Gather round, children! Mama has another self-diagnosed illness!
So you know all about my kidney stones, blah blah blah. I was told a month or two ago that little can be done for them; they’re small, and they dissolve quickly, and there’s no medication to prevent them. The pain and discomfort I suffer is mild, and usually ibuprofen is enough to make me feel better.
But hm.
I took some very interesting Human Biology courses in college. My instructor was a remarkable woman who was a church organist, and city councilperson, and chief anesthesiologist at a local hospital, as well as teaching courses at Gonzaga. She was funny and energetic, and an excellent instructor. I remember a lot of what she taught me.
And suddenly, from back the mid-1970s, I remembered her saying something like this: “The kidneys are cushioned on layers of tissue. In some people – often when there’s weight loss – the kidney can move around. This can cause discomfort. It’s called floating kidney.”
No kidding.
I checked. Kidney stones normally don’t feel worse when you move around, but a floating kidney certainly does. Kidney stones aren’t normally relieved by lying down; my pain goes away when I lie down.
A lot of the other symptoms are the same: colic, upset stomach, etc.
So wait’ll I see my timid little doctor.
Do I have a few things to tell him.
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