A Day of Blessings

 

Today was a day of blessings. My wife had an automotive semi-emergency, I visited the ER, we both missed work; yet we were blessed.

I awoke at 6, just before Mrs Doc Robert, herself an MD, kissed me goodby as she headed to work an hour away. I had a bit of a backache and decided to return to bed for an hour rather than do my treadmill time.

Couldn’t sleep. Had a backache, had to pee. Then around 630, Mrs Doc called, she had a low tire warning light, was waiting at the Toyota dealership for help. They open at 8. She had called her work to say she would be late. I told her to go to Ken’s tire shop, he opens at 7, but she prefers to use the dealer. So I started hustling, thinking, she may need help. Backache got worse, I had an urge to pee even though there was naught there. Took a couple of Motrins. Skipped coffee and had yogurt for breakfast thinking is the backache, which is now settling into the right side of my belly, something abdominal? Got on my knees and prayed, Lord, let me have the strength to serve your will today. I pray a lot but rarely on my knees. Put the trash out, said goodbye to my daughter and our cats. At 755 was in the car driving the 50 minutes to work.

Two minutes later, just before I got on the main road, there began the pain in my side. Right upper flank all the way south to the right testis. Left testis too, even though it is surgically absent (one of my cancers). And I knew. Ricochetti Docs, do you have a diagnosis yet? I sure did.

Knowing already the next action in this drama, I considered returning home but the wave of pain came on too quickly. I pulled into our town hall parking lot as it just rolled over me. I shouted, writhed, wept in pain. Nothing hurts like a kidney stone. I’ve had stones before and this was up there with the worst of them. It was a monster, it was unbelievable. And at 8 am there was no one in town hall.

There was a saving grace in Mrs Doc Robert’s tire warning and in her ignoring my advice to use Ken’s. At 809, when I called her, her car had been taken in by the dealer, despite her not having a service appointment, a small kindness on their part.  I couldn’t talk, she heard my breathing and asked if I was in pain. I told her yes, that I had a stone and squeaked out where I was. The dealer’s courtesy van brought her to me and she drove my car to our local Catholic hospital. As she drove, she calmly called each of our workplaces and told them why we would not be in today.

The hospital experience could not have been better. My pain had subsided, so I was coherent. I was taken in very quickly, assessed promptly, given an IV as labs were drawn. The gross blood in my urine spoke volumes. The nurse starting my IV introduced herself as Lydia, she told me that I had cared for her in my defunct private practice and that she had conceived spontaneously after my evaluation. Her daughter is now three. I asked if I had taken good care of her and she said yes, the best care you can imagine. My eyes teared.

I had been taken into the clinical area before signing consents, a clerk now came by, registered me fully, and took my co-pay at the stretcher.

Mrs Doc and I, both maskless, held hands in the cubicle and no one corrected us. The PA who assessed me was professional and caring. A dose of IV morphine did not end the pain but made it irrelevant.  After the CT scan, which was conducted quickly and easily, I slept for a bit.  My PA told me the wet reading, a single stone on the right just above the entrance of the ureter into the bladder.  A centimeter more and it would be over. She bantered a bit with Mrs Doc, who named the stone “Cal”, for “calcium”.  She called my urologist, sent three prescriptions, and proposed trying to flush the stone into the bladder with a fluid bolus.  1500 cc of saline later, my pain ended–like the flipping of a switch. The stone passed in my urine a few minutes later.   I dressed and Mrs Doc drove me home, arriving at 1215.

At home, I slept off the morphine and read old magazines all afternoon.   My urologist called at suppertime to check on me and told me that Cal was the only stone on my CT, so there was no need for further treatment since I had passed it.  Fourteen hours after the incident began, I am perfectly well, and a nagging backache which I had attributed to too much driving is gone.

Why do I bother you with this story?  Because of the grace it shows, the blessings.   The misfortunes and “mistakes” of the day all worked to my advantage.  I was going to have stone pain whether or not I prayed and whether or not Mrs Doc Robert had a bad tire.  Had Mrs Doc not had a tire warning, she would have been an hour away.  Had she followed my advice to go to Ken’s tire shop, there would have been no courtesy van.  Her being at the Toyota dealer got me to the Catholic hospital more quickly than if I had called 911 and did so for no cost.  The personal touch of an ex-patient caring for me gave me relief in my pain.  The PA’s idea to flush the stone out likely cured me.  In a time when hospitals are under enormous pressure, every one of the 15 or so people who helped me there (not to mention the handful who helped Mrs Doc) was efficient and caring.

Sometimes it takes a bad day to remind us how lucky we are. Blessings should not be taken lightly.

I think I will pray on my knees more often.

Published in Religion & Philosophy
This post was promoted to the Main Feed by a Ricochet Editor at the recommendation of Ricochet members. Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 8 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Absolutely beautiful. 

    Thanks so much for blessing my day with such an insightful and inspirational story. 

    And I’m so glad you’re feeling better…

    • #1
  2. Fritz Coolidge
    Fritz
    @Fritz

    Thanks for an uplifting story in these troubled times. We have a lot to be grateful for every day.

    • #2
  3. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    I wonder if it’s something in the water, everywhere.  Hubby had one of those stones a couple of years ago.  And an employee where I am working has one now.  God bless you and your wife, Doc.

    • #3
  4. Linguaphile Member
    Linguaphile
    @Linguaphile

    Wonderful post.   It reminds me of a verse that encouraged me just this morning:

    So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. (2 Cor. 4:16 The Message)

    • #4
  5. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    Your guardian angel was on high alert – glad to hear all went well, and a testimony to not ignore a nagging pain.  No more milkshakes and pizza for you!

    • #5
  6. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Doctor Robert: I think I will pray on my knees more often.

    As long as you can still get up again.

    • #6
  7. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Blessings!

    • #7
  8. navyjag Coolidge
    navyjag
    @navyjag

    Terrific story Dr. R.  Going through something hopefully less traumatic. Wife had breast cancer, beat that. Then the kidney stones. Problem solved. Now back surgery tomorrow; L something like where the nerves get into the spine. Sounds scary but not a PI lawyer so do not know much anatomy.  So she says, probably like Susan, had 3 kids, got through the chemo/radiation crap, got the bladder flushed out, I can do this.  Almost like I married a Marine. 

    • #8
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.