Oy Vey: The Sequel

It's been a while since I updated, but the basket retrieval procedure to get the kidney stone was unsuccessful. It was accidentally flushed all the way back to the kidney by the dye they use during the procedure. They decided to try a lithotripsy, or whatever it is that uses sonic waves to break up the stone, but they couldn't find the stone on an x-ray. And if they can't find it on an x-ray, then they can't do the procedure.

So basically I'm back to square one on the kidney stone. The urologist said it could start working its way back down soon, or not for a few weeks, or a few months...or it may never bother me again (yeah, right). I wanted so bad to be over this before the baby comes, but that's not going to happen. I suppose as long as they keep my pain meds up-to-date in case I need them, I'll be OK.

Meanwhile, the blood pressure has improved somewhat; it's no longer hypertensive, but I guess is technically pre-hypertensive, running on average about 132/80. I'm still holding out of seeing the doctor about it to see if it comes down more. We'll see...

The wife and baby are so far, so good. We have a few weeks still, but the wife would happily give birth now, if he wanted to make an early escape. The heartburn and now swollen ankles are getting unnerving for her. As long as I keep the Popsicles in stock, I'm not in trouble.

Oy Vey...

Had another visit to the urologist today. The teeny tiny blimp on the x-ray that they thought was the kidney stone last time, was still there this time. I had hoped it passed and I didn't catch it. But every so often I get a slight twinge of pain--nothing severe--just enough to make me think, Nope, It's still there.

With a baby on the way next month, I know I need to put this behind me ASAP. So they'll do the surgical procedure to go in and get it on Thursday. It's a pretty standard procedure, so I'm not too worried, just dreading the recovery that comes along with it.

If you're the praying type, I hope you don't mind saying a little one for me that all goes well.

Reports of My Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated...

...but nevertheless close...well, not really.

I’ve had my first real adult health scare. In mid-May, I had a cold (or allergies flaring up again) and had some chest soreness. I mentioned it to a coworker, who mentioned it to the school nurse, who then wanted to check my blood pressure. It was sky high. High blood pressure and chest pains means get to the doctor soon. My wife took me to an urgent care clinic, where I confessed I’ve had the chest pains off and on for quite a while, and have been scared of what it could be. They did an EKG, but the heart looked fine. Turns out to be muscular. The doctor poked at a certain spot and it hurt so bad I wanted to hit him. He was concerned about the blood pressure, however, and wanted to put me on meds. But we said we wanted to try diet and exercise first, and monitor the BP.

Problem is, the whole situation had absolutely freaked me out. I’m not usually a hypochondriac, but the more I read up on hypertension, the more paranoid I became. My blood pressure has always been 120/80, perfectly normal, and I rarely ever use salt on my food. But just like with the baby scare, I couldn't handle this rationally; my brain went straight to the worst case scenario, and I had the impending sense of doom all over again. Every little numbness, twitch, weakness, dizziness, and jab of pain I had I thought was a heart attack or stroke or anything else that hypertension helps cause. And of course, my BP wasn’t coming down because I was freaking out about it every time I went to take it. I started waking up with panic attacks and driving my wife up the wall. We went back to the doctor and told them what was going on. They asked me about my anxiety and if I was depressed. I said yes and kinda, and the wife was there to offer her observations. So I'm on some "happy" medication that keeps me a little more grounded.

As if that wasn't enough...a few weeks after all of that I had severe, SEVERE pain in my lower right back, to the point that I almost passed out; it lasted about 10 minutes. My wife looked up the symptoms, and it looked like I might have a kidney stone on the move. On June 11, the last day of school no less, I started getting that pain again on the drive to work. I waited for the school nurse to come in, and she called my wife to come get me and take me to the ER. The pain had subsided once I was there and had IV fluids being pumped into me. They did a CT scan and found the stone about 4mm big about a centimeter away from the bladder. They prescribed some pain meds and sent me home. I was more disappointed about the fact that I completely missed the kids' last day and didn't get to tell them bye, especially the outgoing 5th graders. Two days later I had to go back to the ER because the pain got away from me, my meds simply wasn't cutting it. They injected me with some stuff in the IV and I felt like I was floating on air. They told me to take my pain meds regularly, even if my pain wasn't that bad, to stay ahead of the pain (I've never been comfortable with prescription meds, so I was hesitant to take them unless I absolutely had to). My parents came to stay for a while in case anything else happened, and my wife didn't have to miss so much work.

Here I am, 3-4 weeks later, and I still haven't passed the kidney stone. I've been to the urologist twice, and the last time I was there, we agreed to give it a couple more weeks to come out naturally, or else we'll do the surgical procedure to remove it.

Throughout all this, we've monitored my blood pressure. I had a scheduled physical in between my ER visits where I showed the doctor my BP log. Even though it'd come down, he wanted to put me on meds. I talked him in to letting me track it a few more weeks. It's nowhere near as high as it was (summer vacation will do that), but it's still high, averaging about 130/80. Yep, I think he's going to want to put me on meds. I just dread it because 1) I'm afraid of side effects, and 2) I feel that at age 30, I shouldn't have to worry about BP. But alas, I guess that's the way it goes. I was glad to hear that he said the heart and arteries sounded fine.

The good news through all this is that because I've been more cautious about what I eat, I've lost about 25 pounds so far, and about 3 inches off my waist. I'm fitting in pants and shorts that I haven't worn in years. And I'm drinking much more water because of the kidney stone.

These are just my woes. The wife has had her share, too. Her blood sugar has been high; enough for her to be considered gestational diabetic. This isn't too big of a deal, she just watches what she eats and monitors her blood sugar. There's a good chance it will go away as soon as the baby's born.

Speaking of the baby, little Alastair seems to be doing just fine. He kicks up a storm and gives my wife a lot of heartburn. We've got his room painted and his Pack N' Play, and his Jeep stroller all ready for him. We're about six weeks away from the delivery date, so we're starting to pack up an overnight bag, and have started taking the Lamaze classes. After my kidney stone ordeal, I highly recommended to the wife that she just have an epidural.

I apologize for the lack of updates; as you can see, it's been very busy. For those of you who care enough to read this blog, I ask that you keep my family and I in your prayers.