Well, after being rushed to the Emergency Room on January 3 with
severe abdominal pain...and neither eating food or having a bowel
movement would stop it, my worst fears were realized.

The pain was caused by a kidney stone that had moved down into the
urinary bladder...and it was confirmed by ultrasound yesterday. When I
visited my Mom in the nursing home on Wednesday, to let her know what
was going on, the black nurse standing there (she's a character unto
herself <G>), grinned wildly, and said to my Mom, "HE'S PREGNANT!!" <G>

While there are no new stones in the kidneys, there is apparently a 9 millimeter stone in the bladder. While the urethra is bigger than the
ureters, I won't pass this one without surgery...and without a lot of bleeding...never mind "a period from the penis" (I had that once before,
and panicked).

So, I am waiting on the surgery scheduler to call me, and I've worked
out a ride for it, since I won't be able to drive. It likely will be
done at the Centerview Surgery Center, adjacent to Arkansas Urology's
Little Rock office, next to the Arkansas Prostate Cancer Center. What I
dread most is the catheter, and bladder spasms afterwards.

At least I'm about 50 pounds lighter than I was in August...but I'm
still classed as "obese" with my body mass index at 36.

Daryl
===
þ OLX 1.53 þ All marriage is same sex: the same sex over & over again.
--- SBBSecho 3.06-Win32
* Origin: FIDONet: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (1:19/33)

Well, either they missed the bladder stone (supposedly 9 millimeters
in size) when I went into surgery in February...or there's a shadow or something else on the ultrasound.

I'm to undergo a flexoscopy while awake (not looking forward to that),
and they're going to look in the urinary bladder, to see if something is
there. If not, I won't need surgery.

Regardless, I'm having a very difficult time right now paying bills.
So much so, I've put myself on a diet of nothing but bread, butter, and
tap water. Got to pay the bills before I can get the food <sigh!>...and
$1100 a month on disability doesn't go very far. Right now, I only have
30 cents in the bank account.

Daryl

===
þ OLX 1.53 þ Life isn't Burger King; you can't always Have It Your Way
--- SBBSecho 3.07-Win32
* Origin: FIDONet: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (1:19/33)