Exciting And Exceptional

Just a few days ago I said that I wouldn’t be updating this blog very often unless something exciting or exceptional happens. I must be jinxed. On Saturday I went to the emergency room due to excruciating pain in my left lower abdomen. It was awful. Sweat was pouring off of me. My breathing rate and heart rate were up. I thought I was going to die. The ER knew that I was coming and I was lucky to be prioritized. It took multiple doses of morphine and dilaudid to make the pain go away.

The problem turned out to be a kidney stone. Apparently it burst free from the kidney and is now traveling and making its way to the bladder, so I have not expelled it yet. At 3mm it’s a relatively small stone and the consensus among the urologists was to let it pass on its own rather than intervene with a more invasive approach or even ultrasound. We’ll see how this goes. The hope is that it will pass easily, leaving me with nothing more than a burning sensation.

The modern ER at my hospital is different from what I thought it was. First off, it’s huge, and it’s not obvious to hospital visitors how big it is unless they see it for themselves. It has only one public entrance. Other entrances and exits are so discrete you wouldn’t even notice them. They look like closet doors and are accessible only to staff.

Second, the ER serves more as a gateway than a place where people are treated. It’s a triage system. If a patient entered the ER with a gunshot wound they would get a quick evaluation and go directly to surgery. The ER does not have the ability to perform significant surgical procedures. They can take care of smaller problems, such as stitching up a small wound or prescribing drugs for various ailments. But if you entered with a broken finger you might wait a long time to see a doctor or nurse, and at best they’d splint the finger and set you up with an orthopedic appointment. In my case they had a good idea of what was wrong with me. They confirmed it with a CT scan and discharged me by the end of the day. And yes, I have a future appointment with a urologist.