Same Kidney Stone, New Pain

So...................................

I went to the hospial AGAIN yesterday, thinking that I had some sort of bladder infection or something. I've gotten them before, and for those of us who have, it's an UNMISTAKABLE feeling. You KNOW when you have one. And, I thought I did. So, I called my doctor and asked if I could please come in and give a urine sample, etc. My doctor and all others in the office were ALL out of the office. So, the nurse told me that I should (once again) go to the emergency room because it "may not be a bladder infection but have something to do with preterm labor" because I was feeling a lot of pressure and burning. I didn't anticipate being in "labor" at all... I know what labor is and I was just NOT in it!

So, with the nurses advice I went to Clovis Community Hospital and asked to be seen as a "labor check". This allows me to bipass the ER process and get up to a room quickly. So, after checking in and taking a seat to be called, my old/origional doctor, Renee Halstead, walked by. She said, "Nikki, what are you doing here?" I proceeded to tell her what was going on... that I felt like I had some sort of bladder infection or something. She told me that I should've gone to Fresno Community Hospital, instead of where I was... Clovis Community. She said that when she transferred my care to my new doctor at Fresno, she transfered all my records, kidney ultrasounds, etc... Clovis was going to have no way of knowing about all of my recent problems and, therefor, probably wouldn't be able to help me out as well.

She then asked if she could use my cell phone to call a friend at Fresno Community. She called and told her friend that she was sending me over and that I needed a "STAT labor check". Even though she believed me that I KNEW I was NOT in labor, she still said this so that I would have no wait! It was very cool of her! I thanked her and headed to Fresno Comm.

Upon my arrival, I was placed in a room immediately, hooked up to heart monitors to listen to Chase's heart, an IV was started and I was given pain killer... all within about 20 minutes.

After receiving blood tests, urine tests and a new kidney ultrasound, the doctor came in and said that there was no sign of any type of infection, but that she thought that I was probably FINALLY passing my kidney stone. She said that this feels very similar to a bladder infection because it's all the same tubes. Which, makes sense. So, she sent me to ultrasound to make sure that the stone had, in fact, LEFT my kidney and was headed OUT of my body. Nate was able to go in to the ultrasound with me and when the tech started looking at my left kidney, Nate said, "Oh my gosh, Nikki... I can SEE the stone in there." So, Nate, with NO ultrasound training, saw the stone!? Seriously. It was significant enough for the untrained eye to point out. He asked the tech, "Is that the stone?" and she said, "Um, I'm not allowed to tell you what I 'think' something is because that's 'diagnosing'.. I CAN tell you that THAT'S what they saw before... if that answers your question."

I was so bummed. I really thought that the stone was passing and that the end was in sight... but, I guess not.

They had been pushing fluids since I arrived, and I think by this time I was probably on my 2nd or 3rd bag of saline, so I had been getting up and going to the bathroom a lot. TWICE of which, I had found teeny little stones (like grains of sand) in my urine! I thought that this was FINALLY the visit where they were getting this thing OUT OF ME! But, no. WHen the doctor reviewed my ultrasound and compared it to my first one from April 3rd, she said that the stone was in the same place and that it was pretty much the same size, but that it looked like a little piece had chipped off the corner.

So, 11 hours after arriving, they were sending me home with MORE Vicodin prescriptions and told me to drink water. This is when my night got REALLY ugly, as if it could get worse, right?

I asked the doctor if there was any type of medication I could take for the pain that wasn't SO powerful... that I was starting to worry about being on Vicodin for so long and worried about how it was effecting the baby. She said that Tylenol would not hurt him AT ALL, but that it just wasn't powerful enough to take my pain away, which is EXTREMELY important. As I mentioned recently, when I'm feeling pain, my blood sugar rises to dangerous numbers, so keeping my pain under control not only takes care of me physically, but also keeps my blood numbers down to the "safe zone" for Chase. She then proceeded to tell me something that she should have kept in HER brain and not let come out of her mouth... she said, "I do have to warn you though that your baby will probably be born addicted to Vicodin and go through some withdrawls when he's born, but that can be easily treated." I'm like... SERIOUSLY? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You just told me that, basically, the health of my child depends on me TAKING the Vicodin, but then you tell me that by taking it, I could cause him many troubles after he's born!?!?! I just couldn't believe that she'd say that... the effects of Vicodin on babies hasn't been PROVED to do ANYTHING, I was just trying to be cautious... there was no need for her to tell me that. Then, after I burst into tears, she lectured me on how I shouldn't feel guilty. Seriously, lady.

After walking out in the middle of her lecture (which was rude, but I was so upset I just wanted to find Nate, who had gone down to get the car pulled around front) I honestly thought about ripping up my prescription. I honestly did. I thought, "sure this pain is horrible, but I can handle it... and if I just up my insulin and eat less (which isn't a good idea, but sounded good at the time) then my blood will start off so low, that it won't raise extremely high!" Great idea, Nikki! (sarcasm)

Nate drove me home, ran me a hot bath surrounded by candles. It would have been totally relaxing if I hadn't been in so much pain... but I still hadn't decided if I was feeling okay with taking any more pain killer or not, so I had nothing in my system.

Nate sat up and talked me through the tears until around 2am. He pulled up about 30 stories off the internet that were similar to mine, to show me how other women had said that the Vicodin they were forced to take didn't hurt their babies at all. This was comforting, and after hearing what Nate had said and the pain getting worse, I took my pain killer.

I woke up several times during the night to go to the restroom (typical of me right now, at almost 6 months pregnant, but also NEEDED because of the 4 bags of water they put in my system!!)... each time was painful, even on pain killer. I woke up this morning after my 4 hour "take-another-pill" cut off had passed with extreme pain, and took another. So far today, I've had to take them like clockwork because my pain is so bad.

I'm honestly, SO READY for this kidney stone to be OUT OF ME, but, at the same time, I am SOOOOO thankful that God has protected this sweet baby through all of it.

While I laid there yesterday, getting pumped with fluids, I couldn't help but overhear my nurse talking to the woman in the curtain next to me, explaining her that her baby's heart was no longer beating... that they couldn't find it on the monitor. She was 22 weeks pregnant, just a week behind me. Through the tears I shed for her in that moment, I realized that I could handle this. That I would lose an arm for Chase and his health! I would and will and AM doing everything I can for him. From the 5 shots of insulin a day, the kidney stone from hell that won't LEAVE me alone, my hips popping out of place, the headaches... I mean, I haven't exactly had a "smooth pregnancy" this time around... but I don't care. He's healthy. His little heart is beating. He's got all of his fingers and toes (we counted during our last ultrasound :) )... He's fine!... and I'll keep doing whatever I can to make sure he stays that way.

Kidney Stones + Gestational Diabetes = High Risk Pregnancy

So, this morning, I called my midwife to let her know that I was still in EXTREME pain. I don't want to keep popping pain killer! This CAN NOT be good for my baby! There has GOT to be something SOMEONE can do for me!?!?

When I called her for her advice, she informed me that she will no longer be assuming my prenatal care, but that she had transfered me to a "high risk" doctor at a "high risk pregnancy" facility" where they will assume the rest of my prenatal care. Her reason was that with my gestation diabetes PLUS these kidney problems, she would feel better if I were treated as a "high risk" patient, so that my care with be more thorough. Of course, "better" care is great, but I would've appreciated being TALKED TO about this before it was "said and done". I loved my midwife! I had her with my last son and I wanted her again this time! Nate and I were a little disappointed to have to switch offices, staff, hospitals, etc.

So, we just got home from our first appt. with our new doctor. We loved her, she was great. We will be very happy dealing with her for the next few months.

She had a lot to say about my kidney stones/problems. First of all, she said that there is nothing that she can do AT ALL to get rid of them -or- to stop them from happening again in the future. She said that getting through this is 100% my responsibility. I have to drink water ALL DAY LONG, which is extremely painful because, with every gulp, it flushes the stone against the inside of my kidney, but she says that this process is breaking up the stone and allowing it to become small enough to pass... Sooo... I'm drinking.

Second, she said that the Vicodin is not, at all, hurting the baby and that, in fact, it takes my pain away which calms me down and lowers my blood pressure (my blood pressure sky-rockets when I'm in pain), which is BETTER for him than no Vicodin at all. So... I'm taking Vicodin.

Also, she will continue to do monthly ultrasounds and the occasional echocardiogram to monitor Chase's heart, growth, etc.

So... all in all... we liked her. She is patient, thorough and explains things in ENGLISH, which we appreciate.

ANyways, that's that. Future updates will hopefully envolve a WHOLE LOT LESS "painful" news!

Back and Forth to the ER

So, Sunday, March 22, I had been working with my parents at a show all day (they do concessions at fairs, carnivals, etc.) . At around 5 pm, I got super tired and needed to go home and rest, so, I took the boys and my little sister Sydney and we headed to my house. It was about a 30 minute drive and about half way through, I started having this pain in my left side. I did my best to stretch it out, twist, all that I could do (while driving) to try to ease the pain, but it got worse and worse. At this point, my eyes were watering from the pain (good thing I had sunglasses on cause I was trying to NOT let Syd and/or my boys know anything was going on).

As I pulled into my house, the bump I drove over going up on to my drive way just about "did me in". It sparked this horrible SHOOTING pain up my back. It was agonizing. The kids got out of the car and ran in the house, but I just sat there for a momoent, gained my composure and honked for Syd. When she came outside, I casually said, "I think I'm gonna go across the street to my doctor's office and get some pain killer for my back." ( I live RIGHT across from the Hospital, where my doc is located, so that wasn't THAT big of a "truth-bender") I just didn't want to freak her out, and ANYTHING health-wise tends to. I asked her if she would mind watching the boys for a while and that I was going to call Nate and have him come home to be with her and them.

By the time I checked into the ER (a whole 10 minutes later), I was crying hysterically. I told the woman at check in that I had a history of Kidney Stones (one with each pregnancy and then one right after I had Connor) and that I KNEW that this was another one. I know this pain! Because I was only 19 weeks and 1 day pregnant, I had to wait in the ER with 50 other people. If I had been 20 or more weeks pregnant, they would have sent me straight up to Labor and Delivery and helped me immediately! But, no. I waited (impatientally).

At around 7pm, when Nate finally got off work and could meet me there, in the ER, I was almost screaming in pain... STILL in the waiting room. He held me and let me cry, but he was getting pretty upset that I was still waiting for help.

When I was finally sent back to a bed, my nurse started an IV and gave me some pain killer. (By this point, I was literally rolling around on my bed like a crazy person and SOBBING. It was quite embarrassing, but I couldn't help it...)

THANK YOU TO MY NURSE FOR FINALLY BRINGING VICODIN! :)

I was in "Happy Town". The doctor came in and said that he had gotten all my results back and it DID look as though I had a kidney stone... there was blood and "particles" in my urine (ew) which meant stone. (the "particles" were tiny pieces of flesh that were being scraped off the inside of my kidney!) He said because I was pregnant, that he would prefer to NOT do anymore testing (like CATscan, etc.) because of the dangers to the baby... which was fine with me. I knew it was a stone and my urine tests pretty much said that too.. That was enough proof for me. He listened to the baby's heartbeat, which was totally normal, and sent me home with a prescription for Vicodin.

2 days later, I was no longer in need of pain killer. The stone had "passed" (ew, again) and the pain was GONE! (So we thought) Well....Friday night, the pain came back. I took one of my Vicodins from my previous "episode", but it didn't help. The pain was SO bad. So, Nate took me back to the ER. This time was less of a wait... we got checked in, traige'd and in a bed in less than an hour. My nurse immediately came in, gave me a Vicodin (the one I had taken had worn off by now, since it had been over 4 hours since I had taken it). The Vicodin was just NOT cutting it tonight! The pain was SO bad that when my nurse came back in to check on me, she brought me Morphine as well. THANK YOU NURSE ( a g a i n )! For the first time in HOURS, I had NO PAIN. ZERO PAIN. It was such a nice feeling.

They sent me in for a kidney ultrasound (which actually DID hurt cause she was pushing on my kidney) and once again, we waited. Over an hour later, the doctor came in (a different doc than I had had previously) and said that my urine, once again, had blood and "particles" in it and that, on the ultrasound, they had found a substancial-sized stone in my kidney... they came in and drugged me up one more time with Morphine and sent me home. I was totally okay during the night. I think I woke up around 4am and took another Vicodin... but, the pain during the day on Saturday was pretty much non existant!...... then, came Saturday night. BACK TO THE ER!!!!Seriously. I cried. I did NOT want to go BACK to that stinkin' ER! I was pretty much embarrassed to go back. Seriously, to face all those people again... they were gonna think I was a hypercondriac or something. But, I had to.

Since my last visit to the ER, the night before, my blood sugars (yah, I have Gestational Diebetes, too) had been around 200. My blood sugar is suppose to be below 90 before I eat and NOT over 120 after I eat. I was having fasting sugars of like 150-170... and then, after I'd eat, they'd be OVER 200, even with my insulin! When you're in any amount of pain, your body automatically, naturally raises your blood sugar. I'm not sure why exactly, but it does. I had no choice but to go back to the hospital and get help, once more, since my Blood Doctor was already out of the office for the weekend... I called my midwife and she said I should just go back to the ER because, with sugars like that, it could do damage to the baby.

So, you know the drill.
Check in. Wait. Triage. Wait. Bed. Wait. IV & Pain killer. Wait. Tests. Wait.

MY DOCTOR THIS NIGHT WAS THE LAMEST MAN I'VE EVER MET.
Seriously.

Nate and I are still laughing about him. I told him why I was there. That I had been diagnosed (or whatever) with a kidney stone, yada yada.
He then says this.. these are his exact words:
"Your urine test came back positive for blood and particles and I saw your ultrasound photos from the other night, which showed a stone in your left kidney... but, I'm sure that the pain you're having is from a pulled muscle in your back because kidney stones don't hurt... and if it were the stone causing the pain, you'd have blood in your urine."

...WHAT?!?!?....

This was the most confusing statement ever. So, let me get this straight. First of all, there's blood in my urine, which you get from kidney stones AND my ultrasound SHOWED one, but that's not where my pain is coming from... it's a pulled muscle? And, second, if the pain WERE coming from my kidney stone, which you JUST said "don't hurt", I would have traces of blood in my urine?Um.....WHAT THE HECK!? C'mon.

Nate and I couldn't help but laugh. What a LAME doctor. Anyways. We were just glad to have a reason to laugh through the circumstance. So, I've been home now (no more ER trips) but my kidney is still KILLING me! (or, should I say, my "pulled muscle".) I have an appointment with a Urologist in the morning who's going to do even MORE tests to try to find out WHY this stone isn't "passing" and what I/he can do to prevent any future ones. My appt. is tomorrow at 10:30. Please say a prayer for me and Baby Chase? It would be REALLY nice if the doc would find a way to make this pain go away. I'm not a big fan of popping Vicodin when I'm pregnant (or, when I'm not, for that matter.) Thanks everyone! I'll let you all know what the Urologist says.