There Was No "Unless."

The fun begins today and continues through tomorrow.

This afternoon, I'm headed to the American Fork hospital for another KUB (Kidneys, Ureters, Bladder) x-ray.  I've had little pain since the last one, so the chances that the stone has moved are, in my opinion, relatively tiny, though I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on TV.  They're also going to do a whole battery of blood tests, which is standard for someone going in for a "surgical" procedure.

Sometime today, the surgical center will call me and tell me exactly what time I will be having Lithotripsy tomorrow.

Everyone that I've talked to that has gone through Lithotripsy has told me that it is painful.  Hooray.  Fortunately, I'll be sedated, so hopefully it won't be too bad.  However, I'm quite sure that it will be less painful and less drawn-out than passing a 5mm kidney stone in one piece.

If Lithotripsy doesn't work, then I'll have to have a Ureteroscopy to remove the stone, and apparently, I'll be sore for a week if they have to do that.  And as I've mentioned before, the very thought of having a scope put there gives me the screaming heebie jeebies.

I just want this to be over so I can move on.  I'm sick of drinking more than a gallon of fluids every day trying to move things along.  I've had pain off and on (fortunately more off than on) since the end of March.  I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop--wondering when it's going to hit me as hard as or even harder than the other kidney stones I've had.

I haven't ridden my bike for more than a month.  I'm afraid of being out somewhere and having to ride home in agony.  Not to mention the fact that the medication they put me on makes me light-headed, so I don't even dare ride the trainer.  I didn't get to take my sons to the annual fathers and sons campout last weekend.  Project 365 went out the window when I went to Wood Badge and I haven't had the desire to do anything that I don't really HAVE to do.

It'll be nice to just put this behind me.

On Sunday, my bishop said to me, "Repeat after me: Nephrologist."  He told me that he had kidney stones all the time for years, and he hasn't had another once since seeing a Nephrologist.  Nephrologists specialize in kidneys.  So when this kidney stone is gone and I get the results from the 24-hour urine test and blood tests, I'm probably going to take it all to a nephrologist.  I can't hurt.  And even if it only lengthens the time between kidney stones, it's well worth it, because this just sucks.

Hopefully, I'll be a lot happier in a couple of days.  Wish me luck.