So I went to the emergency department (ED) today literally right at the beginning of my shift because I 1) was diaphoretic, 2) was tachypneic, 3) had tunnel vision, 4) was dizzy, 5) was nauseated, and 6) felt tingling/numbness in my fingers, right before I got blinding flank pain and nearly passed out in front of my coworkers. Luckily, I work in an ICU, so I had a whole shit-ton of nurses there, ready to do whatever it took to get me feeling okay (okay enough to send to the ED at least).

And guess what. Remember that kidney stone that I had back in November? Well, she’s still with me, and this time, she’s 3mm bigger than when I last had her looked at. And she’s actively trying to kill me.

Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it really felt that way earlier today, a mere twenty minutes after I’d gotten report on my patients. My immediate first thoughts were, oh god, I’m having a panic attack, but then they immediately went to, oh god, am I dying? stroking out? what is going onnnnnn?

But I digress.

There’s a bit of a concern that I could become septic if the kidney stone is infected with something, but we’re treating that prophylactically with antibiotics and plenty of rest, which I sorely need anyway. Then after that? Well, the bitch is getting blasted out of existence. I’ll still have to pass the little bits of Karen the Kidney Stone, but it’ll be way easier than to try squeezing an 11.5mm stone through my urethra.

Gah, it hurts just thinking about it.

I’ll probably have to strain my urine to see what kind of stone has decided to grow inside me, so that’ll be a whole new level of fun for me in the bathroom. It’ll be like permanently carrying a Shewee everywhere I go, which I guess I could make into some type of game? Ultimately, the goal is to determine if it’s a calcium oxalate or uric stone so I can figure out how I can try and prevent another one from occurring. I’m really hoping it’s a calcium-based stone because with a uric stone, I’d have to follow a low-purine diet … and I don’t wanna. I already have a hard enough time finding foods to eat, and a low-purine diet just makes it more difficult.

But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let’s just focus on getting this stupid kidney stone out of my body and then we’ll go from there.

Send me good vibes that I’ll get to see a urologist on Monday!