Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Nobody to Call

I've been suffering from a kidney stone episode these past two days.  It has been incredibly painful and uncomfortable, both from a physical standpoint, and in other ways as well.

My surgery to remove the stone occurred last night.  By the time I got settled into my room and adequately doped up, it was around 10 at night.  My wife left for home, and I tried to get as comfortable as I could for the long evening of recovery.

On the hour, nurses would come in to get my vitals - take my BP, listen to my heart, review my oxygen levels, and take my temperature.  Occasionally I'd get up to urinate, and dealt with the pain and blood associated with that act.

At midnight, I started running a temp, and this had me quite worried.  I had just had major trauma to my urinary tract - to the point of substantive bleeding - and my fear of infection was high.

At 1:00, the temp had increased to just under 101.  I was punchy due to the fever and the drugs, and I was flat out scared.  I was pressing the nurse on what we were going to do about the fever, and she seemed non-concerned.  Unfortunately I was not in my right mind to advocate for this to be taken more seriously.  I tried to call my wife, but her cell phone had died and she couldn't hear the main phone.

And that was the only person I could think to call.

In Minnesota, I can think of two dozen people that I could call in the middle of the night and have them come into the hospital and help me.  But here in Green Bay, I have zero.

Thankfully, the fever did subside.  But had it not, I wonder what my night would have been like.  

And more than that, should something like this occur again, I have no idea who I'd call or what I'd do.  And that's the saddest thing of all.

2 comments:

  1. you could have called me uncle mikey :) I dont care that we r so far away. i wouldve flown to see ya!

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  2. Best wishes for a speedy recovery YDP. We need you in your best shape. I too have had 2 bouts with the stones. I pissed them out after a few days, but I feel your pain. Never in my entire life have I felt pain like that. Labor pains? Ha. This is ridiculously worse. And the end result is a tiny stone that you are embarrassed to admit was no bigger than the smallest pebble you've ever seen. At least with labor pains you get a kid out of the deal. And the drugs are really amazing. In any case, feel better now! Dammit! Best wishes,
    Scott
    Oh and by the way, the fever thing is completely normal.

    ReplyDelete

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