Winooski? More like WinOWWWWWski! (Part II)
We sipped on gin and tonics and caught up on life, and just as it was nearing midnight, I felt a sharp pain in my right side. I'd been sitting in a twisted position on the couch all night, so at first I thought it was a muscle spasm. I tried to subtly stretch it out. Then I thought maybe it was gas pain, so I excused myself to the bathroom. Nothing. It worsened in a matter of seconds, and when I exited the bathroom, I was hunched over and said "I don't know what to do, I'm in so much pain right now."
I laid down on the extremely dirty floor trying to find any sort of comfortable position while my brain was working overtime to form a plan: "Do I go back to the hotel? Do I go to the hospital? Is there a certain hospital I have to go to? Do I call my manager now? Will she be awake? Am I overreacting? Will I be okay for the show tomorrow? Do I have health insurance coverage from the company? Do I tell the cast what's happening?" The pain was getting sharper and starting to wrap around to my abdomen and I felt faint and as if I might be sick. He asked if I could make it to the car, I said yes and decided I needed to go back to the hotel to grab my manager and maybe go to the doctor from there.
The car ride was uncomfortable. I tilted the seat all the way back and couldn't stop squirming. "Are you sure you want to go to the hotel, the hospital is right here," James asked. "Yes, take me to the hospital!" I groaned, realizing it had gotten to a point of urgency where I needed help ASAP. We pulled into the University of Vermont Medical Center and the second I was through the doors, I was back on the floor. The drama. James handed me a mask to put on while I called my manager, waking her from her sleep. I believe all I got out was "I was out with a friend and I started having sharp pains in my side so he took me to the hospital at the University. I'm okay on my own, I'll tex you when I have answers." It was 12:11am.
The hospital staff urged me into a wheelchair to get me off the floor, and they started asking for my name, address, etc. to find me in the system. Obviously there was no record of me because I would only be in town for a day and a half. At this point, I could tell James didn't seem to know whether he should stay or go. We didn't actually know each other that well, so he felt awkward being there for all the personal information questions. I thanked him for the evening and for driving me to the hospital, apologized for the unexpected events of the night, and told him to go home. What a way to end a date!
The nurse wheeled me into an office to get a detailed description of what was going on and almost immediately after saying I felt nauseous, I was on my hands and knees vomiting everything I had eaten that day into a cardboard bucket on the floor. I felt slightly better for maybe a minute. They brought me to a curtained off room, handed me a medical gown to change into, helped me onto the bed, took my blood pressure and vitals, and started on an IV. I did my best to stay still for them as the pain increased. I labeled it a 6/10 when I first arrived, but now I was up to a 7.5/10.
The doctor said I was doing the "kidney stone dance," but that they would need to run some tests to make sure. KIDNEY STONES?! Kidney stones have always been one of my greatest fears because everyone claims the pain is worse than giving birth...my other greatest fear! It was hard to pinpoint exactly where the pain was since it had spread around half my body and they wondered if it could be gallbladder related. This was scarier news because I knew that would require surgery and a long recovery period that would definitely take me out of the tour.
I haven't had an IV in my arm in years, but I didn't care what was being done to me, I just wanted any type of relief. I had chills and was still pretty nauseous. They gave me a dose of what they said was a stronger version of ibuprofen, flooded me with fluids, and added medication for the nausea. The pain killer did nothing. It was coming in waves that went from bad to worse, none of which allowed me to sit still or find a comfortable position standing, sitting, or laying down.
At 12:46 am, I finally had a moment to text my parents to let them know where I was and what was going on. MY mom immediately called me and I reassured her that I was well taken care of and that I was going to be fine. My mom has had kidney stones before, so she knew the pain I was in! Thankfully, the 3 hour time difference made it easier for my parents to stay up on the West Coast throughout the night while I updated them.
I was able to hobble to the bathroom to give a urine sample, and when I returned to my bed, they leveled me up to morphine. Now it was 1:00 am. The pain eased off to a manageable level and the doctor came in with a couple students while she did an ultrasound. This quickly ruled out the gallbladder theory which was a relief. I never thought I would feel RELIEVED to have kidney stones! "Ah yeah, there's a whole bunch of them in the there" the doctor said to the student. What?! Great. The morphine seemed to expire in the middle of the ultrasound, and I now felt a sort of burning sensation on my skin, and the pain was wrapping my whole right side and was most intense in the middle of my back. It felt like my whole body was tensed up and I couldn't keep a neutral spine or lie flat on my back. I labeled this an 8.5/10 and that was the point that I remember it being the very worst.
Sidenote: I handled pain by focusing on my breath and cracking jokes with the nurses (mostly sarcastic ones). I've always been told that I have a high pain tolerance, but how do you really know, right? I do commend myself for staying calm, breathing, and cooperating with whatever the nurses/doctors needed. I did cry, I didn't yell. I just focused on breathing and getting done whatever needed to be done. I realize that an 8.5/10 doesn't sound that extreme, but it was by far the worst pain I've ever been in. So if that's my 8.5, my 10 must be death.
The nurse (the same nurse? different nurse? doctor? I couldn't keep track of who was who anymore, but everyone was lovely) gave me another dose of unknown painkillers, then wheeled me in for a CT scan. That was a first for me. I had to ask the doctors if this was the thing I couldn't move in. They said yes. "Shit." I thought. That was going to be a challenge to lie flat and still for 3 whole minutes. But I did it.
The time is now 1:35 am. They brought me back to my room to wait for test results, so I called my mom to update her on the situation. The morphine finally kicked in and the pain was not absent, but manageable. I could move around more easily, but I was definitely hazy from the meds. I vomited again then called the nurse to let her know I had my insurance information ready for front desk staff now that I could think straight, then took another wobbly trip to the bathroom. No stone yet. I clumsily texted back my manager and my friends who had been asking for updates. I retrieved my ear buds from my purse and drifted in and out of sleep to the Easy Autumn playlist from my walk earlier. The room was dark, the bed was comfortable, and I could finally lay flat and relax.
A few hours pass and around 3:30 am I woke up and the pain was at a ZERO! I was still a little foggy, but I was so calm. Still no answers, but was so thankful the pain was gone, and I fall back asleep. At 4:00 am the doctor came back to ask if I remembered our conversation about the CT scan. Clearly I did not. She explained the pathway of passing a kidney stone and told me that by the time the CT scan was taken, the stone was almost to the entrance to the bladder. I assume this means that I went through the worst of the pain and the movement of the stone before the meds even kicked in. She also informed me that I have more stones in my kidney so it's possible I could pass another in the future. She said I was okay to leave and she left to start on my exit paperwork!
At 4:10 am I went to the bathroom low and behold, there was a tiny stone in the cup. Didn't even feel it. It's still so crazy to me that such a tiny thing caused so much pain! I walked out triumphantly feeling like I won a prize. They asked me if I wanted to keep it and at first I laughed, but then accepted the capsule to put it in. I didn't get a postcard, but I did get a kidney stone!
I thanked all the nurses and my doctor for being so wonderful, and I asked if anyone had kids and wanted tickets to the show, but no one was available. They ordered me a cab and generously covered the cost and by 5:00 am I was back in my hotel room bed.
My manager called me in the morning to check in and let me know she had arranged for me to have late checkout and a ride to the venue at 1pm so I could get some extra rest and not stress about packing up my bags. It was perfect. I got a bit more sleep, packed my things, rode to the venue and performed the show like it never happened.
Comments
Post a Comment