I just had my follow up appointment last week and it has had me reflecting on the events of the last several months. I just thought I would share a little bit about my thoughts...
The summer of 2012 was one that was marked by kidney stones. I have never experienced them previous to this and I pray that I never have to again. Wow....for those of you who have had the pleasure of such an experience you know what I am talking about. In total I had them for about 7 weeks. Some of my patients say that kidney stone pain is about the same as being in labor...I believe it. Though I definitely wouldn't recommend kidney stones to anyone, it was pretty incredible to see how God provided for each and every need that arose during that time.
For a couple of days before I sort of knew something was up. I talked to my chief resident at the time and told her I didn't know what was going on, but I was pretty sure that at some point that week I was going to end up in the ER. 3am that morning was that point. I have two roommates and one of them was out of town - the other one was going to be going out of town in two days. I woke up in the worst pain I have ever experienced (worse than when I broke my foot, and definitely worse than when I blew out my ankle x4). It didn't take long to realize that this wasn't something I was going to be able to handle on my own. Thankfully, one of my roommates was still home. I crawled down the hallway, pounded on her door and it took all of 10 seconds before she realized that I was going to be needing a ride. Praise #1: my roommate was home, I don't know what I would have done without her.
On my way to the ER I called one of my good friends and fellow resident who had graduated from residency a few weeks earlier, Dayna, to meet me in the ER. At 3am, I have to say she responded pretty quickly Praise #2. I thought I was going to have to go to surgery and I knew that if there were going to be any big medical decisions made that I would want Dayna there with me. What a blessing. She advocated for me in the ER and helped me to get admitted more quickly. She stayed with me all day and walked me through each and every test and consultant. Once it was decided that I didn't have an appendicitis or a torsed ovary and that I wasn't going to have surgery right away I got admitted to the GYN team - Praise #3. It was ironic because it was the GYN service that I was technically helping to manage at the time and then I ended up as a patient on their list. So much better to be taken care of peers that you trust though, and I am so thankful for all of their help.
The amount of pain medication that I was on necessitated that when I was released from the hospital that I have someone with me for 24 hours. My roommate was going out of town, and I really didn't want to burden her with this. Dayna graciously volunteered and took me home with her. She was in between graduation and starting her new job which is Praise #4 because she was able to be with me and make sure I had the things I needed without feeling the pressure of needing to be at work.
Praise #5 was that I had previously been scheduled to be on vacation the next week and had bought plane tickets to go home. It is so much nicer to be home with your family when you are not feeling well than here where would I put pressure on myself to get back to work as fast as possible. The pain and stones were rough that week, but I am so thankful that I already had the time off. I came back and on week number three of this and realized I couldn't go on much longer. Pain was only able to be controlled with narcotics and of course, I couldn't work and be on such strong pain medication. Praise #6 - I talked to a couple of my attendings who convinced me to contact a really wonderful urologist we work with. I called him and he graciously agreed to take me to the OR that night Praise #7. I had surgery that night and had a stent placed. If anyone says that stents will make you feel better, don't believe them. I can't decide what was worse - the stent or the stones. The stent was necessary, however, and I knew I needed it. Two days later I was on call for 24 hours. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it. Stent still in place, I felt like I could barely walk. I woke up that morning and just prayed for strength. I knew that I was facing more than I could handle. When I got to work I realized that it was a special call day. Instead of having just one junior resident on call with me to share the load, I had two! Praise #8. God had given me extra help when I needed it the most. The L&D staff was amazing that night and I survived. Pain control was an interesting dilema and I guess I resorted to digging my fingers into my thighs. The multiple bruises that showed up the next day were a testimony to that...I didn't wear shorts for a long time. I don't know that I could have carried the work load without the extra help from my juniors. Praise #9 two wonderful L&D nurses offered to help me pull my stent out after I was done with call. I had talked to my urologist and he said that would be fine. This saved me from taking more time off for another doctor's appointment and helped to get rid of a lot of the pain I was feeling.
I still continued to have pain for many weeks after that, but it was nothing compared to those first three weeks. After this experience I definitely wouldn't wish kidney stones on anyone, but it is incredible looking back on the whole thing and seeing step by step God's provision. What was required of me was beyond what I could handle. Everytime I really needed something though, He provided. What an incredible thing to be apart of.
