Visited the ER as a patient - yay

[nyu04]

Ended up in the ER (first time in my life) on Wednesday after having unbearable back pain/vomiting/cold sweats/hematuria.  CT revealed a 4mm kidney stone just exiting the kidney with a 6mm and 10mm still in the kidney.  Spent all day Thursday on a combination of pain meds including oxycodone (this stuff is the worst thing ever, don't know how people enjoy taking it) and finally pain/nausea started to subside on Friday.  I am off pain meds now but some residual discomfort still remains.

I have broken my clavicle/broken ribs etc before and this pain has been probably the worst I have experienced.  Wow!

Followed up with urologist on Friday and he said he may need to go in and remove it/place a stent for 5-7 days.  I am hoping it will pass but he said the 4mm stone is not moving very much at all despite ingesting large volumes of water.

Any experience from you guys on how the stent feels/felt on your patients?  Any lingering issues after stent placement/removal?  I'm thinking of just letting it pass by itself.  Plus, we leave in a few days for a week long vacation.... I will bring my toradol and hope for the best!

When I was sitting in the ER, I thought of WCI and you guys that work in hospitals.  You have no idea what a huge positive difference you make in people's lives!  Work may be tough but your patients appreciate you!!!

 

 

[Zaphod]

Definitely a first world view, but if you're going to be going on vacation I would have a stent placed asap, let it pass and any other issues some time to happen before leaving. Musch less just waiting for something happen or likelihood of passing a stone mid vacation. Sounds terrible.

How have you broken your clavicle/ribs and never been to the ER?

[Hatton]

I have never had a stent personally but as an ob/gyn I have taken care of several patients with them.  I think they are uncomfortable but nothing like passing a stone.

[nyu04]

Zaphod wrote:

Definitely a first world view, but if you’re going to be going on vacation I would have a stent placed asap, let it pass and any other issues some time to happen before leaving. Musch less just waiting for something happen or likelihood of passing a stone mid vacation. Sounds terrible.

How have you broken your clavicle/ribs and never been to the ER?

Click to expand...

The first stone passed today - thank goodness.  I will go back in for shockwave lithotripsy when I return for the others still lodged in kidney.

I fell really hard while mountain biking in college and was stupid enough to wait until the next day to see primary care.  They ended up referring me to the orthopedic guys but I never forgot the lesson.  When in doubt, go to the ER.

[The White Coat Investor]

Congratulations on delivering your first baby! Good thing too, in my experience, patients hate stents. I see a very biased sample, i.e. only those who hate their stent come see me.

[PhysicianOnFIRE]

Glad you got one out of the way. I've heard they're awful. Hope all goes well with the ESWL.

I'm like you and avoid the ER as much as possible (as a physician and patient) I've broken my arm, nose, and a rib. Saw my family doc a couple days later for the arm (I was 8 and didn't want to miss the class field trip), lived with the nose, and didn't know about the rib until 6 years later when we learned the physical exam in medical school.  "What's that disfigured Z shaped thing?" Oh, yeah, now I remember. Sat out a few days of wrestling practice for that one.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

How come nobody ever makes internet posts or cocktail stories about their visit to the rheumatologist? It's always an ER story.