KIDNEY STONE NIGHTMARE

 Earlier this year on a Saturday morning my husband was experiencing some extreme pain in his lower back that was unbearable and I rushed him to the emergency room and at this point he was doubled over.  They immediately hooked him up to an IV and gave him morphine some pain medicine and they took some x-rays and saw that he had a kidney stone to which they believed was 7.5cm.  They gave him some more morphine and it finally kicked in. 

This night his band THE CAUZE was supposed to open up for Adler's Appetite (Steven Adler's band, the drummer from Guns and Roses) at the Brixton Night Club in Redondo Beach. "Oh no, what were we going to do?" I thought.   At this point Jeff was very loopy and in and out.  We were told he could pass the stone that day, but nothing was for sure and if he didn't pass it within the next few weeks he was to make a doctor's appointment.  I was thinking we have to make it to the show, but what if he ends up having to pass the stone during his performance or is he going to be in pain again tonight and he won't be able to make the stage.

We left the hospital in the afternoon with little time to get ready and get ourselves down to the gig. Slowly but surely we made it to the gig and he was able to perform with no problem, we couldn't believe it.  Thank God!

The next few days went by and Jeff, my husband did not pass the stone so he set up a doctor's appointment and after his doctor's visit we were told he must have surgery this could be life threatning, but they didn't have any openings and we would have to wait for the doctor to call us when an opening came up.  Now we have river trips lined up and gigs and it is tough not knowing when your a planner like me.

Well a few weeks later they schedule Jeff for a Friday morning surgery in a kidney stone building.  When we got there they told him the best thing they think for Jeff would be the Ultra Sound.  They were going to put it on real high and try to break up the stones so he could pass them.  They said it should break up like sand and it would be all over.  I asked the doctor "is he going to be ok to play at a gig tomorrow night?" and the doctor said. "yes, there should be no problem, but we can't guarantee anything."  I am worried for Jeff and at the same time I am worried how is it going to look if we blow out our gig tomorrow night which was a private event at the Mountain Resorts in Lytle Creek.

A few hours later Jeff wakes up from surgery and he is really out of it and they want him to go to the bathroom with a filter to see if he can pass some of the stone now.  No deal, so they sent us home with the filter for him to use every time and if the stones came out we were to turn them into the doctor to see them.  The reason for this is because they can tell you what kind of stone it is and what caused it.

That night he came off the  medicine and he wasn't feeling that great, the next morning we are back in the emergency room and they are giving him pain killers and more morphine.  Oh no, we have a gig tonight what are we going to do.  We wait it out and they keep him for hours and then send us home.  We have 1 hour to hurry and get ready and now I hear Jeff throwing up in the bathroom, my first thought is, "he is sick from the medicine, we are not going to make it."  Instead, Jeff says he is going to try and make it.  Oh and mind you the day before they stuck a thing down his throat so he could breath during surgery which made his throat a little scratchy.

We make it to the Resort and Jeff pulled it off, he was a little hoarse, but I don't think anyone noticed and the crowd loved the band.  Wow what a trooper, don't you think?  We get home and Jeff is feeling uncomfortable, but makes it through the night.

Sunday morning back into emergency doubled over and more medicine.  Mind you he is on vicodin, morphine and much more.  He was beside himself.  We are told to call the doctor which we did and they scheduled us to come back to the kidney building on Monday for the same surgery all over again.  The doctor said if he was still in pain the next couple of days I had to call him and they might have to do surgery and remove them.

Monday morning the doctor is determined it is going to work this time and they take more x-rays.  I take Jeff home later and he is in major pain.  I called the doctor on Tuesday and told him Jeff is in so much pain and the medicine is not working, he told us to come to the hospital and see him immediately, we did and the doctor gave him a shot and it helped ease the pain and he told me if he is still in pain tomorrow he would do surgery.

Wednesday morning, Jeff is in major pain and they tell us to come in at 1:00pm for surgery.  We get there and they put Jeff in a wheelchair in the waiting room and he was doubled over in major pain, everyone felt sorry for him.  We sat in the waiting room for a couple of hours like that and then they took us in to prepare him for surgery.  Well 3 or 4 hours later they take him into surgery.  I went to wait in the waiting room with no tv.  lol  I was going crazy in there and finally at 11:00pm the doctor comes into see me with 3 kidney stones in a cup.  He said the kidney stone was the hardest stone you could have and it was bigger than they had thought.  I was so happy it was over and thanked the doctor.  But was it really over?  The first surgery broke the stone in only 3 parts and they were stuck in all the wrong places, but now the doctor removed all three of them.

I had to wait until Jeff was a little more coherent before they would let me see him.  Yes I was very anxious and finally they called me in and he was really out of it.  Not to gross anyone out, but he was peeing blood and they had a huge bottle there for him because there was no way he was going to make it to the bathroom.  As he is coming out of it he is still in pain.  They put a tube up inside him to help the healing, they say it is like a cast to us on the outside.  Well they had to give him some shots because he couldn't stand the pain and now I am thinking they are going to have me take him home like this.  This is CRAZY!!!!!!  Well we tried to get him dressed and it was not easy and THANK GOD for the BIG BOTTLE!  Now I am thinking, "how is he going to make it to the car with no control, how are we going to make it home?"  Oh did I tell you that I am starving too, I have not had anything to eat for many hours.

The nurse and I wheeled him to the car and the nurse left and Jeff had to pee again.  "OH NO!"  I am freaking out, so I told him he was going to have to take his shorts off and hold the bottle next to himself so there was no accidents in the car.  About a half hour later we are almost home and he sees Carl's Jr. and he knows I haven't eaten anything so he encouraged me to go thru the drive-thru and get something to eat.  After I ordered my food I told him I am going to get arrested if you don't pull up your shorts, he couldn't do it, so I found paper laying in the backseat that I grabbed real fast and threw it on top of him real fast with my purse.  LOL

We get home and we are both unprepared for the following.  He went to pee and he screamed like he was being murdered.  I felt so bad for him and at the same time I was thinking what are the neighbors thinking.  This goes on for the next few days with no relief and we have a show coming up on that Sunday, here we go again.  Were we going to make it?

Friday morning I leave the house to take the kids to school and my cell phone rings right before I get on the fwy and it is Jeff telling me to come home right now that I need to take him to the emergency and I told him, "can I just take the kids to school real fast and I will be right back?" and his reply back was, "NO! Come home now."  I call ed my dad he he rushed to my house to help me to take the kids to school, they were late, but they made it.  I go in the house and he is so constipated from all the medicine that he has been on for over a week and he tells me to get some laxative suppositories, so I rush to CVS and I buy the most expensive one hoping this will work.  I get home and he is in misery, not too mention he is still screaming when he pees.  I give him the suppositories and it said it will work in 15min, well 30min later nothing and he can't take it anymore, so we rush him to emergency and they have to do the unthinkable.  First they tried the liquid thing twice and nothing, then they took x-rays and said it was bad and they would have to dig in.  I will spare the details, but I am thinking can it get any worse than this?

After a few hours I get him home and it was basically a cleansing weekend for him.  lol  By Sunday he made it to the next gig which was at the Sagebrush Cantina in Calabassas.  He played his heart out with the tube inside of him still.

Monday the tube is removed and the NIGHTMARE is over.

To avoid this story in your life drink lots of water and try to avoid salty foods, but if you have to eat it make sure you drink it down with lots of water.  Water is the key!

This note is a warning to all of you who don't drink enough water - BEAWARE!

THANK YOU MOM and POP for being there for us and taking the kids to school!  Love you!

Drink up!

Concetta :)