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.

Weekend update

While Steve and I were spending Friday at the cancer center, Katie was with Jim and Betty, and Aunt Ami was driving in from Austin. Ami arrived at our house just in time to see Cooper walking home from school. (He was headed to Meghan's house.)

A sampling of what's happened since then:

Margie escaped the house late Friday night. An unpredictable dark dog running through the neighborhood at night is a scary thing. Uncle Greg and I sprinted after her. Even speedy Greg, though, was no match for Margie. Aunt Melane and Cooper chased her down in the Escape (appropriate name, eh?), and Cooper coaxed our crazy fast dog to hop inside.

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We celebrated my 37th birthday. Steve surprised me with a framed print from our early 2008 portrait session, and many, many others spoiled me with the most thoughtful cards and gifts.

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Katie bounced around at Conor's fifth birthday party.

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Cooper played tough with the Dolphins, the hardest-working second-grade soccer team in Frisco.

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In health news:

Steve seems to be passing another kidney stone. He's been taking pain medicine, which is helping some, though right now he's in awful pain. (I know there's no point in deciding "what's fair," because nothing about Steve's condition is fair, but honestly. He shouldn't have to endure so much kidney stone pain on top of everything else.)

His headaches aren't improved yet with the increased steroid dose, but it's still early in the process.

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And Steve has a new hairdo! Check back soon to see!

Kidney stones, Part II

Steve seems to be experiencing another kidney stone attack.

The pain started about an hour ago. He says it feels just like it did three weeks ago, when he had the first one. (The scan three weeks ago showed a 2 mm stone on its way out. It also showed a 4 mm stone hanging out in the kidney. The ER doctor said it could very well stay there for a decade.)

I don't want to drag him to the ER and spend six hours among people with flu and strep on the eve of his next chemotherapy treatment.

So I called Dr. M, who responded right away. She's called in the most potent pain killer she can, and Liz is on her way to the pharmacy now to pick it up. (It won't be as strong as the IV drugs he received at the hospital.)

Our hope is that he gets through the night with just the oral pain meds. If the pain becomes too unbearable, we'll head to the ER.

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11:50 p.m. update: The pain meds have taken the edge off. Steve says that his pain level is at a 3, on a 1-10 scale. He is close to falling asleep and can take more medicine at 3 a.m. if he needs it.

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5 a.m. update: Steve woke up around 4 a.m. with more intense pain and took another pain pill. He was asleep again by 4:45. We leave the house at 7:10 to take Cooper to the Bassens and Katie to Zita's before reporting to UT-SW by 9 a.m.