes later it was the same thing again.
We told him that he could call Waxahachi and get the test results from this morning but they weren’t getting anything. So he left and then came back a minute later and asked “Well if we give you the pain meds, how do we know you will stick around for diagnosis”
Excuse me?
I mean besides the fact that I am in so much pain that you will have to dope me up to the point that Jessie would have to pick me up and carry me out of their, and besides the fact that I know that I need to stay at least a few hours to make it through this bout of pain? What the hell?
Of course I am going to wait around.
Jessie went out into the hall and was very angry and told them that he was under the impression that they thought we were there for something we were not, and suddenly everyone was very friendly and accommodating.
I managed to in a low point of pain (which was still enough pain that I could not stand on my own) to gain enough control to pee in a cup for them, and then they mercifully gave me pain killers. According to Jessie they maxed me out on Demerol and Toradol and had moved on to a third drug by the time I was released. I don’t recall much of anything. I slept mostly and would mumble out when it hurt or I was cold or anything else I needed.
We were finally sent home at about 3am with a handful or prescriptions for pain killers and antibiotics. In the end it turns out that even if I had gotten my prescription from the first ER visit filled, and had taken the entire bottle, I would have still been in enough pain to go back to the ER, so you know it was a wash in the end.
I am told the stone is 3mm (which is small compared to the last one which was 9mm) and the doctor said it will pass on its own. The only thing Jessie did not ask was where was the stone in its progress.
I spent all say Sunday sleeping and lazing on the couch. I am still sore and feel mildly hung over today, but it will pass.
I am hoping this all passes quickly and relatively painlessly, but we shall see.
I am now prepared with my pain meds for anything that comes my way.
Thank you again to everyone who worried about me. I will be fine.
I don’t know why anyone would eat rocks voluntarily with as much pain as it is to get them out….