ER Visit #2

So two days after I see Dr. Frech and Dr. Rasmussen I end up in the ER with excruciating pain in my back. I am checked in and taken back to a room. Lab work is done and a CT with contrast is scheduled. I get all the tests done and the Dr. comes in and gives me the results. I have some sort of blockage in my ureter but they are not sure if it is a blockage or a kidney stone. I also have low potassium. This in turn means I don’t get to go home. They will keep me over night and give me an infusion of potassium and I will meet with the urologist in the morning.  It’s a rough night, but they keep me pumped full of narcotics to the point I am in la-la land.

In the morning, I am taken down for a KUB x-ray. A little while after, the urologist comes in and informs that indeed I have some kidney stones. He wants to do surgery the following morning but also wants to wait and see if I can pass them in the day (which I totally agree with). He also lets me know that he won’t have anything to do with my low potassium levels and that someone else needs to handle that when I go home. I call Dr. Rasmussen’s office and let his nurse know I am in the hospital and about the low potassium.

Later that day, Dr. Rasmussen comes by to check on me (which was very nice of him to do so). He asks me when I will catch a break. I have to laugh because to this point, this situation has become almost comical. However, we are hopeful that the stones are just a consequence of being dehydrated and having weekly IV therapy appointments. He wants to see me after I have the 2^nd stretch done.

The day continues onward at the hospital, and I pass 4 stones. I am feeling pretty good and ask the nurse if I can go home. She clears this with the urologist and the surgery is cancelled and I go home. I am supposed to follow up with Dr. Rasmussen for the low potassium.

I leave the hospital on Friday night and have my IV therapy appointment scheduled on Tuesday. At this appointment, instead of just having fluids, I get a 5 ½ hour infusion of potassium. I also pass 2 more kidney stones at home, for a grand total of 6 stones.