On
December 29th I was admitted to the Emergency room of the
local hospital with severe kidney stone pain. After a CT scan, an IV,
and pain meds, I was released after 4 hours. The stone bothered me
over the weekend but I was not in severe pain as I had been. We were
scheduled to depart on another cruise to Hawaii with friends on
January 4th. This trip was surely in jeopardy as I also
had an appointment with a Urologist on the morning of the 4th.
Her recommendation was to cancel the trip but in the end she left the
decision up to me. Before I left the clinic she had me get an x-ray
so they could track the stone.
Needless
to say, I did make the cruise but about the time the ship left the
dock in Los Angeles I was having second doubts about my decision as I
was having mild kidney pain. This pain occurred a few more times over
the next few days but then quit completely for the remainder of the
cruise and has not recurred since.
However,
I did have a scheduled appointment with my Urologist when I returned
from the trip and her suggestion was to have the stone removed as
soon as possible. Her comment was “You have had this stone long
enough so lets get rid of it”.
I
am scheduled for a session with a Lithotriptor on Thursday of this
week to “pound” the stone out of me with sound waves. In the mean
time I have had multiple doctor visits, lab work, etc in preparation
for the procedure.
As
a result of all this medical stuff we canceled our annual winter trip
to Arizona for this year. We hated to miss seeing all of our friends
but I need to get this taken care of.
The
other reason to get it done is because Clyda has knee replacement
surgery scheduled for February 23rd and I need to be ready
to take care of her. This surgery is to replace the device she had
installed about a year and a half ago. The device is perfect but she
is unstable on her feet as the ligaments for that leg are stretched.
The only way to compensate is to put in a new device with less
movement sideways. Unfortunate, but it has to be done.
There
is no traveling in our near future until Clyda is back on her feet
and stable.
On
another note: We are having RAIN. Not a lot, but enough to make a
difference in the drought we hope. Of course, much more is needed to
overcome all those years when we had little rain. The lake (our main
water source) has come up some but is still has a long way to go
before it spills over the dam. I doubt it will happen this year.
