Kidney appreciation day

I have learned a valuable lesson over the last 24 hours: never take your vital organs for granted.

A couple of days ago I came down with a bladder infection.  Nothing major, but unpleasant nonetheless.  I figured I could just flush it out with some cranberry juice and water.  No big deal.  Things didn’t really improve over the next couple of days, but I figured it would pass in time.

Then, last night I’m woken up at about 2:35 AM, wondering what that awful sensation in my back is.  I’ve had lower back problems for years, and they have been aggravated recently by all the bending, twisting, and lifting that I’ve discovered motherhood requires.  So I wake up thinking ugh, my back is really giving me troubles tonight. I tried changing positions over and over, and rather than it getting better, the pain kept getting worse and worse.  It was so intense that it was shooting down my legs and my whole lower back felt like it was a big red, radiating ball of pain (you know, like you see on the commercials).  I rolled over and got up on my knees, my face smashed into the pillow, hoping that would stretch things out.  Nothing.  Before I knew it I was rocking back and fourth on all fours and breathing raggedly.  I felt like I was in labor, except this time my back was intending to deliver…something, I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a baby.

Eventually I woke up the hubby, gasping for breath between the shots of pain that were now stabbing through each side of my back.  He tried massaging it, thinking maybe I had really pulled my muscles or something.  Again, no relief.  At this point I realized that it wasn’t my run of the mill back problems.  Nope, it was my kidneys, and apparently someone had set fire to them while I was sleeping.  Seriously, the only thing I could compare it to was labor… and I experienced some pretty intense labor.

Brady was kind enough to get me a handful of ibuprofen and some water, and soothed me until I was no longer shaking and and moaning in pain.  I didn’t know if I should go to the ER or wait it out or what to do, so I laid down to see if the pain meds would kick in.  Fortunately they did, and somehow I managed to drift off to sleep.

I woke up in the morning feeling almost back to normal, but over time the stabbing, searing, throbbing pain in my back returned, and has been alternating between sharp pain and a dull ache all day.  I went to my doctor to get some antibiotics, so hopefully they will do the trick soon.

So all this time I’ve totally been taking my hardworking, dependable kidneys for granted.  I rarely give them a thought or even notice that they are even there.  But WOW, do they have a way of making themselves known when something goes wrong!

Tags: pain, sick