Panic Room....

This past wednesday I got my first ER(Emergency Room) experience.I was at work when about noon I started getting these sharp stomach pains which initially seemed like stomach cramps.Its rare for me to have even a stomach upset so it caught me totally offguard.Still under growing pain,I drove home,stopped at the supermarket and bought a pack of "GasX" hoping that it was just some constipation issue causing the pain.

But by the time I got home and lay in bed,the pain had worsened so much that it would not allow me to lie still,talk or walk.We contemplated calling 911 but then I thought since the hospital was just a stone's throw why wait...so there I was in mind numbing pain driving thru heavy lunch time traffic to the Cincinnati's Bethesda Hospital's Emergency unit.

At the hospital,I held my stomach in pain as the inevitable paper work was done..unable to speak coherently from the pain,I just put down my insurance card and driver's license on the nurse's desk.After what seemed like an endless wait(actually it was just some 15 minutes or so but seemed like eternity under that terrible pain) I gingerly walked into the alloted room and lay down on the bed.

A wrist band with my name and id printed on it was clipped to me.I was then wheeled out to the Radiologist center and administered X-rays of my stomach,back and chest.Then I was wheeled back to my room and was told to await the doctor.I tried to sleep and didnt realize when I slept probably under some realxing medication.When I woke up the pain was gone!.

The Dr came in a few minutes later and asked me about my pain and its location.Almost immidiately he said "sounds like a kidney stone to me".He said I could already have passed it since I was under no pain or it could have temporarily dislodged itself causing a temporary pain relief.He said he had ordered a CT scan to be sure his diagnosis was on the mark.

I was wheeled into the CT scan room shortly afterwards and it looked absolutely like a scifi movie with that hitech gadgetry.After the scan the Doctor returned to inform me that the pain was indeed due to the kidney stone but fortunately for me the stone was very small(about 2mm in size) and there was every possibility that I would pass it normally and no surgery was needed.He said the pain could return and he would prescribe some strong pain killers to deal with it.I was told to stay off from work and drink lots of water to help it along.

Over the next two days the pain did return with a vengenace and I spent two very restless days and nights foggy and weak from the medication.However this morning there was no pain and I sure passed it!.

I never thought a 2 mm tiny stone could cause so much pain...also the human's body's self correcting mechanism is underestimated.I feel good again but I had a hellish week with ending up in a hospital gown and under a CT scanner...Thank god I didnt find myself on the surgeon's table.