Weekend Whirlwind

What a weekend! This is going to be a recap post, rather than a reflection - no waxing philosophical for me tonight, thanks.

On Saturday, one of our friends was ordained into the priesthood at the Cathedral in Salina. The best part about this, is that we got to see a lot of our friends from Hays that we haven't seen for a while.

There was a dinner following the ordination Mass, and we took our time getting in there for various reasons. By the time we got our food and scanned the area for a table, we realized that our friends had already filled up a table, so we decided to sit at the next table over. Our friends would have none of that, though. They went out of their way to make room for more chairs so we could sit with them, crowded around the table. It made me feel real good. Coming from someone who, in High School, had a lunch period opposite my friends, I usually had a difficult time trying to find someplace to sit in the lunch room, and a lot of times ended up by myself. So I am really grateful for my friends, who I don't have to put on an act when I am around them - I can be myself and be accepted (okay, so maybe some minor philosophical waxing).

Then we went down to visit some other people that I can be myself around - my family. I was really excited to get to see Uncle Max, Aunt Sherri, Uncle Dennis, and Aunt Ruth, who came from Michigan and Texas for the Harper High School all class reunion. We usually only get to see them about once a year during the Plank Family Vacations (PFV, copyright pending - HA!). Watching Rachel interact with them was not only cute, but also put a big smile on my face.

We look forward to seeing everyone in July for this year's PFV, and look forward to celebrating Rachel's second birthday. Hopefully the trip will go smoothly, and we will limit the number of "adventures" (Dad's code for getting lost).

Kidney Stones Aren't Much Fun. No, no, no.

Guys: Imagine, if you will, someone punching you in your left testicle (yes, just your left one). Now think of that wonderfully uncomfortable sensation immediately after the punch. You got it? Now add to that an excrutiating pain in your lower left abdominal region. This is the type of pain that does not let up, it's continual and sharp, it keeps getting worse and doesn't ever get better. I'm not done yet. Now imagine throwing up everytime after the pain worsens. This is what I had the joy of experiencing yesterday.

The cause of all of this, in case you haven't guessed yet, was a kidney stone, making its way down from my left kidney into the bladder. We were visiting family in Wichita when it happened, so my Dad ended up taking me to the ER at Galichia Hospital on north Woodlawn. The drive over there seemed like it took forever, but once we got there, I only had to wait about 5 minutes to get into a room (still in excrutiating pain). Once they put an IV in and took some blood, they were finally able to give me some pain medicine. Since it came in intraveniously, the relief came pretty quickly. This was the first let-up in the pain that I had experienced for about an hour and a half. And it was good.

This is my second stone. The first one I had, I started feeling pain for about 2 weeks ago in my lower back. It managed to travel from my right kidney into my bladder without causing any more pain. I passed it just last Monday. Of course, I didn't bring my pain medicine with me from the first time, because I was feeling pretty good and didn't know about the second stone until I started hurting. But that's okay. The doc prescribed me the strongest dose of percocet that's available in pill form, along with an anti-nausea pill to take with the pain pill so it doesn't make me sick to my stomach.

My conclusion is that kidney stones suck. I hate them. The worst part is that I don't think there's much I can do to help prevent them. According to the lab reports, my kidney stone is a calcium oxalate stone, the most common type. I'll have to change my antacid pills to something without calcium, try to eat a little healthier, and drink more water. Other than that, I'm not sure what else to do. I'll have a chat with my family doctor in Emporia and see what she thinks.