My Christmas Struggle 2015

On Sunday, December 20, 2015 JeriAnn and I flew to Las Vegas and then rode to St. George, Utah, for Christmas.  Our plan was to spend a couple days in St. George and then drive to California on Wednesday to spend a few days, including Christmas.  We were going to return to St. George on Saturday and to Las Vegas on Monday, December 28, 2015 to fly home.

Life is what happens when you’ve made other plans.

When we arrived in Las Vegas we were picked up by Mama Evelyn Bosh and our nephew Jerry Gentry.  The first thing we learned was that, because of some unforeseen circumstances, we would not be making a trip to California after all.  We were going to have a nice week in St. George.  OK! Well that was a great idea.  St. George is a beautiful place to spend a week. I have always enjoyed being there and it was fun. I thought that maybe I could even try stopping by the Temple there.  I went through the Temple in St. George first and that was also where we were married.

Monday we had a nice day.  We watched some stuff on TV.  I tried to fix Mama Evie’s Apple computer but I really didn’t know what was wrong with it or how to make it work. I tried a couple things and then shut it down.  We went shopping for stocking stuffers and food for a dinner on Tuesday.  The original plan had been to have an early Christmas dinner in St. George with some of the family that wouldn’t make it to California. We got lots of good food and treats. It was fun. I got done with the day feeling a little pain in my sinuses.

On Tuesday my sinuses were still hurting and Evie got me some Sudafed to take for my sinus headache. I took some right away. Shortly after that I went to pick up baking soda we had forgotten to buy on Monday. I went to the grocery store and I had a moment as I was leaving the store that I was badly hurting and confused and I swore I could smell something burning (I still don’t understand this part). After a minute I felt better and went home.

By Tuesday night I was really feeling bad. I took some more Sudafed and had dinner with the group of Gentrys, JeriAnn’s sister and her family. After dinner they were going to play for a while and then go home. I felt bad so I went and laid down in bed.  Within an hour I ran to the bathroom and all of dinner came back out. I thought I was just a little sick so I went to bed the rest of the night.

On Wednesday, JeriAnn and I were allowed to go shop for something for ourselves for Christmas. We went and shopped for a little while and then I said I needed to go home and rest some more. By the evening I was still feeling bad and my side was hurting. I asked Evie if I could get priesthood blessing. She called one of her neighbors and asked him to find someone else to help him. I love that kind of response. I got a blessing quickly and it was somewhat assuring and also mentioned I may need medical attention. After the blessing I felt really a bit better, for a few minutes. I thanked them and they went home.

We started talking and then suddenly my good feeling went away, all the way. I was again experiencing the feeling I had at the store the day before.  This time it didn’t clear quickly and the pain in my side worsened. I suddenly paled and was staring in the distance. Evie asked if I was ok and I simply replied “No.” She told me and JeriAnn to get our shoes and coats on and we immediately left home to head to the Emergency Room and the hospital in St. George. 

When I got there they asked a lot of questions and took samples of my urine and blood. After the samples they told me I had a very little blood in the urine and they wanted me to get a CT Scan to see my urinary tract. It took about 45 minutes for someone to come take me to the CT Scan Room. He did the scan and wheeled me back to the Emergency Room. When we got there he said it would be an hour or maybe an hour and a half to check the CT Scan. We settled in to wait. 10 or so minutes later we got the answer. My left kidney has a 8mm stone in it. It is completely impossible to eliminate a stone that large through the usually urinary tract.

I was immediately admitted to a room. I was scheduled for a doctor to try to break the stone up with some sort of laser treatment. Later on Christmas Eve afternoon he took me to a surgery room. When I woke up I had a tube draining my urine into a bag. The doctor came and said he was not able to do anything to the stone and I would need to see a doctor when I got home. He gave me several medications and various sizes of bags and instructions how and when to remove the tube. I got my medications for full price (I have no insurance) at the last moment of the last open pharmacy on Christmas Eve, but I got out of the hospital.

Christmas Day was not fun for me at all. I was taking medicine and draining my urine all day long. Yippee. I ate a few things but not much. I drank some cranberry juice, which I probably should have done to not get such a stone.

Saturday after Christmas I got to remove the tube and urinate normally again, except a bit sore and irregularly. I started feeling a bit better, but not great. Sunday morning I went to Church with Evie. I had a good time there, with 2 talks by recently returned Sister Missionaries and a High Council speaker. The messages I heard were full of gospel faith and the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I didn’t stay for classes but I was very happy I got hope and took the sacrament. Sunday afternoon I walked to the Temple grounds and took some pictures and posted to Facebook.

Sunday night we packed and got ready to head home. I still didn’t feel fully recovered and I still don’t. We flew home today, Monday, December 28, 2015. At the airport I had a ride in a wheelchair from the airport entrance to the plane and again at the end from the plane to the baggage claim.  I got home and I was so happy to get here.

The future is still a work in process.  I have a huge stone and apparently I also have a huge amount of calcium in my blood stream.  I probably need part of my parathyroid removed to get my calcium normalized.  I still don’t know how to pay for this.  I can’t afford the medical attention or the insurance costs.