what, were you playing checkers or something?

So yesterday was a normal Monday. I studied, cleaned, and went to school for 8 hours.
On my way home from school around 9 PM, I started feeling some pain in my lower back on the right side. I just thought it must be muscle fatigue since I had just been sitting upright in my chair practicing how to scale for the last 4 hours...no big thang...right?

By the time I got home it just felt worse. For some reason I let Nick talk me into going to Wal-Mart even though I felt like poop. He made fun of me for holding my back and walking slow like I was an old fart. I don't know why, but having my hand on my back made it feel better...I'm sure it's all mental...

So we got home and Nick had some homework to do. I tried to relax and pretend like the pain wasn't getting worse, but IT WAS. around 12AM I I was crying with pain and feeling like I was going to throw up.

Nick got me into the car and we drove to urgent care. Funny thing about urgent care is that they apparently don't give a crap that people might need URGENT CARE after 8PM at night. Who closes at 8PM?!

Anyway, we drove to the emergency room where I could hardly even walk by this point because the pain was so bad.
We were excited to see that they were not very busy and we were even more excited that five minutes after signing in I was already called back to see the nurse.


So after seeing the nurse, apparently they need you to wait another 45 minutes. Then, after they finally call your name and show you to your little room they absolutely NEED you to wait another 30 minutes. Then they need to tell you what you already know and promise to give you pain killers. Then they apparently FORGET that you are in the worst pain in your life and decide not to give you pain killers till around 3 IN THE MORNING! While this is all happening, it doesn't really matter what could possibly be wrong with your body because you're going to freeze to death anyway. Then of course they have to give you a CAT scan because they want you be radiated just a little bit more and waste more of your money for no reason. They said it was because they thought I had "kidney stones" and wanted to make sure. I have never had a kidney stone, but I was pretty sure that WAS NOT what I was feeling. Then it took another two hours to tell me that I DON'T have kidney stones and for them to tell me what I already knew: "You have a kidney infection". Nah, really? Then they prescribe you the medicine you already knew you needed 5 hours ago and send you on your not-so-merry way.

what, were you playing checkers or something? What in the WORLD was so necessary that not a SINGLE one of your doctors could have seen me and let me go before 5:30 in the morning?

One good thing came out of this: NO SCHOOL.
believe me, I was planning on calling in sick even if they let me out at 1PM. Even Nick took off work to take care of me...and to sleep since he was so exhausted from staying up all night.

In the end, I'm doing ok. I have learned this: appreciate your kidney every day that it is working right, because holy crap, it is one of the most painfully painful infections you will ever have. You never realize how important your kidney is until it's not working right.

wow, that was a little "ode to the kidney" there, but seriously. Another thing I learned, which is probablly more important, never think that a urinary tract infection will just "go away" if you drink lots of water, or you might just spend a whole night in the hospital...

loves,
k

PS. another thing I learned, hospitals are crap.