Ever Had the Sheer Joy Of Passing a Kidney Stone On the Way to Work?

Monday was so great...

I had Monday off this week, and did all sorts of fun things with my dog, and went to lunch with my mom... You name it, I tried to pack as much fun into my day as I could. Went to bed Monday night feeling pretty good about life. Until sometime just after midnight, and things started to change.

I woke up feeling like a I had kind of a cramp in my back that just wouldn't go away. Due to the fact that if round wasn't a shape, I'd be in no shape at all... I assumed it was just something pretty ordinary. I might've even felt a touch nauseous, but decided going back to bed was a great idea.

Then I got up for the day.

I felt generally worse, but at no point thought I was in for the ride that was about to happen, literally. I left for work, and as I was driving, all hell broke loose, and I was in complete agony. I felt as though I were driving the car with my kidneys dragging behind it. Shooting pains, sweating, feeling like I was going to be sick... I knew I was passing a kidney stone.

But what could I do? I was halfway to work. So, I kept going. By the time I got there, the pain had eased quite a bit. But I decided I should go to the ER based on some other symptoms I hadn't noticed until I got to work (I'll spare you the gory details). By the time my mom came to pick me up, I was in the absolute worst pain I'd ever been in.

I've had kidney stones a few times, sadly. But this was waaaaay worse than any other time I'd had them. I was in so much pain, my hands were curling up and felt like they were vibrating. I literally couldn't see. Everything seemed blurry. This went on for almost 45 minutes straight. I can't believe I didn't pass out from the sheer pain.

Then they told me I was staying overnight!

This is when I knew I had a unique situation compared to the other times I'd had stones. They were afraid I was a big candidate for infection, after all the stuff they were seeing in my blood tests. I won't lie, I was worried a bit. Not like I was gonna die, but I just didn't want to go through more crap. I'd had enough for one day, hahaha.

But the stay was easy, if not a bit long. But the folks that took care of me at the hospital were 1000% top notch. It was hard to get a lot of rest with machines, and vitals, and people poking and prodding and asking questions, but it was amazing how great they all were. Nurses and CNA's don't nearly get the credit they deserve.

Drink water, dammit!

If there's one piece of advice I'll give you, after all this, is to drink more water. Some people are genetically predisposed to them, but most of the time, it's because folks aren't hydrated properly. And if you have a situation like mine where I seem to be susceptible, just keep the water flowing.

I'll tell you... While I realize there are tons of people out there who have/had it worse then I did, kidney stones are no frikkin' joke. Drink water. All the time.

Hopefully, all this made you hungry for Grape Nuts... Here's some go-to breakfast spots to help out...