Back in April, I started noticing an infrequent intense burning sensation in my lower right abdomen. For weeks, I brushed it off as related to my period and, among the craziness of the pandemic, I forgot about it. But the pain become more frequent and more intense as the weeks progressed, prompting me to start my research. As someone with inflammatory bowel disease, any random, unknown pain can be a really unnerving sign. Was this a flare? An abscess? Scar tissue? A blockage? As the pain intensified, my concern also grew. I started having near constant burning and occasional episodes of really intense pain that left me doubled over at work. I knew something was wrong, but I had no idea where to start.
I reached out to both my primary care doctor and my gynecologist in an attempt for answers. Both were stumped and equated the pain to scar tissue or another adverse effect from my many surgeries. They urged me to go to the ER if the pain become too intense. On Saturday, June 13, my family and I went on a little kayaking trip to celebrate my birthday the following day. All throughout our kayaking trip the burning sensation in my abdomen persisted. I pushed aside my concern for the day and had a fun morning on the lake. It was that night that things really began to unravel in front of me.
I was up late talking to my mom when it felt like my back started to cramp. I remember shifting uncomfortably in my chair thinking that I must have been sitting wrong or moved in the wrong way, causing me to pull a muscle. But the pain began to intensify and within an hour I was curled up in a ball in tears as my parents stood around me in complete confusion. They knew something was wrong, but they had no idea what would cause such intense pain aside from a blockage, which I knew this was not. After a couple of hours and a heating pad, I managed to calm the pain down enough to fall asleep and upon waking up on my birthday, I felt sluggish, but the episode had ended.
On Friday, June 19, I came home in severe pain. As the evening progressed, my pain continued to increase until I was at at near 9/10 pain level. My parents were an hour away in the town with the nearest hospital, so after a tearful phone call with them, I decided to drive myself to the nearest town (about 15 minutes from the hospital). To be 100% honest, that drive was one of the most intense, painful experiences of my life. I feel truly sorry for all of the drivers who saw me sobbing in my car on the way there. When I finally got to my parents, my face was puffy and tear-soaked and I could barely walk. When we arrived at the ER, I was taken right in and the whirlwind of tests began. After my CT scan results returned, the ER doctor returned. "Well, my dear, you have a nasty kidney stone!" A kidney stone? As someone who has seen a fair amount of medical emergencies, I never expected to have a kidney stone. The ER doctor proceeded to explain that the stone was fairly large and may or may not pass on its own. I was given medicine and an appointment was scheduled with a urologist and I went along my not-so-merry way.
Still in pain, I went to the appointment with the urologist the following week. After about ten minutes of simply trying to decipher my very different anatomy, he exclaimed that he thought the stone had passed into the bladder. This was reassuring news and I returned home to continue my antibiotics and round of Flomax. My appointment was on Thursday, June 25.
The very next night, the pain escalated ten-fold and I ended up back in the ER. After more fluids and pain medicine, I was sent home again and told to follow up with my urologist.
But on Monday, June 30, what I thought had already fallen apart fell apart even more. That night, my pain had become unbearable again. I tried to remedy it at home, but I had started running fever, I was extremely nauseous, and I began throwing up. It was back to the ER at 4:00 AM and this time, the doctors were much more alarmed. I was rushed back to a run where fluids and pain medicine was started and just a couple of hours later, the ER doctor informed me that I was going to be transferred to a bigger hospital by ambulance. I arrived at the larger hospital that afternoon and within an hour, the urology team piled into my room. They had stern looks on their faces and I could sense urgency in their speech. They explained to me that my kidney stone had gotten stuck and become infected and that it was compromising my kidney function by causing a blockage. They informed me that I would be going into surgery within the hour to blast the stone and place a stent.
I remember look over at my mom, not really knowing what to say, but with big eyes. The next hour was a whirlwind of paperwork and surgery prep before I was wheeled out of my room and back to the OR.
I woke up from surgery in a great deal of pain right before 7:00 PM and unfortunately, due to the pandemic, visitors were required to leave at 7:00. My mom was allowed to stay a little longer to comfort me after surgery, but then I was on my own until noon when visitors were allowed back. The stent was extremely painful. Without being too graphic, I was losing a lot of blood and using the restroom was just short of a nightmare. Long story short, the following day the doctors determined that, since the stone was gone, the stent was doing more harm than help and it was removed. I was discharged the next day after three days in the hospital.
About a month later, I am still trying to gain back my strength from the weight and muscle tone I lost dealing with my kidney stone for almost a month. I truly never expected things to spiral out of control the way that they did - especially in the middle of a global pandemic! I am thankful for my friends and family who have been so supportive through this setback. While I am thankful that this was not a setback related to inflammatory bowel disease, it has been extremely hard on my physical and emotional health. Having a supportive group of people around you (both in-person and virtually) helps tremendously.
I have been working hard to grow stronger again while also taking care of my body while it heals from quite an eventful medical setback. I have to give credit to Drip Drop ORS for helping to keep me hydrated during my recovery. Fluids are extremely important when it comes to healing from a kidney stone and Drip Drop always ensures that I get the perfect balance of electrolytes, sugar, and salt to keep me from becoming dehydrated. I have used Drip Drop ORS since the very early days of my journey with inflammatory bowel disease and I believe it is leaps and bounds above the other options on the market.
One of my favorite quotes is, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." I try to keep this quote in mind when I face challenging setbacks such as this one because it can be so easy to feel like the entire world is going against you. I allow myself to feel frustrated, but I also remind myself that we are never given more than we can handle and that I will overcome this just as I have the many other challenging times over the last four years.
Wishing everyone happiness and health always. -Kristen