Tuesday, February 24, 2009

An Update...

I haven't been updating my blog because truly not much has changed. So Monday of last week I woke up in the middle of the night in terrible pain which didn't go away by morning. I called my doctor who told me sadly, it's normal and not much that can be done. But since my pain medication wasn't really doing anything for me, they were able to get me a better script for hydrocodone, drug of the streets and drug of choice for General Hospital addictees. By Tuesday afternoon, I was thankfully on the hydrocodone which doesn't actually get rid of the pain. Basically, the medicine takes my pain from a level 10 to a level 7 or 8 but makes me a little doppier which ultimately allows me to sleep. It also takes 30 minutes to kick in, is strong only for about 1.5 -2 hours and then wears off and can't be taken for 4 hours. So, Tuesday and Wednesday night I basically passed in and out of consciousness every four hours to take some pills.

I saw my doctor and PA on Thursday who both feel awful for me, but discussed that there really is only one other option -- which can be more painful than the kidney stone itself and doesn't always work. I had an ultrasound that told me the stone was still there but moving, so at least there was progress. They advised me to hang in there, gave me a refill script in case my meds ran out over the weekend and told me to come in on Monday.

Friday went a little better and Saturday I thought I passed the stone! I had a wonderful night of sleep on Saturday night where I could actually sleep on my side -- one of the most horrible things about this is that I can only be comfortable propped up against pillows. Sleeping on either side is incredibly painful and really lying on my back only slightly better.

But Sunday morning, I woke up with slight pain in my back (where my kidney is). I assumed that maybe it was just exhaustion and stress, but alas by 10 am the pains were back and full force and lasted until Monday at 12 pm. I saw my doctor yesterday and he said, that I had passed part of the stone, but not all of it and to just hang in there.

So far since yesterday afternoon I've felt pretty good, but there's no telling when it will come back. Basically, I could be fine for an afternoon, and then out of nowhere I will be wracked in pain. The worst part to me is that I really don't have any absolutes -- no idea when everything will actually be over, nothing to really look forward to as the finish line.

The good news in all of this is that the baby is fine. She keeps kicking away, and her heartbeat shows her to not be under any stress or trauma and the medicine doesn't hurt her at all.

That's pretty much it! I probably am not going to be blogging a lot until there's something to report. It can sometimes be painful to sit so, I'm more likely to be laying down or pacing -- hence you probably won't hear much from me by telephone either. Just keep me in your thoughts and send any mental strength my way.

4 comments:

Literary Auntie said...

Oh, poor Alex - I feel so bad for you.

Net Ghost said...

Hope you feel better soon!

Sarah K said...

I'm sorry you feel so crappy and in pain!! You need a long distance healing from Julie!! Feel better...

Unknown said...

You poor thing! After dealing with this childbirth will be a snap.