Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours. This is my day of mourning, to reflect on all of those past loves and what might have been. You know, I am a big fan of "what if". So, I am not giving out any candy today nor any cards. As a kid, we gave out valentines in our classes, and it was so traumatic, because every kid wanted to have the most. I wasn't very popular. You know that commercial on TV about the little boy with his knit cap as his security blanket? That could have been me. Now to the present day. I had to take another trip to the emergency room last night around 11. I was vomiting, and the pain would not go away. Not to gross any of you out, but I have also been constipated since Monday. It was a by-product of my medicine. I went to the drugstore yesterday afternoon and picked up a laxative. I hadn't taken that before, so I didn't know what to expect, but I believe that is where a lot of my discomfort was coming from. So, at 2, I took it. It said that it works from 6-12 hours. When 8 came around, nothing happened. The pain was worse. Finally, I asked my roommate to take me back to the ER. They were nice but scolded me on not making an appointment with a specialist, since I had apparently not passed the kidney stone. Well, if you don't have health insurance, and you don't have money, a specialist is probably out of the question. So, they did more tests on me. They drew blood and put a pain killer through my vein. That helped. Then, they had me drink a liquid to flush out my pipes. While that was taking effect, they did a sonargram on me. Lo and behold, the kidney stone that was supposed to be in my bladder was actually still in my kidney. A misdiagnosis from Monday. At around 2am this morning, the dam broke. The two laxatives kicked in, and boy howdy. There was a lot. By now, we had gotten back to the condo. I camped out in the bathroom, which is pretty small. I even brought in a blanket and slept on the floor for a while, until my roommate woke me up. I got myself back to my bed and passed out. My dear internal clock told me to wake up at 7, which I did and stayed up for about an hour. Then, I turned my internal clock off and went back to sleep, getting up around 1pm. I never have slept that long before, except the time I passed out for two days from drinking 22 beers in 3 hours, when I was in college. But, that's another story. I am a little groggy now, but not in much pain. I haven't taken any medicine today and had very little to eat, but I think I have turned the tide. Now, if only I can pass the stone. Maybe one day. If anyone reading this spots any mispelled words, you will get a free trip to Lesotho, courtesy of me. (Not really). Anyway, my very tight budget didn't plan on this. I am now down to $100 to my name. God help us all. Happy Valentine's Day.

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