Let me start with the following: I do not have a kidney stone. I do not have kidney pain. I am, in no way, reaching out for help with this post (if I thought I had a kidney stone again, I wouldn’t be wasting time posting on my blog – I’d be out in search of ‘real’ pain medicine).

While debating on what to fix for dinner tonight, I’ve been watching a show about ER doctors and nurses (a documentary, if you will) here in Denmark and one of the patients that came in was a guy, early 30’s with side pain. Long story short, big beefy, tattooed guy in tears because ‘his side hurts’. I totally called it before the nurse did – only one thing can bring a guy like that to his knees – a kidney stone.  Just as this image above says, death is welcomed treatment. I won’t lie – there was more than one occasion where, lying on the bathroom floor, it was a very, very welcome option. Just watching made me sit a little straighter, twist a little to stretch my sides and not long after drift to the kitchen for a large glass of water.

I have never in my life been in such great pain compared to when I was in the hospital back in 2008 for a kidney stone. Nor would I wish that sort of pain on anyone (ok, maybe the fool who CANCELLED MY SOAP – but that’s another post, another day). It’s the kind of pain where you can’t sit still, you can’t focus, and no matter how many times the nurse tells you to ‘just go to sleep‘, you can’t. It’s funny though, how the mind/body works. I can’t explain how the pain was exactly. I know it was bad, and I remember being so miserable, but it’s like the mind blocks any real memories of what it felt like. Probably a good thing.

So my friends, family history or not of kidney stones, do yourself a favor and drink a glass of water.