So I had a kidney stone

Yes, you read that right. On Monday night I had some diarrhea (pardon the details) and as the night went on, I started to get some highly concentrated pain in my mid left back area. At first I thought it was intestinal problems (yes, intestines are squished all over the place by my huge uterus) but it got worse and worse. By around 12:30 I realized it was not digestion problems at all, but something else. I had Mark look up kidney stones online and saw that I had some of the symptoms. It was so bad that I couldn't move or find a comfortable position to lie down in.

We called my mom and she agreed to come over so I could go to the ER. While we were waiting for her we decided to call an ambulance because the pain was so awful I could barely stand it. I was writhing on the couch when they walked in. They took my vitals, etc and took me to the hospital. They kept asking me questions about labor and I kept telling them I was NOT in labor. Trust me, I KNOW this is not labor.

Anyway, so the ambulance ride was bumpy and awful and totally not as cool as I imagined it to be (ha) and they took me to L&D triage. Poor ambulance guys-they had to listen to me sobbing over every bump. They really need to work on their empathy. I could have really used some "there there" or "it'll be ok" or "we're sorry about the bumps." L&D had to monitor the baby for a while before giving me pain meds, so it was about 45 min till I got some morphine. Meanwhile I still had to go to the bathroom all the time (remember previous intestinal problems) plus they gave me an IV so I had to pee a lot too. Walking back and forth to the bathroom while in this intense amount of pain was NOT fun. Thankfully Mark pushed my IV pole and supported me as I walked.

Finally they gave me a small dose of morphine. It was a very strange sensation--I felt it move throughout my entire body in a split second of time. Before it took the pain away (only a few mins) I felt sludgy and weird. Not a feeling I liked. But it took away a lot of the pain thankfully! I also felt like I had a fuzzy head and was slow moving my eyes around to look at stuff. I was able to doze for a while, then the sonographer came in to do an ultrasound of my kidneys. Apparently she told the nurse she thought there was a stone in my left kidney. Later they gave me the results of my urine test and the u/s and while it was not confirmed that there was a stone my left kidney had "dilation" and my urine had crystals and blood in it, which apparently indicates a stone. They would have had to do an x-ray to confirm, and obviously they could not do one with me being preggo and all.

Mark and I dozed a little more, then the OB came in to see me around 7am. I had never met him (I see the midwife at his practice) but he was very nice and sympathetic. He had me turn over so he could see where I was having pain and all of a sudden the pain came rushing back. It was so bad all over again, and I asked for more morphine. It made me throw up two different times but at least it took the edge off. They sent me home and after saying hi to the kids, I hobbled up to my bed and slept all morning. Luckily Mark was able to stay home the whole day and take care of the kids. He even took them to his dr appt. What a great hubby. Anyway I woke up at 11:30 still experiencing a lot of pain, ate some toast and took my perscription pain medication, and went back to bed till 3:30. When I woke up the pain was gone! It was soooooo wonderful. I thought maybe the medication was really good, but the pain free-ness has lasted until now. So I must have passed the stone. Yay.

So the question is: What is worse--having a baby or passing a kidney stone? I feel I might be slightly qualified to give my opinion on the matter especially considering I have babies without pain medication. Answer: I would rather go through labor and delivery than a kidney stone any day, hands down.

• The pain itself was not worse per se, but it was without purpose. Labor pains have a purpose--they are bringing your baby to you.
• The kidney stone pain was about the same as the worst labor pain, but with labor, there are breaks between each contraction. With the kidney pain it was constant and intense the entire time.
  
• There is an end in sight with labor. The baby will be born, and the pain will be gone. No end in sight with kidney pain
• You get a special prize at the end of labor.
  

So that's my story. I really hate hospitals. The end.

Happy list

Thought it would be a good time for this in light of all the worry going on about Mark and the discomforts of late pregnancy.

Stuff that makes me happy:

• fresh squeezed OJ. There is NOTHING like it people!
• essential oils. Call me weird but I'm really getting hooked. Can't wait to use them for labor and post partum healing.
  
• My kids' laughter. I want to try and record it and use it for a ring tone.
• Discovering that Han likes to sleep with her door slightly open. No more bedtime crying!
• A clean kitchen. I have been doing really well with my new year's resolution of keeping it clean.
  
• Homemade bread. I have had it continuously for the past few weeks and boy it is my #1 craving right now!
• only 4 weeks of pregnancy left. Can't wait to meet this kid!
  

He's home

Well, his INR number was up to 2.1 this morning so he came home! The girls and I are so excited. Life has been difficult the past week!

He has a long term prescription for coumadin (the blood thinner) and will start going to the Coumadin Clinic at Banner Baywood on Monday where they test his blood and adjust his dosage if necessary. We're not sure how often these visits will be, but we are assuming at first they will be frequent to make sure everything is fine. He will resume normal diet and activities, but will bruise easily and cuts will bleed more now that he's on the blood thinner.

He is also on a med for valley fever, even though the results have not come back positive (the first set was "indeterminate") but it will only last 2 weeks. His appt with the pulmonologist and hematologist will be coming up soon, and the pulm. will order a PET scan to check for cancer. He still has the clots (which will dissolve over time and we have been reassured will not "go" anywhere they shouldn't) and the docs will now try to figure out why he has them. This could be a range of a blood disorder to lung cancer to being related to his possibly having Marfan's syndrome, a genetic disorder he has been alerted to having symptoms of but hasn't been officially diagnosed since he would need genetic testing for that and our ins won't pay for it.

Anyway, that's the story, morning glory! Thanks everyone for your thoughts and concerns. This journey isn't over yet, but at least he is home with us. Love you all.

Today's update

Not much to say. His INR number went to 1.7 so a tiny bit closer to him coming home. Still waiting full test results for VF.

Mark in the hospital

Hi everyone. I decided to update on the blog instead of texting and calling everyone every time there is an update. If you're wondering if there is something new, just check here!

Mark has been suffering from lung/chest pain and shortness of breath for about a month, since he came down with bronchitis over Christmas. A chest x-ray was ordered to check for pneumonia and they saw that he has nodules in his lungs. Next they ordered a CT scan for more details and were able to measure them, etc. His primary care Dr said they could be an array of things from benign (harmless) to cancer. Mark made an appt with a pulmonologist for Feb 14th but this past week got sick again and was really short of breath so on Friday went to the ER.

ER doc did blood work and found his number that indicates blood clots to be extremely high (normal is 0-.5, his was 13) so they ordered another CT scan after injecting him with iodine which highlights where the clots are. He has many clots in both lungs, which is of course highly unusual for someone his age, as well as very dangerous. The dr told him he would have not lasted 2 more days if he hadn't come in. Scary.

So he was admitted to the ICU on Fri night, and has been put on a blood thinner IV (heparin) as well as a blood thinning pill (coumadin). The idea is to get his levels right using both of those, then get him off the IV and solely on the oral med so he can come home. His INR number (indicates blood thinness) needs to be at 2 to come home, and now it is 1.5. It has been at 1.2 the past few days so hopefully his body is now responding to the medication and it will move more rapidly.

The pulmonologist at the hospital thinks he has valley fever which would explain the nodules but not the clots. The results for VF come back today or tomorrow (hopefully), and we will move on from there to test for other illnesses like blood disorders and lung cancer. He will get a pet scan (which screens for cancer) after he is released from the hospital either way, and if it comes back positive, he will have a biopsy.

That's the update. Lots of people are offering to watch the girls, bring us dinner, etc so I can go be with him as much as possible. We are very grateful for everyone's prayers and service. I know I am being strengthened and sustained by the Lord during this crazy time.

Some questions people ask:

How does Mark feel? He feels pretty much normal, so he is studying and watching tv and stuff. I'm glad he's not in constant pain or something. He has occasional chest pain still but the pulmonologist said that is normal.

How am I feeling? I am feeling fine physically, in fact better than I did before Mark went to the hospital (tender mercy). I have 5 more weeks of pregnancy to go, and I am so grateful that I'm NOT due at any moment. Wow, that would be stressful. Emotionally I feel drained but I feel like I have more energy and patience than normal with the girls. They are also feeling Mark's absence and cry for him here and there, but I'm trying to keep our routine as normal as possible which is helping. We got skype to work yesterday so we got to see him on the computer which was fun for them.

Do I need anything? Right now it's sort of on a day to day basis so I'm not really sure. We have dinners coming for the next few days, and people are lined up to watch the girls. We can always use prayers. :-)

We love you all and again, thank you for all your support.