Stoned in Diary

I woke up this morning to a terrible pain in my back. It felt like a really bad cramp that I assumed was caused by sleeping in an awkward position. I decided to get up and walk around a little to allow my muscles to stretch and relax, but the pain kept getting worse. After maybe 15 minutes of shuffling around my bedroom with no relief in sight, I came to realize what was wrong with me. I had another kidney stone.

Luckily, the nearest hospital is only 1.5 miles away, or about 2.4 kilometers, so I didn’t have to drive for long at all. The ER was not busy, either, so I was able to get in to a room within 5 minutes. As soon as the doctor came in, my pain level dropped from a 9 to a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10, so I began to wonder if maybe I was just being paranoid about the whole thing. I almost got up off the bed and walked out, I felt so much better.

A nurse came in soon after the doctor had talked to me and wheeled me into a room for a CT scan. I was perfectly capable of walking. It feels wrong to be wheeled around like that if you aren’t disabled. Almost mocking.

Shortly after the scan was over, the pain came back in full force, and I sat on the bed stiffly and tried not to moan or grunt too much until the morphine arrived. The last time I was given morphine, I felt pleasantly stoned and a little euphoric. This time, all it did for me was make the pain go away. When the nurse asked what my pain level was, I lied and said 6 when it was really more like 1. I’ll be damned if I’m not going to get my money’s worth for an expensive ER visit. I’m glad I did, too, because even after the second injection the pain crept through from time to time enough to make me stiffen up a bit.

The doctor came back to the room a half hour or so after I had the CT scan and informed me that I did in fact have a kidney stone. Two, actually. There is a stone still inside my right kidney that he said may or may not pass, and a stone from my left kidney that is slowly making its painful way through my system. So, good times.

I was totally fine to drive by the time it was time to leave, but of course the nurse insisted that I find a ride, so I called my dad and asked him to give me a ride down to the pharmacy to fill the prescriptions the doctor prescribed to me. He was nice enough to help me out, and now I’m cracked out on pain pills writing this entry. I’m still in pain, but I feel a bit better.

I tried to sleep for a while, but I can’t sleep when I take pain pills, for some reason, so I just laid there and thought about things for an hour or so. I’m not a huge fan of pain pills. That’s what I’ve been up to today, in a nutshell. I need to go up and figure out something to eat. The pills didn’t agree with me, as I smartly took them on an empty stomach. I’m thinking a couple pieces of toast with melted cheese on top, along with a good-sized bowl of chicken or beef broth. I need something solid in there, because I’m supposed to also take ibuprofen 800’s along with the norcos.

With any luck, I’ll pass the damned thing today or tomorrow. I’m really tired. Maybe I’ll try laying down again. Take care, everyone.