Thursday was the day that I had scheduled for getting the kidney stone removed, and when the alarm went off that morning I was ready in almost record time. I didn't want to be late for the party to finally get rid of the stone. After arriving and taking care of a few bits of paperwork (and trying to determine if I needed to go directly to get some x-rays taken) I was whisked away to the back room to get me prepped. They wasted no time in getting me back into the patient uniform (sans jeans this time. Bummer). Unfortunately, I did need to have some x-rays taken, so I was brought to the radiology lab via a wheel chair with a blanket over my shoulders and over my legs, and left in the waiting room to wait for the next available tech. It was interesting to see some of the reactions of some people as they passed in front of someone in a wheel chair. Definitely food for thought. When it was time to go in for my x-rays, I got a very chatty technician who also graciously took me back after the x-rays were complete. I then got back into the bed and had my IV put in (which, if you know me, you know that I absolutely LOVE needles, especially when they're put in to my skin. You'll also know that I'm being VERY sarcastic. :) ). The doctor came by, and left another "R" on my stomach (I joked that he definitely left his mark on me, which he replied "would you rather I leave a Z or a K"? Touche. :) He then showed me my x-rays, which showed several other kidney stones waiting in the wings. So, I have that to look forward to in the future. Hopefully they'll pass with more relative ease than this one.
Unfortunately, the location that they chose for my IV wasn't working out, so just before I went in for surgery, they put it in on the other hand (which was like a carnival for me with my needle fixation). After administering the "this will make you a bit sleepy" medicine, I found myself back in the bed where I started. I have very little recollection of what exactly happened (not that I'm particularly complaining). I have to get in contact with the doctor to see what exactly he did up there, since the x-rays seem to show that either the stone passed into the bladder, or something else was present. In any case, I need to get the stent removed in a few weeks time, so I'll be back in the hospital to have that removed.
Also, General Anesthesia is a bitch. I had a little spell after about three bites of mashed potatoes that had me in the bathroom taking care of business. Mind you, I felt tonnes better afterward, but damn, that stuff packs quite a whallop.
More later. I promise I'll blog about something else outside of kidney stones soon. :)