You've gotta be kidneying me

Seriously.

I woke up today and got out of bed, ready to head to the gym. After I'd been standing for a few minutes, I was in excruciating pain. Now, though, it was more localized in my abdomen than in my back. I got in the shower to tough it out, and literally couldn't stand. By the time I got out of the shower, I was just in tears. I called my mom and just started bawling like a tiny little baby.

She was headed out to my place and I couldn't take it anymore. She called my sister, who came to get me so that we could get a head start. We went to Emory because it makes it so much easier for the doctors to know everything about me. I was that person in the ER doubled over, crying out in pain. They got me back to a room and my blood pressure was hovering at 160-something over 100-something.

In all seriousness, it was pretty scary. There were moments when I wasn't sure I was going to make it through. I have never been through pain anywhere near this bad at any point in my life. The central theme throughout the day was that "people say they'd rather have a baby than a kidney stone." I was in a room just bawling and yelling at the top of my lungs for more than an hour. Finally they started giving me IV morphine, which worked for a few minutes and then wore off.

At this point a doctor came in, heard the story, and was pretty sure it was a kidney stone. She ordered another painkiller that's good for stones, and got me scheduled for a CT scan. The painkiller did wonders and I was able to lay flat for the first time all day. I went to get the CT scan which showed two kidney stones. One of them has already made it through the toughest parts and is hanging out just before my bladder. The other's just chilling in my kidney.

I got to come home after 10 long hours, and don't really have to go back unless I vomit, get a fever, or have the severe pain again. It's about time for another pain pill. I'm on four different medications while we wait this out, but it should take care of itself. We're just hoping the second one stays put in my kidney. Jerk.

Thanks to everyone for helping minimize the accident drama from last night. Honestly I've forgotten almost all about it since I didn't get to call the insurance company while in the dungeon.

I've already found a crew shift replacement for tomorrow night, and am going to try to wait it out and attend on Saturday if I'm functioning. I know some folks who are on crew Saturday and I bet someone would drive me (!) if I'm still on all of the medicine.

This has got to be the end of this series of events.

Laugh it off

Several times in recent years, people have told me that my life sounds like a TV show. From my strings of bad luck to my odd happenings, sometimes my life is borderline unbelievable. A friend and I were joking a few weeks ago that, at any point now, a cameraman will jump out and tell me that he's been documenting my life for the past five years.

Since people are often amused by the things that happen in my life, I thought I should start documenting them in one easy-to-find place. Sometimes it's best to look back to the things that have happened and simply laugh them off. That's the best way to live life anyways...