Thanks to everyone that has checked in during my recent medical adventure.  Things are pretty much back to normal now.  I have a check up in three weeks but apart from that, no doctor visits on the horizon.

At my Friday appointment I had my temporary stent removed.  It was a procedure I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I’m just thankful I didn’t scream or pass out.  I did break into an instant cold sweat and had to concentrate on breathing for a few moments though. After that, all was good. My energy levels are getting back to normal, my appetite is good and I had a great weekend, mostly hanging out with my son Matt.  Among other things, we went and saw “Knocked Up.”  Great movie, we both loved it.  Not your typical father-son fare I guess, but we never claimed to be normal.

Then today I decided to get rid of my Dodge Neon and replace it with a new Dodge Caliber.
Is it a sport wagon?  A small SUV? I dunno really, but I fell in love with it while researching new vehicles from Dodge.  This vehicle replaced the Neon (canceled in 2005) for the 2007 model year. I didn’t have any real issues with my old car, this wasn’t a logical decision.  It was more like a reaction to the effects of a year and half of medical problems, doctor visits and the latest surgical procedure. I’ve decided to focus on seizing the day and letting tomorrow take care of itself for a while. Who knows how many tomorrows any of us have left anyway?

Anyway, my Caliber looks exactly like the one above. A 2007 SXT Sport model with a small, frugal 1.8l 4-cylinder engine and a 5-speed manual transmission. I’ve always liked thrashing through the gears on a small, revvy four banger and this one is definitely fun to drive. The Neon was similarly equipped, I’m not a fan of automatics.

 
I really like the interior too, mine looks like the above except for the manual stick shift. I did spring for cruise control, the power sunroof and the “vehicle information center” that provides you with digital compass, temperature, tire pressure, mileage, etc. Keyless entry, power windows, etc are all standard now. It’s got more cargo room than the Neon, which I wanted, and tons of little cubby holes and storage bins to stow odds and ends.  The rear seats fold down flat and the passenger seat does also. One nice feature is the presence of a standard 115V power outlet for plugging in chargers and other electrical items you might want to use on a road trip.

I’ll try to get “real” photos this week! So, how was your weekend?

I’m feeling both better, and worse today than I have the past few weeks.  I’m actually feeling more pain, but I don’t feel sick and tired like I have been.  That’s a huge improvement for me.

Obviously some of the pain is just soreness from the surgery. I had a slight misunderstanding about exactly how the surgery would work.  I knew they used a fiber-optic “snake” to see what’s going on and that they’d run a laser through that same cable.  I knew they’d go through the bladder and then into the ureter to find the stone and “zap” it.  I thought they’d make an incision and go in that way. I was wrong about that. Yeah, they run all that gear through an existing opening into the bladder. Yeah, that one. So that accounts for some of the tenderness.

The rest of the pain is weird stuff. When I woke up in recovery last night, both of my calves were completely cramped up. It was a while before I could move my legs, let alone stand up or walk. They’re still really sore and stiff today.  My shoulder, neck and stomach muscles are really sore today too. And my throat is really sore, but that’s from being intubated during surgery.

Still, I’m still feeling 100% better by comparison and I’m really happy.  I even managed to have lunch with a couple of friends today. I’ve got a follow-up appointment on Friday and I’m hoping that I feel good enough this weekend that I’ll get at least a short day ride in on the motorcycle.

I’m home, all went well… a little sore, a little woozy, but overall not feeling too bad.  More details tomorrow probably!

I’m just about ready to head off for the hospital.  Just waiting for my friend Steve to stop by and pick me up.  I’ll try to post as soon as I can after I get home, that will be either late tonight or tomorrow morning depending on whether they hold me overnight.  I might grab a bite to eat first, I’ve had to fast since midnight!

Ok, surgery is on… assuming the stone doesn’t spontaneously pass over the holiday weekend, I’ll be checking in to Highline Hospital at 2:45pm on Tuesday. I spent a couple of hours there today signing off on consent forms, getting blood work done, an EKG and briefings on what to expect.

The plan is to go in through a small incision in my lower abdomen into my bladder, and then attack the stone directly with a laser.  This will break it into small pieces that should pass naturally.  I’ll be completely out for the surgery, which is expected to take several hours in total.  Depending on how it goes and how I’m feeling afterwards, they’ll either release me late Tuesday evening or keep me overnight. After that, I’ll just have one follow-up visit to remove a stent that will be left in place after the surgery. That will happen using a… errr… naturally occurring exit from the bladder… use your imagination people!

Hopefully life will return to normal… trust me, I’m happy that this surgery has been scheduled and that the end is in sight!

Spent a good chunk of yesterday bouncing around the hospital getting various tests done. My urologist called a little while ago to let me know that while the kidney stone *has* moved, it’s still completely blocking the “output” from one kidney.

He’s tentatively recommending surgery but wants to check a few more things before scheduling.  He’s supposed to call me back later today with more details.  The biggest issue right now is the three day weekend, they won’t schedule “elective” surgery on a holiday so Tuesday is probably the earliest I can expect anything to happen.

To the degree that any surgery is “minor” this is supposed to be fairly simple. I don’t even know if I’ll be in the hospital overnight or not yet. Either way, I’ll be glad to get this over with!

I wish I had something else to blog about, but frankly it’s tough enough just working and getting through life at the moment. I haven’t been doing anything else besides reading and watching TV. It would be nice to think that the visit to the specialist this week will “fix” things but it’s probably just the first of several visits, testing, poking, prodding, etc. I hope he’ll opt for aggressive treatment though, even if that means surgery.  I’m ready for life to get back to the quirky approximation of “normal” that I’m used to.

I’ve switched pain medications, I’m on Vicodin now which actually works much better. I don’t feel nearly as nauseous and I’m not as fuzzy while taking them. The bad part is, they block the pain so well that after a couple of days, I wonder if I really need to take them.  So I stop just to see.  And a day or so later, yep, I’m still in pain. Being on pain killers for so long actually worries me, since these things are addictive.  I try to limit how many I take and how often. Hopefully this will get resolved soon and I can stop taking them all together!

Sadly, still under the weather.  I’ve got an appointment with a specialist next week for more diagnostics.  Something just isn’t right and while the meds seem to help the symptoms, the root cause remains. Still *feels* like a kidney stone but the usual treatments don’t seem to be taking care of it.

That pretty much put the nails in the coffin of my road trip. I really wouldn’t feel comfortable being that far away from home while I’m dealing with these health issues. I wouldn’t be able to focus on my riding. 

I did get in a short ride this week when I picked my bike up at the shop from having new tires installed, and that raised my spirits a bit. I’m not as bummed as you might think, it’s just the beginning of the best part of the year for riding so plenty of opportunities remain…

Things are looking up, I felt almost normal today.  The stone still hasn’t passed but, without getting too graphic, it has moved on to my bladder.  Trust me, you can tell.  That means the medication must be shrinking it. I’ve been able to taper off my painkillers, only taking them at night to sleep without pain since Saturday.

All of this is starting to make me think I might make this ride down to California at the end of the week after all!

On another note, Heroes rocks! Can’t wait to see next week’s season finale!

Nothing new to report really.  I’ve started the new meds they prescribed and so far, they just increase my nausea. I’m hoping this thing finally passes over the weekend. This is really getting old. I’ve mostly been watching television for days on end.  I caught up on Lost and Jericho, that’s something I guess.  Not that Lost has really improved all that much.

Being in pain all the time like this really wears on you. The painkillers dull the pain but it never completely goes away and it’s so hard to focus on anything of any complexity while I’m on them. The nausea from the meds have really killed my appetite for the last week. That’s probably a bonus, I don’t mind losing weight. This might be an extreme approach though.

I’m watching some sort of show on cyber predators now. NBC Dateline conducts stings to uncover predators going after underage kids in online chat rooms.  I can’t believe these scum bags are as stupid as they are. Sick and stupid. Off with their penis! Or something…