Sunday, April 26, 2009

Bad news, good news

Bad news
  • Steve had kidney stone-related trouble throughout the night.
  • The pain was terrible -- up to an eight on a 10-point scale.
  • His symptoms required an early morning visit to the emergency room.
  • A CT scan this morning showed a 3-mm stone sitting on top of his bladder.

Good news
  • The same scan showed that his right kidney is now free of stones. (A tiny 1-mm stone is hanging out in his left kidney. We pray that one stays put for a long time.)
  • The pain meds worked quickly in the ER.
  • He didn't need to be catheterized. (Being catheterized is in Steve's Top 10 List of Things He Dreads.)
  • This was the shortest ER visit in the history of Damm ER visits. We were in around 6:45 a.m. and out by 8:45 a.m. I think it helped that (a) Dr. M called ahead for us; (b) we knew what the problem was; (c) the triage nurse was efficient; and (d) the Plano Presby ER was the least crowded we've ever seen.
  • He can continue pain meds at home -- probably for the next 12 to 24 hours, until the stone is gone.
  • Katie scored a morning with the Smith family, and Cooper gets to hang out with the Starnes family for a few hours.

1 comment:

Natalie Willis said...

So glad the good news out weighed the bad news. So sorry that there are more kidney stone problems. hang in there. Sending love and prayers!!

Love,
Natalie
www.believeinmandy.blogspot.com