Kidney Stones Are Awful.

My unexpected ride in an ambulance...that ended in a short, unplanned surgery. At this point in the story I have some good medications in me and I'm only feeling a bit of nausea.

One day I woke up and said goodbye to my sweet sister and her family, who had been visiting us for a few days. One short hour after their departure I started to feel sharp, awful, (unfortunately unfamiliar) flank pain. I knew exactly what it was...kidney pain. I had the same dreadful experience just 6 weeks after giving birth to Teague, while we (Spencer, the kids, and I) were vacationing in Pennsylvania. That memorable experience landed me in some, middle-of-nowhere emergency room, begging for some type of explanation to why I felt like I was going to pass out because of pain. So this time I braced myself for what I knew would be awful and hoped that within 24 hours I would pass the good-for-nothing stone. It didn't happen that way. In fact I was in so much pain I started vomiting every 30-45 minutes because I absolutely wanted to be admitted to the hospital and pumped full of something or knocked out completely. By the next day I hoped that things would improve, and I did have some momentary relief, but by late afternoon I was starting to run a temperature and had uncontrollable chills. I was defeated and desperate. It was time to visit the ER...again. Spencer had already taken the boys and sis to the ward rodeo so I thought maybe I would just drive myself there. Yea right. Spencer found awesome friends to keep an eye on the kids and he took me in. Long story short; It was determined that I had a kidney infection and needed IV antibiotics and a stent placed to drain the infection from my right kidney. The ER that we went to did not have operating rooms so I had to be transported downtown, to Boise, where I could have the surgery done. Spencer kissed me goodbye, got the kids settled at home and I was taken via ambulance to St. Luke's in Boise. It was crazy. I survived though and have one more surgery to go. By the way, I still have a stone in the left kidney. It's small right now, I'm told there isn't much I can do about it. So, I guess this is my lot in life. I hate kidney stones. I love the blessings I receive during trials like this though. I guess that's the beautiful heartbreak of life. And so it goes.