Last night I went to bed a bit earlier than normal because my stomach was hurting. Eventually the pain spread outward until it wrapped around my back and I couldn't move without feeling horrible pains shoot through my stomach.
After wavering between going downstairs to find someone to call a doctor and trying to outlast the pain until morning, pragmatism finally won out and I slowly got dressed and made my way down to the front desk.
Unfortunately the doctor wasn't available for an hour; fortunately I don't really recall that hour. When he finally arrived we began the task of trying to understand each other, he through the lens of medicine and me through the lens of blinding pain.
I recognized the word "stone" and, after piecing together what little medical knowledge remained of my pre-med days, tried to think of all the places stones could form in the body and where I was hurting.
Kidney.
I have kidney stones.
The doctor administered an anti-inflammatory shot to make my muscles relax and then he gave me a dose of morphine. There was pain, then I was floating.
After wavering between going downstairs to find someone to call a doctor and trying to outlast the pain until morning, pragmatism finally won out and I slowly got dressed and made my way down to the front desk.
Unfortunately the doctor wasn't available for an hour; fortunately I don't really recall that hour. When he finally arrived we began the task of trying to understand each other, he through the lens of medicine and me through the lens of blinding pain.
I recognized the word "stone" and, after piecing together what little medical knowledge remained of my pre-med days, tried to think of all the places stones could form in the body and where I was hurting.
Kidney.
I have kidney stones.
The doctor administered an anti-inflammatory shot to make my muscles relax and then he gave me a dose of morphine. There was pain, then I was floating.
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