Goodbye Stent, It's Been Real

I had my follow up visit to the doctor for the kidney stone this week. The stent was still taking up temporary residence in my abdomen, it had to be removed. I dreaded it for days. I was more worried about the stent removal than I was to have the actual stone evicted. The reason - I would be awake this time. No general anesthesia. <whimper> My body decided to have a little fun, it thought that it would be a grand time to start menstruating. Thanks body, my period right now is exactly what I needed. I know, the doctor is a urologist, he's seen it all. But can't I retain a little of my dignity? Apparently not.

The stent removal consisted of a scope with a camera ran up my urethra and into my bladder. They put some fluid in the bladder and then fish around for the string to the stent. It took them several minutes to catch it. Doctor and nurse working side by side between my legs. 'Open, now close,' the doctor told the nurse as he navigated the fishing pole and she ran the hungry hippo at the end of it. 'We almost had it. It's a tricky one.' File that under words you don't want to hear your urologist say. You can watch the whole fishing expedition on the monitor next to you, the camera is broadcasting the whole thing. Popcorn is not included. Finally they caught the string and pulled out the stent. It was a pretty blue. My favorite color.

Don't you want to sign up for your own stent removal? Sounds like loads of fun right? Well, if you ever have to go through it, please know.....it's not that bad. Nothing like what I had myself psyched up for. Once again my imagination is my own worst enemy.

So, the worst part of my doctor visit wasn't the stent removal. The worst part came at the end when I asked my doctor if it's likely that I'll get another kidney stone. He said the odds are 50/50. If you heard something strange echoing around the world at about 3 PM Tuesday, that would have been me yelling the Darth Vader 'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!'