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Wednesday 21 December 2011

Vacation and Excitement...

That's right... excitement. But not the good kind :(

Today was the last day of school. We had fun activities in the gym for all students who met the criteria (caught on all assignments, etc). One particular activity ended up involving the four teachers present. We had to put an Alka-Selzer in our mouths and then take a sip of 7-UP. Then you close your mouth and see how long you can hold it like that. I didn't take long to spit it out. I have a very shallow gag reflex, and then it started going up my nose. This wasn't the horrible part of the day though, and it was pretty funny. Especially when the winner of the teacher competition spit his mouthful out toward the audience of middle years students.

The teachers went out for drinks after work (a bit of Christmas cheer). I actually had two drinks. I haven't drank in about a year (what with TTC); I don't generally need alcohol to celebrate anything, but given that TTC is off the table for a few months I thought, what the heck!

After drinks and supper, back to the school hubby and I went. The students were having their winter formal dance tonight and we were to be supervising them. We got back about an hour before the dance started, so there was still set up. Hubby went to work in his classroom for a bit and I sat in the staff room and bitched with the VP and another teacher.

About half an hour later, hubby walks in - looking like death warmed over. He was pale, sweating, and hunched over. He collapsed on the couch. He had been puking suddenly and was in severe pain. He figured kidney stones. Lovely. He took some Tylenol and tried to sleep on the couch.

Just before the dance started, he came to me and said "you have to get me to an ER... quickly". He said that the pain was getting worse and (TMI time), he was unable to pee. Naturally, because she is awesome, my VP said "go go, don't worry about the dance, we've got it", and we took off.

By the time we got to the nearest hospital with an ER (about 45 minutes away), the pain had mostly disappeared. They took some urine, and discovered that yeah - blood in his urine... definitely kidney stones. Even though the pain had passed and they thought that the stone had probably dropped to his bladder, they gave him some pills to ease any further pain, and some painkillers too. He has to take the first pills for seven days, so that should stop a recurrence - at least over the holidays. He is being booked in for an ultrasound for next week to see if there are more stones forming and if he needs to go to a specialist. He has a history of stones and has never been refered to a nephrologist to have it checked.

The good thing was that the hospital we went to is a small town hospital with a 24 hour ER. Everyone at the school was saying to go there - it was closest and open, and we actually got attended to immediately upon walking in. They took his info and history immediately and the nurse and doctor checked him over less than five minutes later. The whole time in the hospital was less than 45 minutes.

I must say that it is times like this that I am reminded of how amazing our health care system is. We walked into an ER. My hubby didn't have his wallet (so no ID). They took his info, looked him up in the provincial system, and that was it. They treated him, gave him an initial dose of drugs, did a urine test, and a full checkover... and it cost us NOTHING! No payment, no nothing. The ultrasound and any followup with a specialist will cost nothing! I can't imagine the people who would be faced with this kind of pain and have to choose to stay home because they have no coverage! It's crazy! There are a lot of things that annoy me about the province I live in, but the health system is one thing that I'm eternally grateful for.

So, we're home. Apparently the dance went great. I'm sorry I missed it, but I'm glad that hubby is feeling better. He is sleeping soundly and I think that I'm going to go too. I'm so tired that I'm tired right down to my fingertips... ever been that tired? I might sleep right through morning tomorrow... and why shouldn't I? I'm on vacation!

3 comments:

Anonymous

It sounds like break didn't come too soon for you and hubby. I hope he can pass the stones soon. You were such a good sport at the assembly. I can just never feel free to do those things.

You're right- I'm sure there are drawbacks to the system (I've heard that waits to see specialists can be awful) but everyone having the right to basic medical care is something I truly believe in. I actually put my money where my mouth is. I support a clinic for low-income working people where they (and I once upon a time) are treated with dignity and payments are affordable. The clinic even has relationships with some specialists and hospitals to cut down on those bills.

Have a wonderful, restful break!

Jenny

Poor Mark! I hope the stone passes quickly. On the plus side, he'll be nicely drugged up for Christmas. :)

Sunflower

Glad your hubby is better now.

I hear ya about free healthcare. I was in the ER (US) myself a couple of weeks ago, and all I could think about is how many thousands of dollars that visit was going to cost me even WITH health insurance.

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