A Kidney Stone Story

I woke early this morning with a pain in my right side. A feeling of dread came over me. I knew this pain. It happened a couple of years ago when I ended up passing small, undetectable stones. I prayed that it would not be so, but as the morning progressed I felt that searing pain. A pain you only know if you have experienced kidney stones before. I prayed. I told God that I would not fear, that I know He can take care of me. In fact, He already was.

There is a small group visiting from Vera and Basil’s church. In that group there “just so happened” to be an ER doctor. He examined me and told me it was most likely stones and was able to give me some pain killers that are safe to take. If you have been reading the blog, then you know that I have been dealing with an infection, I thought to spare you the details but now I will share. It was a UTI. I’ve had a history of these and was quite frustrated to have another one. Well, for the past few days I have also been struggling with a nasty cold virus as well, so I’ve been “down for the count” so to speak.

We decided to make the trip to the hospital. Let me tell you, being sick and going down that coastal road is not fun. We stopped once so I could throw up, I felt a little better. Finally we arrived at the hospital (which looks more like an industrial building but it’s the best hospital in Belize), the attendant was less than enthused to help us and even told me I would have to wait until Wednesday to see a kidney specialist from the states, and did not seem to want to help us that much. We insisted on an ultrasound. I found out later that that was the LAST ultrasound they were doing that day. God really took care of me. While I was waiting and getting frustrated it was taking so long I was talking to the lady at the desk about my condition and explaining to her my frustration with the attendant in the other room. She said, “Well, he probably did not know what to do because we did not have an Internist here at the time, but we have one right here in this room right now. Maybe he will see you.” This doctor “just so happened” to be at the hospital to pick up his check. He had walked into the room to check the soccer score on the tv in the room. He showed much care and said he would be glad to see me after the ultrasound.

Ultrasound findings: I had indeed passed a stone and it was still in my bladder. Also, my left kidney (where I felt no pain) has a stone that is 8.3 mm. That is very large for a stone. I am not feeling it because it has not decided to move. Well, the doctor saw the results and suspects that I still need to pass a stone. He also said that I need to see a Urologist. But guess what? There are no longer any urologists in Belize. I will have to go to Mexico. The big stone , he said, is too big to move on it’s own, but it probably has been the cause for my UTI’s past and present because bacteria like to hide around stones. I will have to remove the stone, and it can only be done in the States or in Mexico. So, Mexico it is, but it will have to wait until after the pregnancy. We also found out that this doctor “just so happened” to be a Christian. He spent 30 minutes talking to us and did not charge us a cent for his consult. He also gave me his cell number and asked me to call him on Monday.

The Lord is with us. He showed us that He is always there and constantly protecting us. I am really glad that I decided to put my trust in Him instead of giving in to the fear and worry that was lurking closely. I feel like there were God’s angels fighting for me today and Christ had the victory! We are learning so much about Him here. This is a good thing because we are two very imperfect people. Please continue to pray for this situation. Oh, and, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS “JUST SO HAPPENED”. I only see God happening around here.

P.S. The ultrasound tech did peak at the sex of the baby. Not for long though because she was really doing us a favor and I told her I would be back Tuesday for the official check. However, we have a good idea what the baby is, but we will let you all wait until we know for sure ;-).