Kidney Stone

The pain that woke me Thursday night did not begin to subside until nearly dawn. Weary and confused, I wondered if I should try to get to the emergency room. But I had never taken the time to familiarize myself with the details of our new health plan; the papers were somewhere at the office; wonder where?

[My only ER experience to-date resulted in a $1200 bill which was more painful than the original malady. So you can see why I’m reluctant to go there without studying my insurance policy.]

After the most awful pain ebbed I slept again, and woke dazed, at 8:30. Not long after that I had a call from my friend Nancy who was able to give some advice and the name of a doctor we thought would be covered by my new health plan.

At my afternoon appointment I learned that the likely cause of my pain was a kidney-stone, bladder-infection combo. Now I have antibiotics and painkillers, but the doctor urged me not to hesitate to make a middle-of-the-night visit to the ER over the weekend if the pain comes back in a big way.

So, I guess it's time to take it easy. Meg says I shouldn’t go jogging either – suggesting that such activity could spread the infection throughout my system and have some nasty effect like rendering me infertile. Wonder what the doc would say about that? I joked that it would be nice to have the decision about whether or not to have children made for me since life is just too darn complicated already, but Megan scolded me for such thoughts…. Ah, just blame them on the meds!

So, I’ve been reading. Nothing too challenging: things like Deb’s Good Housekeeping magazine. I read it cover-to-cover and discovered a small article written by someone I know. This afternoon I put my greasy hair up in a Central Asian headscarf and settled myself out on the back porch to read the latest Joel Rosenberg thriller, enjoying the international travel and vicarious adventure without having to move a muscle. Ah, life is good. Really, it is. Time for a cup of tea - and another Vicodin...