Hi everyone,

  Haven't been around much last few days because I had an emergency July4th! I developed{ rather suddenly I might add } a kidney stone!

Woke up 3am with the most unbelievable pain in my back it was worse than labor pains. Nothing helped. I tried to sit up walk around, go online,nothing worked so I ended up at the ER and wasn't entirely sure it wasn't appendicitis.As I started vomiting. too.

They resorted to morphine to ease the pain which it barely dulled. I waited for bloodwork, stuck twice never had trouble with veins before, took an Abdominal X-Ray and made me stand for a chest X-Ray all the while doubled over in pain.

  Then it was time for a CT scan which most of you know is another more definitive X-Ray. But of course I laid there for half an hour before they told me the machine was broken . I had to go upstairs to get it done and it only took five minutes but the pain was excrutiating moving around so much,and as I'm coming back to the ER I thought I was going to wretch again getting off the elevator but I managed to let it subside.

So finally after the results from all  the tests were in came consults. I was grand rounds for all the cute interns and residents. that was interesting then the attending urologist came in to tell me he was worried because I had a nasty kidney infection which may or may not have been caused by the stone. There was apparenltly some leakage from the kidney and the ureter was lacerated. my WBC were elevated so he had to do surgery to insert a stent which is a tube to drain the infection.

While I was waiting in the holding area the powers that be determined I needed a pregnancy test because I'm 52 and still able to get pregnant. The surgery went well no incisions ,went through the urethra

 Stayed overnight didn't sleep much it was quite busy with vital signs every four hours and new admissions in the middle of the night but I made it through,finally they took out the foley catheter collecting my blood tinged urine and I proceeded to have frequent urination bordering on incontinence ,that was the longest 20min ride home!

They gave me antibiotics, pain meds and something to relax the bladder spasms. It all helps for awhile but everything starts to come back. So I'm going for a post-op visit tomorrow and then have to schedule a day sugery to remove the stent and pulverize the stone. Yes they left the stone in wasn't as important as getting the infection under control!

So needless to say I haven't been doing much can't sit up for too long everything is irritated,including me but my husgand has been a gem there with me through it all. Hope all of your 4th of July weekends were better than mine,I'm looking forward to getting back to normal again Till next time,I hear the couch calling me, MARYANN

  Hi Everyone,

This is my first  attempt at writing a journal. I checked out a few of my friends journals just to get an idea. It seems like everyone pretty much does whatever they want. So here goes! I'm originally from PA. Coal mining country. My grandfather came from Warsaw, Poland and worked in the mines. He died of respiratory illness which is no surprise.. I had an eventful childhood. When I was going into 3rd grade our house burned to the ground and my siblings and parents, 8 of us in all had to stay with my grandmother for three months while the house was being re-built. The firemen said it was faulty wiring. It was interesting to live there because she had no heat or hot water no bathroom. We had to use an out house, Her coal stove heated the house through holes in the ceiling to get upstairs,and we had to take a bath in iron wash tubs. It was quite an adbventure for us kids. Then a classmate of mine was murdered,strangled to death on her way to school which was a Catholic school. And this is in a small friendly town where you were able to keep your doors unlocked at least in those days. It was an event in my life which I'll never forget. The state police came to my house to ask me questions about her. The nuns covered her desk in school with a black cloth and I can still see her bruised face in the casket where the guy punched her and she was wearing her First communion dress. He tied her wrists with her shoelaces and stuffed her scarf down her throat. A mentally deficient boy found her in a dump and thought she was a doll . These are memories never to be extinguished but I also had good times. I was very athlethic then.Played volleyball ,baseball my brother nicknamed me MickeyMary because I always hit homeruns.  I have alot more stories to tell,stay tuned. Hope this wasn't too much of a downer but It feels good to let it out. MaryAnn