STARTING THE NEW YEAR STONED

Not really stoned, stoned.

Two days after Christmas, while driving to work, I developed a slow but steady onset of right lower abdominal pain. The pain increased to the point that after seeing the first patient of the day I had to excuse myself and return home. I thought I was having a bout of diverticulitis, having eaten one too many candied pecans over the holidays. Then for the next six days the pain waxed and waned hours at a time until the evening of New Year's Day when I couldn’t get in any comfortable position through the night.

The next day I obtained a scan at Compass Imaging. But it instead revealed I had multiple kidney stones that had dropped down the ureter, lodging at the opening of the bladder. They were stacked like casino chips. I called urologist Dr. David Spencer’s office and they were gracious enough to see me by that same late afternoon in his Ocean Springs office. He gave me the option of having them taken out right away or waiting until the morning. Not wanting to spend another painful night with ‘my-10-pound-baby-birthing-labor pain’, combined with a very low pain threshold, I opted to have them taken out ASAP. I was thinking anything to the contrary would be something necessitating a psychiatric referral.

After registering, getting prepped, and into surgery, Dr. Spencer adroitly removed all 18 of them bad boys. Since this was my only ever bout with kidney stones we were mystified as to how so many stones formed so quickly. The only thing I can think of that might have made a difference was that I began taking a Vitamin D supplement about two months ago. While several studies are inconclusive as to Vitamin D significantly increasing one’s chance of forming kidney stones, there is a small percentage of people who are apparently sensitive to the Vitamin D-influenced calcium secretion in the kidney. So if you’ve had a kidney stone before, and even if you haven’t, and are taking Vitamin D supplementation then you may want to consult with your doctor to determine the benefits/risks in continuing them.

At any rate, for the much unpleasantness and misery I experienced, I have nothing but high praise for Dr. Spencer and his staff, and especially the intake and processing staff at Ocean Springs Hospital. I’m very grateful to Cathy for her not-wasting-time registering approach (she could qualify as an auctioneer). And Nurses Pamela and Deborah (don’t know last names) were not only professional and efficient, but they were very personable which helped blunt my rising misery index. And in the pre-op and recovery station Nurses Diane and Tina were just super and expert. Can’t thank them enough! All of them gave the impression, genuinely so, of very much enjoying and being at ease and confident in and with their work. Anesthesiologist Dr. William Descher and Nurse Anesthetist Wayne Chaney were also very much appreciated. I compliment Administrator Kevin Holland for his administrative efforts in creating a hospital environment and professional staff that is excellent, to say the least.

If my experience at OSH is being multiplied and shared by others who are cared for at OSH, and hopefully likewise at other Coast hospitals, I offer it as a model hospital and we can rest assured that the quality of hospital care on the Mississippi Gulf Coast is quite good.