Another Happy Doctor

Although I had scheduled an appointment for Thursday morning, since we arrived on Tuesday night, I reached out on Wednesday to see if I could get an earlier appointment.  They called back at 1:30 and invited me to come over for another CT scan and a consultation.

This was the same PA I had seen years ago which was nice.  He also still works with the same surgeon as I had before--also good.  He came out to get me from the waiting room and already began telling me how cool it was to see the two ureters on my right side in the CT scan.  He said, "Where are the medical students when you need them?" and other such comments. They hadn't received the medical reports from Washington yet, but he thought it looked like the tubes were running nicely parallel to each other which is actually more rare.  Frequently, they start as two tubes at the kidney but then merge before entering the bladder.  He changed one of the medications, double up on another, and ran a urine test.  He said that they would discuss my case on Thursday morning when the surgeon was in the office but his plan was surgery next Wednesday with the goal to blast the stone and remove the pieces.  He is not sure why it couldn't be done during the first surgery, but he is hopeful it will work.

We are scheduled to leave on a vacation on Wednesday but that is on hold at the moment. When I mentioned it to the doctor, he made a face and then asked where.  I told him the Oregon coast and he expressed his concern about the closeness of a hospital if needed.  We will see.  I am trying to avoid thinking about it until we know what is happening.  I can't travel too far if they can't remove the kidney stone on Wednesday.  Even the stents remaining will cause me discomfort like a bladder infection until they are removed which is usually 10-14 days after the stone is gone.

The urine came back with infection markers so they added an antibiotic to my list and so it sits--a stone, two stents and a surgery date on Wednesday. I mostly lay around, read, take naps, and drink LOTS of water. I had a dentist appointment, two doctor's appointments, temple appointment, and theatre tickets which all had to be rescheduled (and yes, I played the "I am in the hospital in Washington with a kidney stone" card to get the Hale Theatre to change my ticket with less than 48 hour notice. )

And I go in tomorrow for my pre-surgery appointment....and that is my current life!