The Kidney Stone

Well, I got up Friday, and the pain was almost non-existent.. until close to noon. I called the doctor and he advised me to check into the emergency at the hospital and get a CAT scan. That would be the only sure way of knowing if it was a kidney stone.

So Lo and I trucked over to Scarborough Grace Hospital (yes, the same one that achieved infamy for launching the major SARS epidemic in Toronto a few years ago), because it was the closest to my home. Mistake! I hope I never have to go there again - what a disaster!

We checked in around 12:30, and noticed about 6 ambulances outside. Bad sign - that means that those patients will have priority in emergency, so I will probably have quite a wait. Fortunately, I was in good spirits and not in severe pain.

At the triage check-in station, they took my personal info, as well as blood pressure, etc., and also got a urine sample from me. We told them that my doctor sent me over to get a CAT scan, but they said their emergency doctor would have to examine me first before authorizing the scan. Then it was over to the waiting room. It was not that busy, about 7 others there, but it was the ambulances that concerned me. This is not a big hospital.. in fact, I would say it is the smallest in all Toronto - and 6 ambulances dropping off patients? We got ready for a long wait.

Around 2:30, we got called into the emergency ward - they had a bed for me. They had me undress and put on one of those stupid hospital gowns. It was freezing in there. Luckily, Lo was still with me and scrounged around for a couple of blankets and wrapped me up. And then was began to wait again.

There were about 5 or 6 others in my section, and they were all howling, moaning, crying, etc. And no one was tending to any of them. Two nurses were walking around, but not sure what they were doing, as they did not seem to be tending to any of the patients there. No sign of any doctors. We were told they were on the other side of the room tending to 'real' emergencies. I guess that was the more serious cases.. gun-shot wounds, broken bones, burns, etc. I was glad I was not in any serious pain.

Around 4 pm I told Lo that if I had not seen a doctor by 4:30, I was going to leave and go to another hospital tomorrow. By now, I had half my clothes back on.. God, it was cold in there. To heck with that stupid hospital gown.

I was bored, and had my little camera with me so I took a few pics. The one at the right is of the curtain beside my bed that separated me from the other patients. I noticed some blood splatter on it, and was not very impressed with the sanitation of the place. We made a comment to the nurse about this, and she agreed it should have been changed, and summoned the maintenance crew to change it. That gave us a laugh.. seeing the utter incompetence of the crew.. it took 3 people and about 30 minutes to finally get a new curtain and have it changed.

Earlier when I got my bed, Lo had to use the washroom. There was only one, and the nursing staff said it was for patients only, but she really had to go and could not find another so she used it. When she came out, she said she had never seen a more disgusting washroom, especially for a hospital that is supposed to be clean. The toilet seat was covered with shit from some previous patient I guess. Lo said she had to hover over it, not daring to sit! Later when I had to go myself, I walked over and took my camera. As you can see by the photo, it was indeed pretty bad.

By 4:30 on the nose, a Dr. Farrington came over to see me. Asked me a few routine questions - told me there was considerable blood in my urine (which I personally did not see) that indicated there was a possible stone, and he was ordering a spiral CT scan for me. We wondered if it was going to happen today, as it was already 4:30 Friday afternoon and we figured that the radiologist would be leaving for the week. Anyway, he told the nurse to contact radiology to see if it could be done that day.

For the next two hours, it was once again a keystone-cops routine.. we could hear someone on the intercom saying radiology was on the line, but the nurse had left for supper. This tag game continued for two hours, with either the radiologist trying to reach us, or us trying to reach him. Finally, at 6:30 someone came down to get me and said I was going for the scan. I got up and walked with him, somewhat to his surprise. It was all over in 5 minutes, and I was back in my bed in emergency. Now we had to wait for the results. Lo got me a coffee, and I lay back, glad that I was not in pain.

We were getting a bit hungry by now.. we had not eaten since breakfast, and we asked if we could go home and they could call us or my doctor with the results. The nurse said no, I had to wait for Dr. Farrington to see me. He did finally come back around 7 pm. Yes, I did have a stone, about 3.5 mm in diameter in the ureter, the small tube between my right kidney and the bladder. There was also a very small stone in the left kidney, but it was the 3.5 mm one that was causing all my pain, and the one we had to get rid of. He said most of these pass normally in the urine, and he gave me a couple of strainers that I was to use to catch it when I peed. He also asked what I was taking for pain - I said 2 to 3 Percocets, but they really weren't helping, so he gave me a script for some Dilaudids that are supposed to be more effective at pain relief. Told me to come back to urology next week, hopefully with the stone!

So we left the hospital, and went for something to eat. I still was not in that much pain, certainly not the kind of bent over crippling pain I had had the past few days. Continued drinking copious amounts of water and peeing every hour or so into the strainer. Got the Rx for the Dilaudid filled, but never had to use any fortunately.

Spent all day yesterday at home near a toilet, peeing into the strainer, not knowing what to expect. Some told me that when it passes, it could be very painful. Just the thought of it was making me squeamish. Then it happened.. early this morning, I noticed a small black object swirling around the strainer. Rinsed it out and had a closer look. It had to be it, although I felt absolutely nothing when it exited. I had been expecting a white pearl-like object, round and shiny, but to my surprise it was black and rather jagged. Looked like a mini-asteroid from space! I am surprised it did not hurt, given the odd shape. Naturally, I had to take a photo. It is almost exactly 3.5 mm, just like the doctor had said it was. Amazing what they can tell from the scan!

Tomorrow morning, I have an appointment with my GP - I will show it to him, although I still need to see the urologist this week as well. I am now wondering about the other small stone in my left kidney.. what will become of it? Will it flush through without pain, or will it too bring on painful spasms at some unknown point in my future? Oddly, even though I passed this stone this morning, I have had minor pain still in my mid back on the right.. not sure if this is normal. Will find out tomorrow I guess.