Kidney Stones

On April 17,  Jonathon woke up in the early morning with a lower abdominal pain. He tried to go back to sleep, but he could never get comfortable. By about 6:30 AM, he was in extreme agony unlike anything he had ever felt before. He told me that he needed to go to the Emergency Room. He was curled up rolling on the floor, and dizzy and nauseous from the pain. His symptoms were so similar to mine when I had a gall stone (only lower) that I was almost certain he had a kidney stone. He had never had one before, but his history of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) made it seem like a real possibility. 

I quickly called my friend, Andie, and asked if she could watch the boys for a few hours. She was so obliging, as usual, and I quickly got them dressed and took them to her house before we headed for the E.R. Poor Jonathon could hardly walk, but I was able to help him to the front desk.

It was a very slow morning in the E.R., so they got him right in. They got him some good, strong medicine, and within a few minutes he was starting to relax a little and able to get a little rest. They took him back for a CT scan, and about a half an hour later we got the results. Sure enough, it was a kidney stone causing the pain. The doctor assured us that it was small enough to pass on its own (about .3 cm), but unfortunately, there were 6 more kidney stones already formed. That was a bit discouraging, but all we could do was get through this one. We left the E.R. and picked up Jonathon's 5! medications. 

For the next 24 hours, he suffered through quite a bit of pain before that darn stone finally passed. It was a huge inconvenience and very uncomfortable for him, but he was so grateful for modern medicine that provided him with at least some pain relief. We are hopeful that he doesn't pass another one any time soon.