It's been a while since I was last here to do a blog post. I was busy taking care of our son's mission blog and neglected to keep up with my own blog. Ah, the sacrifices one makes for their children. But, alas, here I am!
I've had MANY blogging ideas in the last year and a half but just never took the time to share these thoughts with anyone. So, let's give it a go and see what happens. This one may be exceptionally long but I hope you'll take the time to read to the end where I summarize and "make my point".
If you follow me on FB then you will know about my recent medical journey. For the last few years I have had MANY UTI's (urinary tract infections). I just figured my body was weird and I was just suseptible to UTI's. So, at LEAST four times a year I was on medication for UTI pain, sometime six to seven times a year. Well, last summer things came to a head. In August 2019 I was with my daughter and her friend. We stayed the night in Ontario, CA because they were joining me in a race the following day. My husband was coming up after the race to pick up our daughter to drive her up to Idaho and her friend and I were driving back home.
The night before the race I told the girls that I would probably be walking the entire race (I NEVER walk in a 5k!) because I was having such pain. I was doubled over in pain but I'm so cheap I didn't want to not do the race because I'd lose my entry fee! Anyway, my daughter was so concerned that she barely slept that night...making sure I didn't die in my sleep. A little dramatic but that's the kind of compassionate daughter we have!
I woke up the next morning ready to run and actually DID run the entire 5k. The pain had subsided enough that I was able to run with no problems. After the race we went back to the hotel for breakfast and get packed up so my husband could get our daughter and go. As I said my goodbyes the pain started up again but I didn't say anything. I drove the hour home while my daughters friend talked the whole way. I was never so grateful to have someone in the car with me as I was getting so tired that I wanted to just close my eyes and sleep.
After dropping her off I ran a few errands and then went home. At this time we were empty nesters so I went home to an empty house and just dropped into bed. I spoke to my husband and told him I was feeling awful but just wanted to sleep it off hoping I'd feel better. He was flying in the next morning so I wasn't too worried. Friends.....I didn't move from that bed for almost TWELVE HOURS. My body was fighting something but I didn't have the strength or energy to call anyone, including 911.
When my husband arrived home he took one look at me and knew I was seriously ill. I told him to just go to church and I would sleep some more and shake whatever it was. When he came home from church he was even more concerned.
The next day I ended up in the ER because the pain was too much to bear and I wasn't getting any better. I had fever and chills. They did tests and hydrated me via IV and sent me on my way. They figured it was due to the race and dehydration.
Fast forward one month - Sept 17th. I left work but was in pain again so I stopped into the urgent care thinking they'd give me muscle relaxers for the side pain. They gave me meds for a UTI and sent me on my way. I ended up there the next day again in more pain. They took one look at me and told me to go to the ER immediately. My temp was high and I looked awful (thank you very much!). So, off to the ER I went. They did more tests and hydrated me with fluids and gave me IV antibiotics and sent me on my way. The very next day, less than 24 hours later I was in the ER again. I told them I wasn't leaving this time until they figured out what the problem was.
In fact, the first night when I went to the ER we thought the problem was taken care of. HOWEVER, this second visit to the ER? The one that was less than 24 hours after the first visit? Well, the reason I went back to the ER the second night is because I was freezing so I got in bed as I was casually talking to my husband about a trip we were planning. When I laid down to try and get warm, I couldn't breathe. I began hyperventilating. My husband called the ER and they said to bring me in right away. As we would come to find out - I was going into SEPTIC SHOCK! My body was fighting SEPSIS! If I had just curled up in my bed and gotten warm and fell asleep perhaps this blog post wouldn't be written.
Hence, I was admitted into the hospital for a few days until my fever was down and the pain was gone.
Why do I tell you all of this? I mean, who wants to hear about all this medical jargon and what is the purpose? Well, let me tell you.....
It was determined that I had a "kink" in my ureter (the 'tube' from the kidney to the bladder). If there was a stone in the kidney it couldn't get through the kink so that could be the cause of all my pain/problems. Since I had had kidney stones as a child it was likely that THAT was the issue here.
A month after all this went down I had an outpatient procedure/surgery. The urologist inserted a stent into my ureter to straighten out the kink and help any stones pass that may be hanging out in the kidney. Needless to say, no stones were present but the doc left the stent in there anyway....the stent that was supposed to be there for SIX WEEKS that lasted for almost SIX MONTHS. The first six weeks were uneventful. In fact, I had heard so many horror stories about the pain people experience having a stent that I wondered if the doc had actually put in a stent.
I had a follow up visit the first week of December. We couldn't find a day until January to have the stent removed but I didn't care because it was like it wasn't even there. I was even able to run my 5k's without any issues. Long story short, the January surgical procedure date got postponed by the facility. Then the next one in February was canceled because I had a UTI (surprise!) so the doc put me on antibiotics and I had to wait another couple of weeks before I could have the surgery.
You may be thinking, "So, big deal. You had to wait a bit longer to have the stent removed. It wasn't causing any problems so big deal."
Let me tell you this, you couldn't be more wrong if you tried. I was in pain almost DAILY once January hit. I was begging the doctor to remove this stent before I grabbed some tweezers and removed it myself (stop the visual thought!). He informed me if we did the surgical procedure and removed the stent while I had an infection then it could cause more problems. His exact words, "I have never lost a patient during this procedure and I won't let you be the first."
With that said, my surgical procedure was scheduled for Monday, March 16, exactly seven months from when this ordeal first began and five months since the stent was inserted. The night before the procedure I received a call from the doctor. I was almost in tears when I realized it was him because I was sure he was calling to cancel the procedure as COVID-19 was getting into full swing. He was actually calling to verify that I was doing fine and not sick. He said, "We need to do this tomorrow because they will consider this an elective surgery and they won't let me do it once that mandate is handed down." About three days after the stent was removed it was mandated that elective surgeries would be stopped. I made it! I got it done just before the deadline! To be honest....I don't know how ANYONE could classify this as an "elective" ANYTHING since I was in constant pain!
Again, you are probably asking, "Why all the info? Why is this such a big deal that you need to do a blog post?"
I'm glad you asked because here is why...
This picture shows how thin this stent was. It was about 11inches long and a little bit thicker than dental dental floss (white string next to the stent). This TINY, THIN piece of cord was causing me so much pain and distress. When I saw how thin it was I couldn't believe the pain it caused me, and I'm talking SERIOUS pain the last three months.
I was pondering on this one night and thought, "How many little things in my life have caused or can cause big problems if they go unchecked?" How is my relationship with my spouse? (Mine is great, by the way!) How is my relationship with my children? my friends? my coworkers? That saying "A stitch in time saves nine!" means if you fix the hole in your clothing when you first notice it, no matter how small it is, you can save it from getting bigger and having a bigger sewing project to take care of. If you notice your lawn needs to be mowed it's best to do it NOW before the grass grows so high that it takes you longer or you have to higher a professional to do it. When we see our "problems" when they are small and then we take care of them, we can avoid more serious problems later.
Even that small grain of sand in my running shoes (you know what I'm talking about...all you runners have experienced it at one time or another) causes me to have to stop 
and take off my shoe and get rid of that grain of sand otherwise it not only bothers me the entire time I'm running but it can cause a blister and perhaps even bigger problems.
So, don't let a "stent" bring you down. Get that grain of sand out of your shoe. Fix that small problem while it's small...don't let it ruin your happiness.
Even in the "little things" we are NEVER ALONE.
Much love,
Debbie
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