It's Just Kidney Stones

Jeff went back to Kentucky today. He's been here for a week. Originally, he came home for Relay weekend. He was supposed to go back Sunday night. But due to a very unfortunate set of circumstances, he had to stay longer.

All day Thursday, Jeff was complaining about how often he was going to the bathroom. I didn't think much of it as it was REALLY hot and I'm sure he was drinking plenty just to stay hydrated. Well, by Friday, let's just say he was having difficulty controlling himself. This is when I became concerned. So, we made a doctor's appointment. Honestly, I assumed he had a UTI, would get a prescription for an antibiotic, and that would be the end of it.

While at the doctor, we learned that Jeff has lost 10 pounds since the last time he was there, 18 months ago. Needless to say, it's unusual for a teenage boy who is in great shape to drop ten pounds. His blood pressure was up, but that's not unusual for him. He had a red blood count of 50+; normal should be no higher than 3. And he had tenderness at the sides of his abdomen, though strangely not in his back where one would expect kidney pain. So, between all that and the symptoms that got us there, the doctor was concerned to say the least.

The doctor explained that whereas UTIs are quite common in girls of all ages, they are very uncommon in boys of any age. During the course of the conversation, Jeff mentioned that both of his parents have had kidney stones multiple times. The doctor seemed hopeful for the first time during the appointment and said that kidney stones would be THE BEST diagnosis that he could give Jeff. Before we left, they took a few tubes of blood, which Jeff HATED. The boy does NOT like needles. And we were asked to make an appointment for the following Tuesday. Depending on the results of the lab work and whether or not Jeff passed a stone, we were told to be prepared for additional testing.

I worried about Jeff all weekend and asked for prayers from friends and family. Jeff on the other hand, went on as if nothing had happened. He didn't feel 'great' Friday night, but got better as the night wore on. He even stayed at Relay all night long. Saturday night, he went to a birthday party of a friend. Sunday, he actually hung out around the house with me. And then he went sandbagging in Elnora Monday night with friends to help protect the levee after the rains. Every time I asked him how he felt, he insisted that he was fine.

At Tuesday's appointment, we learned that nothing grew from Jeff's urine culture. So, he didn't have a UTI after all and was allowed to stop taking his antibiotic. We also learned that all of the tests they ran on Jeff's blood came back good. No drugs. Kidney function was good. Liver enzymes looked good. Sugar levels are okay. So, the doctor deduced that Jeff most likely passed a stone on Friday, which would explain why he felt bad Friday and good the rest of the weekend. Then the doctor asked Jeff to lie down on the table so he could poke around on him a bit. When he pushed on the left side of Jeff's abdomen, he flinched. The doctor decided that since the CT was already on the agenda, we should go ahead and follow through with that...just to be sure So, we did.

We had to travel to the hospital. But once his name was called, it only took about five minutes. Three hours later, I got a call that said that Jeff had a kidney stone just leaving his kidney. The doctor said that he didn't expect Jeff to have any problems passing it since it seemed he passed the first one okay. So, besides fighting the pain, we weren't given any marching orders except to come back after a month to ensure there wasn't still blood in Jeff's urine.

Personally, I was THRILLED with the diagnosis. Jeff on the other hand, not so much. Then again, he has to deal with the pain. But I've never been so relieved to hear that it's just kidney stones!