3281 Out, out, damned stent!

Friday, June 10, 2011

“A sad soul can kill you quicker, far quicker, than a germ.”
-- John Steinbeck --

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Yesterday it hit 100 degrees. Odd, I didn't notice the heat much at all. I did notice the humidity in the house. Bleck.

The Nugget visited with me for a few hours Wednesday and again Thursday while her mother went to appointments. We played "stick your tongue out like Gramma". Now "open your mouth wide like Gramma." At 6.5 weeks, she's very good at copying what you do. She loves the sound "moo", so Old MacDonald has a lot of cows when we sing the song. She smiles a lot, especially a big grin when she first sees me, which feels nice.

Today I saw my new GP for the first time. Actually, he and his daughter practice together, and I really wanted his daughter (I prefer a female GP), but she had jury duty this week, and I needed to establish a GP before the pre-admittance testing next Tuesday. The urologist and the hospital require my "family" doctor's approval for the ESWL procedure.

I like him. He really listens, and added some stuff to the testing based on things I said.

Tuesday's testing will involve a LOT of blood drawn. At least I can drink water that morning. I intend to be absolutely bloated.

I see the urologist again next Monday. I have many concerns, mainly about how we don't really know what my anatomy is in there, except that I do have two unconnected collection areas in the left kidney, and I'm concerned that if the second ureter joins the first somewhere along the line instead of going all the way to the bladder, the stent could actually block the broken up stone pieces from passing. If the second ureter goes all the way to the bladder (and it seems like it should be easy to LOOK in the bladder and see if there's a second ureter), then the stent is useless, and I don't see why we can't get rid of it.

Plus there's my fragile capillaries thing, and I'm worried that the zapping could damage the capillaries in the kidney and cause eventual failure. Plus there's no way the anesthesiologist is going to get an IV in me if I'm dehydrated (as they want me to be) for the procedure. I need the IV in place the day before. Plus I want to be absolutely certain there's no NO NO infection in the kidney, and I'm not sure they're going to check for that.

And so on. I intend to be a pain in the urologist's rear.

Right now, the procedure is scheduled for next Friday, assuming I pass all the tests.

I don't care about the damn stone anymore. I could probably live with that. I'd still have one and a half functioning kidneys, and that seems to be enough. I just want this stent OUT! My bladder is irritated, I've had bloody urine for the past few weeks, it feels like something's poking sharply at the bottom, and my stomach is sticking out horribly and I can't hold it in because even that hurts.
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