Happy Bastille Day 2010

I celebrated this Bastille Day helping some stones break free from their dark dank prison known as my ureter. Thankfully, the stones were freed sans guillotine.

Today's Lithotripsy has gone well so far. The 8mm kidney stone is now pulverized and I've been having no problems thus far with passing a mini sand storm through my urethra. I look at these pebbles of calcium and the thought of them once joined together in a huge meteorite configuration reminded me of the threat that beheld the Earth in Armageddon. People, who have had this procedure, told me the days after can be a mini vacation to hell. Luckily, no vomiting, only a bit of nausea, no huge pieces as of yet to pass. I am collecting them in a specimen container so that the hospital can analyze why I've now had to undergo these pains for the third time in my life.

Although much of my summer vacation has passed as I await the completion of the stones' journey, I hope to have a few remaining days of nice weather and relaxation before I start planning to teach senior English for the first time in my life. I've taught seniors CAHSEE class, basic remediation class, and now I will show them senior exit project. May they graduate...

On Call Doctor

Around 8pm tonight, I received a very unexpected call from my physician at Kaiser. Recently, I've had a few lab tests done on my urine and blood. Just two days, I was fitted for orthopedic shoes, which will h0pefully alleviate the foot pain I have due to bone spurs growing into both my Achilles' tendons. Now, Kaiser does send me emails to let me know the results of these lab tests, but when I read the numbers of my test results, there is no real explanation for they mean. I know some numbers are within range while some are elevated. So when my doctor called me at home for the first time, I was slightly alarmed. It's Friday night, and she's going over my case files... finally hitting her paperwork possibly... and then she sees the need to follow up with me...

Well, evidently I have high levels calcium, which maybe caused by some parathyroid issue (I'm not even sure if that's right). But I do remember her saying there's 4 of them near my thyroid and I may have to have some of them removed surgically and something from my arm would be taken out to replace it. What? Well, I need to see an endocrinologist a week from now to determine just what's going on this time in my body. It may be nothing and no surgery will be even needed. Calcium could just be high. But the possibility of another surgery looms over me. And if the orthopedic shoes can't work wonders, summer of 2011 will be spent recovering from surgery to remove the bone spurs in my feet to prevent the further shredding of my tendons. It may even cause me to miss a month to a semester from work... I guess I won't renew my Giants tickets in 2011.