<p>deb, work is a double-edged sword- I work full time and wish I could work part-time! My daughter’s only a junior but already I’m feeling the crunch of needing to go visit schools, only so much vacation time, needing a full-time income…everyone that works in any capacity needs a hug in my opinion!</p>
<p>hugs deb! I know exactly what your husband is going through since I have an issue with kidney stones. I’ve visited many an ER and I can tell you, since I’ve done both, the pain level was about on par with natural childbirth…but with kidney stones, the pain is constant and you don’t get the ‘breather’ between contractions. I’m so glad he was able to quickly pass the stone…bless his heart. </p>
<p>Btw…I’ve been told there are many theories about preventing them, including reduction of caffeine, but the most practical advice I rec’d was to not worry so much about the dietary restrictions and focus on drinking LOTS of water.</p>
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<p>I’ve had two kidney stones, and both came when I was pregnant with S1. I absolutely agree that the kidney stones were worse. My 3 kids were “natural” (don’t like that word - unnatural birth sounds like something Satanic) and you are right about the breather. Plus, you get a baby when you’re done, instead of a little tiny rock.</p>
<p>When I was delivering my babies, I remember thinking “I never want to go through this again.” When I was in the hospital with kidney stones, I remember just wanting to die. My pastor came to visit and wanted to know if he could bring me anything and I asked for a gun. </p>
<p>A month after the second stone, I had a baby. For me there was no comparison. Of course, my kidney stone pained for a couple days. My labors were only a few hours.</p>
<p>I have heard stones are even worse for men. Hugs to you, Deb!</p>
<p>Hugs, Deb. I know exactly what you are going through in the work department. I was home full time for 14 years & have worked part time for the past 4. I like the flexibility of my part time job, but I need the money from a full time job with D starting college this fall. I have applied for several jobs, but I have yet to even get an interview. I confess to being secretly happy that I am still working part time … yet I also know that I really must go full time. I have a son who is a sophomore in high school, and I hate to miss out … although he has no problem with me working more hours (I think because he can turn his guitar up full blast after school!). It’s all so hard … not in the scheme of life, but certainly in our personal worlds. So … hugs to you & to all who have major personal changes looming in our lives.</p>
<p>My dad had an awful kidney stone episode the evening before & day of my wedding. He tried valiantly to hide his pain, but the pictures show the eyes of a suffering man. Many hugs to your H. Lithotripsy (sp?) eventually helped my dad, BTW.</p>
<p>“Unnatural birth sounds like something satanic” </p>
<p>lol binx…true, never thought of it that way. But I have to say I felt a little ‘possessed’ with my second, the transverse breach, who finally made the turn…the WRONG way…giving me the pleasure of 26 hours of back labor. (I did have the epidural with that one…)</p>
<p>What I find interesting is that you also had a stone during pregnancy. My very first stone was during that pregnancy…but I delivered the baby before the stone. Stone came about a two weeks after baby. What a two week period that was too…he was born the day before Christmas Eve, I had to beg to be released to ‘make a Christmas’ for my other child (something Moms do best), he jaundiced and had to go into a bili bed, and because he was so big, his foot was twisted and we had to travel to the Medical Center to start serial casting on his foot immediately after he came out of the bili bed. And the ‘cherry on top’ I supposed was dealing with the kidney stone at the same time.</p>
<p>I’ve also heard that kidney stones are much worse for men. For women, once the stone passes into the bladder, the trauma is over. Not for men. Deb - please pass our hugs on to your husband!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I’m back from my job interview. The first question they asked is why do you want this full-time position! I told them honestly (this is at the job that I work part-time) that I didn’t know if I did want the full time position. I haven’t been offered the position yet but it sounded that my boss understood my position and that I would have conflicts with my family. It sounded that maybe I could work 4 8 hours days instead of 5 and that would be perfect. We’ll see, they may decide to offer it to someone who has less family conflicts that I and that would be fine. Other than the question about the full time position, I must say that I knocked that interview out of the park!</p>
<p>Oh no, you mean that childbirth was not the worst pain ever?! I have, gulp, something even worse to look forward to??? eeeep. Be still my panicking heart!!!</p>
<p>{Hugs} to kidney stone passers/sufferers! Holy moly, what next?</p>
<p>Way to go deb! And good for you giving it them straight; hopefully the beginning of a beautiful and cooperative employer/employee relationship.</p>
<p>No one stopping by for a hug today?</p>
<p>I’ll take a hug…I’m very new to this board. 4 weeks from today, I’ll take my one and only son to college, and I’m starting to feel very sad!</p>
<p>Welcome Packer – HUGGGGS to you! And best wishes to your son as he starts school. I know you’ll miss him. Raising kids and then letting them go – not an easy process!</p>
<p>I can use some support today. Have spent the last several days dealing with a wonderful young woman with an awful alcoholic father. I’ve watched a man harass and threaten this beautiful young girl who needs love and support–and I let it really get to me.</p>
<p>Packer : My 14 yr old is off to boarding school in those same 4 weeks. ((Hugs)) to you!</p>
<p>Good luck Mary-
I get upset just reading about the actions of awful people in the news. It must be rough to deal with it one on one.</p>
<p>And to all of us saying goodbye in the next month or so, my advice is—
I don’t know yet! But we’ll get through it. My son fluctuates between argumentative and unpleasant (easy to say goodbye), and being the interesting person and good company he has been for years (very tough to say goodbye). I just tell myself that he is more than ready to go, and also think back onto what a positive, life-changing time that was for me back in the old days. I hope it will be the same for them.</p>
<p>Never posted in this thread, but I need to vent a bit. Sorry for the length.</p>
<p>I saw a neurologist last week, and he told me he thinks I have Condition X, which is chronic, annoying, but altogether benign. The doctor said that I’m not textbook for X. In fact, upon reading the handout on it he gave me, there are very few similaries between my symptoms and the symptoms of X. But that was fine with me; bodies do all kinds of different things with the same condition. My neuro exam was “mostly normal” (Thanks, Doc! :rolleyes:). Since there’s no test for X and I don’t actually fit the description very well, and since there were one or two small issues with my neuro exam, I’m getting an MRI and MRA. I wasn’t worried about the results at all. I was supposed to have them done on Monday, but they called me late Friday afternoon to cancel and reschedule. Work is really busy, so it’s going to be a pain to reschedule. Of course, it also means more waiting until I can put this behind me (as much as I can with X still alive and well, at least). </p>
<p>Anyway, today I stumbled upon something written by a high school friend of mine whose father died of brain cancer earlier this year. It was something my friend wrote shortly after his father’s diagnosis. His father saw a doctor because he had symptoms just like mine, though his were more severe (in this case, mild usually means a more serious brain problem, while severe symptoms usually point to something less serious, as backwards as that sounds). He was diagnosed with Condition X, just like me, and he was referred for further testing to be on the safe side, just as I have been. When he got his CT done, though, they found a brain tumor in the same region of the brain that my doctor will be looking at.</p>
<p>I know this doesn’t change the probability that I have something serious wrong with me, but I’ve got to say, it freaked me out a bit. I do hope that we won’t have any more similarities. Now that I’m actually feeling slightly anxious (and I’m never anxious), my MRI/MRA won’t be Monday as planned but whenever I can manage to make a new appointment for. I’ve even started to get a little worried about the MRI/MRA, thanks to reading the last page of this thread! I don’t have a history of claustrophobia or anything, but the woman at the hospital said that my exams inside the MRI machine will take about an hour and a half in all. :eek:</p>
<p>My father’s ever-annoying stance is that I seem fine, so I am fine, essentially implying that I’m making up my problems or that they’re caused by stress or some other emotional catalyst. My friends know me as a very easy going, happy person, so I really doubt that anything is caused by stress or depression or something similar. My mother defers to my father.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’d just really like to have my MRI/MRA as scheduled for Monday to get it over with, but I guess I’m going to have to work out some other time to get the images run.</p>
<p>Thanks for “listening” to me ramble. 
If you’d like to know more details, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>They might offer you a sedative, like Valium, to help you stay calm during the MRI. If that sounds like a good idea to you, be sure to ask, even if they don’t offer it. 90 minutes is a long time! </p>
<p>My daughter had to had to have an MRI recently, but hers was only about 20 minutes. A bit of advice from that experience-- unless you are first of the day, call them just before you are getting ready to leave for the appointment to ask how close to schedule they are running. We didn’t do this, and ended up waiting about 40 minutes past the supposed starting time --plus we followed directions and gotten there 15 minutes early! But a previous appointment was a small child who had a hard time staying still and they kept starting over again.</p>
<p>My best wishes that all turns out well and that Condition X is managable. {Hugs!}</p>
<p>I’m a bit claustrophic and have this advice from one very long and one medium length MRI. Do not open your eyes at all until they pull you out. I knew if I opened my eyes and saw how closed in I was I would freak out. With your eyes closed you can pretend you’re somewhere else. Also, I kept myself sane by singing, in my head, every Beatles song I could think of. </p>
<p>We’ll all be sending good thoughts your way. And a valium sounds like a good idea.</p>
<p>I’m normally pretty relaxed, and I don’t envision myself getting stressed out, but it could definitely happen. I’ll see how I feel day-of. If it’s in the afternoon or at night I’ll consider asking for something, but otherwise I’ll be going to work afterwards, and I don’t think I should be too hopped up on anything! (The lure of good, legal drugs is always a little hard to turn down, too. ;)) Hopefully I’ll be able to re-schedule soon. With my work schedule, anything that’s not this coming week would be very hard to fit in. Thanks for the support.</p>
<p>Corranged, the sound you hear is the sound of me smacking you upside the head! No more excuses about work being busy … YOU are more important than anything happening at work. Period.</p>
<p>:) Well, I work in development for an influencial political campaign. The week after this we have three development events, and my boss may be away for all or part of that time. I probably know the most about the details of what needs to be done for these events best, next to my boss, so I should do my best to stick around. It’s an extremely important fundraising period for this organization, so I really want the events to run smoothly. Apparently the local hospital has many non-traditional time slots for MRIs, including nights and weekends, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to find a time that works. (I also have to fit in my eye doctor and a routine appointment with a hematologist in the same couple of weeks. Summer is so busy!) If I have to, I’ll certainly miss some work–even during a busy time–to get the tests done. I’d just really rather not.</p>
<p>But, point well taken. Thank you.</p>