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I haven't kept up on blogging lately because I am pulling together a conference for work. It's kept me very busy, but I think it will be a success (fingers crossed). Planning stuff like this is not my strength, so I will be glad when it's over.

I am still plugging along with the kidney stone. I had a CT last week which showed one small kidney stone on the left side. It isn't big, and the doctor's office thinks to think it should pass easily and without incident. However, it is taking it's sweet time. It has been almost three weeks since I first felt the pain. It was worst about a week ago. Sometimes I barely feel it, and sometimes it's somewhat painful, but it's nowhere close to what I felt last year when I had three stones on the left side.I am thankful for that.

I'm a little bit frustrated that this has gone on so long. The pain is usually not intense, and it really hasn't stopped me from doing what I want to do (with a couple of exceptions). I am still doing some running. It's been nice enough to run outside, but I have stayed on the treadmill because I don't want to get too far away from home in case the pain hits. I've also kept my runs to under four miles. I am training for a five mile race on April 16. At least, that was the plan. I can't really say I am training now. The kidney stone has kept me from running hard and from running longer distances. I am just doing enough so I don't lose too much fitness. I haven't missed any days at work, but I have gone home earlier than planned a few times. I am trying to keep moving because that usually helps the kidney stone to keep moving.

I am wondering if this is something I'm going to have to deal with for the rest of my life. I've had four stones within a year now, and the doctor thinks maybe I've passed more because there is scar tissue in my ureter (tube between bladder and kidney) which could indicate trauma from past stones. If this is something I continue to get, I'll deal with it. It's not cancer. It's not life threatening. It's no fun, of course, but I can work with this if it's my worst health problem. For the most part, I've been very fortunate when it comes to my health.

One thing I've learned from getting stones is where my kidneys actually are. Before I was diagnosed with kidney stones before, I would have guessed my kidneys were much lower than they are. I am told that this is a common misconception. I have read more than I thought I ever would on the urological system. I really didn't know much before...why is it that you have to have a problem with something before you are motivated to learn more about it?

That's about it from here. Good night, friends! Off to bed!

They're ba-ack!

They're ba-ack! As in, kidneys stones. It's been almost exactly a year since my last bout. About ten days ago, I started getting a strange ache that was somewhat familiar. I spent a couple of days wondering if it might be kidney stones, but now I couldn't be more sure. The pain hasn't been horrible yet. (And, the few times it's been really bad have been brief.) If my pain last time was a 9, but pain this time is a 2 so far--but it's definitely the same pain.

I called the doctor and got an appointment for a week out. If the pain gets too bad, I am supposed to go to the ER and the on-call urologist will visit me. My appointment is Wednesday morning. I didn't think I'd make it that far without either passing a stone or ended up at the ER, but as it approaches....I am thinking I just might. We shall see. I have some important stuff coming up related to work, and my big fear is that this will get really bad at the wrong time. There's not much I can do about that though.

So...Bill and I have had fun looking home remedies for passing kidney stones. I don't really buy into any of them, but it's been interesting. I recommend looking up the "jump and bump" method for a laugh. There are people who swear it works, but I think their kidney stones passed coincidentally and they attributed it to this method. Did I try it? Yes, but not for the prescribed 45 minutes.