Kidney Stones.
Almost as bad as giving birth to a baby, having a kidney stone of ANY size ANYWHERE in your body is miserable. Some say it’s like ‘needles to the groin’ or ‘knives in the back’.
I’ve had kidney stones on and off for almost 30 years. The first time I had one, I had NO clue what it was. All I knew was that my side and lower back hurt and I was dying. Well, I thought I was dying anyway. I got to the hospital and there was nothing there but sand. Leftover fragments of what was probably a kidney stone, they said. Great.
For a long time after that, I was having surgery once and sometimes twice a year for kidney stones. It became a normal thing for me. I knew the pain immediately when it hit. A lot of times, when I had to go to the ER in the middle of the night, I would just go in and tell them what it was and they would start the process to see if it was a large stone or small stone.
Ugh. The things you learn as you get older.
That was in south Georgia. Now, 30 years later in Tennessee, the fact is that kidney stones are a lot more prevalent here in all the southern states.
It used to be that middle-aged white men in the southern United States were at the higher risk of getting kidney stones. Now, all races, ages, and both male and female, are catching up. The National Kidney Foundation says that about 1 in 10 people will have a kidney stone at some point in his or her life.
Also, kidney stones are hereditary. Both of my paternal grandparents had them. My niece and my nephew both have had them. And here’s something…a kidney stone is never worse than when you’re pregnant.
When I moved to Tennessee and was seeing a kidney specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, they created a treatment plan to reduce the stones. It worked. Not completely, but now, instead of once or twice a year, I usually end up at the hospital once ever few years. The treatment plan was basic and is probably given to everyone at one time or another. Drink more water, reduce sodium, reduce animal protein in your diet, maintain a healthy weight.
It seems to be working.
For now.