What a difference

At this point it's largely psychological, but I already feel much better following yesterday's lithotripsy. Just knowing that the most painful stone has finally been targeted helps my mood tremendously. I'm in a lot of discomfort, both from yesterday's procedure and the surgery last Friday, but emotionally I just feel... eased. I've been dealing with pain on an almost daily basis since late February, and for a long time I felt so frustrated, waiting and waiting for a doctor to take action instead of hypothesizing, waiting for the day of an appointment or test to arrive. I'm not ready to sing on rooftops by any means, but I'm so desperate to feel normal again, and I hope - fingers crossed - that soon I will again.

And another one bites the dust...

My kidney stones have proved exceptionally stubborn, but after two lithotripsies and one ureteroscopy, I'm almost finished with them. Praise God.

Tomorrow I have the last lithotripsy - ironically, this one will finally target the stone on my left side that caused the initial pain that got me started on this long road - and I hope and pray that the little thing will be blown to bits and will make a hasty exit. This weekend I've been recovering from Friday's ureteroscopy, and with any luck tomorrow's procedure will be quick and effective.

Then I will start doing whatever I can to prevent stones from forming again. It's hard to find a lot of definitive direction on the topic, but I'll be drinking lots of fluids, particularly lemonade, and avoiding dehydration. There may be some dietary changes I can make as well. I'm still trying to figure out more on the subject. This bout has been the worse kidney stone episode I've experienced, but not the only one by a long shot. I wouldn't wish these on anyone.

My garden has survived and produced well despite my uneven attentions to it this summer. I had hopes of blogging the gardening "experience" more thoroughly, but I've just had too much on my plate thus far. Fortunately the fam and I have enjoyed some delicious squash, fresh corn, and tomatoes, and I've got oodles of hot peppers to use at present, too.

And Hubs is finished with all of his coursework, ready to graduate later this week, so perhaps the two of us can get back to some of our favorite cooking conspiracies in the coming weeks and months! I'm so proud of all of the work he has put into getting his MBA, but I am also incredibly relieved that it's finally complete!

Down with kidney stones!

Death to all kidney stones! Begone!

1 down, 3 to go. This is taking forever, and I have only slightly more patience than my (sometimes) adorably impatient daughter...

Waiting game...

My mysterious health problem persists, and my doctor has not figured out the cause of my pain, but, God bless her, she is doing tests and trying her best to rule things out, one at a time. My pain comes and goes - it's around more often than not, but I have had the occasional hour or two of blissful pain-free relaxation from time to time. I know my kids and my husband are eager to get this diagnosed and resolved, probably as eager as I am. It's taken a toll on me in so many ways. For many weeks now - over three months - I haven't felt like my usual self, and haven't felt like doing everything that I should be doing, with my family, the house, the dogs, my job...

Itty bitty update

If the weather cooperates, I'll finally get some planting done tomorrow. My dad has offered to help me get the seeds in the ground, and hopefully the red clay that passes for soil here will be dry enough to use the tiller. It's been raining so much lately, without sufficient breaks for the ground to dry at all, that I've been waiting quite a while to get the seeds in the ground.

The mystery pain isn't resolved, isn't diagnosed, but does feel a bit better thanks to a change in medication. I have a new doctor - I really like her so far - and a plan of attack to eliminate possible causes until we find the right one.

To add more fun to the mix, I'm making serious efforts to potty train a certain stubborn, strong-willed three year old boy. He likes Spiderman underwear, but we may need to buy more pairs if he keeps going through them so quickly - hard to keep up with the laundry.

Ow.

I did something very, very bad to my back on Wednesday. I'm blaming Two, who's certainly big and strong enough that I don't need to be picking him up all the time. I think packing up the items left from the church Ten Thousand Villages sale was a contributing factor as well. Anyway, I've been miserable. I can barely walk, and I wince when I do. Fortunately my doctor took pity on me and gave me some meds when I went to see him yesterday. His explanation of how I did it and how the muscles in my back are so much easier to injure made a lot of sense, but at present I'm a little too woozy to recap. Maybe later. Sitting up to type starts to hurt more and more, the longer I do it.