The Iced Tea Tastes Better

Last January I had an episode with kidney stones. You may have heard that kidney stones are very painful. I can confirm these reports are true.

During the kidney stone adventure an emergency room doctor told me various foods I should avoid because they increase the chances of developing kidney stones again. The easiest way for me to explain the correct diet for avoiding kidney stones is to tell you the foods that are allowed.

If you want to avoid kidney stones here is a list of the healthy foods to eat: 1) Celery.

That’s it. That’s the whole list. You can eat celery. So live it up with all the celery you want. Whoo hoo! Go nuts with the celery! Occasionally, if you really want to get crazy and spice it up a bit you can throw in a little bit of lettuce.

(I’m kidding. Sort of. But not much.)

At one point in this conversation the ER doctor said to me, “Do you like iced tea?”

I said, “I love iced tea. I drink it every day.”

He said, “No more iced tea. Only drink water. Lots of water.”

I said, “I hate drinking water.”

He said, “Of course you do. That’s why it’s important to drink it.”

With sadness in my heart I had to stop drinking my beloved iced tea.

But several months after this conversation with the ER doc I was telling this story to one of my friends, a person who has been a nurse for many years, and she said, “If you had an iced tea once in a while it would be alright. Don’t drink it every day. Have some occasionally. Moderation is the key.”

So, that’s what I have been doing. About once a week, or sometimes even less frequently, I will have an iced tea.

And you know what I’ve noticed? Now, when I do have an iced tea I have a greater awareness and sensitivity to the flavor of it. Seriously. There really is a difference. When I was drinking two or three large iced teas every day (I know, that’s a lot. Don’t point your fingers at me and shake your head disapprovingly.) I think I, unintentionally, desensitized my palate to the taste.

I had an iced tea tonight—I haven’t had one in about a week—and the flavor was delicious. It is as though my sense of taste has been heightened because I’m not drinking it as often.

What’s the point? The point is there is actually a silver lining in the cloud. I was sad that I couldn’t drink iced tea all the time because of the possibility of kidney stones. But now when I do drink iced tea—the occasions are rarer—but the taste is better.

Okay, time to go. I have a mouth-watering celery ensemble waiting for me.

The Kidney Stone Adventure

Yesterday morning, as I was driving to Decatur, IL (central IL) for a pastor’s retreat, I began to experience some discomfort that quickly turned into a significant amount of pain. Fortunately, though, after a while the pain passed and, basically, went away completely.

I thought, “Well, I don’t know what that was all about but it seems to be over.”

(This is the kind of brilliant thinking for which I am known far and wide.)

Last evening after the dinner provided at the retreat, sure enough, the pain returned and very quickly it became severe. It was a sharp pain in my lower abdomen and the right side of my lower back. I thought about trying to drive home but as the pain worsened I realized I would never make the 2 and a half to 3 hour drive home.

There is a couple at the retreat, Everett and Cindy, who are medical professionals and after speaking with them, we determined by the nature of the symptoms it was likely I had a kidney stone.

The pain became so severe—it was by far the worst pain I have ever experienced—that I was driven by my friend Eric (on very icy roads) from the back roads of the retreat center to the Emergency Room of St. Mary’s Hospital in Decatur. Everett came along with us, as well.

At the hospital blood work was analyzed and a CAT scan was performed. It turns out I do have a fairly large kidney stone.

(By the way, if a person tells you kidney stones are incredibly painful, believe it.)

Since we now had a diagnosis of the problem, the ER doctor came into my room and said, “You cannot stay at the hospital.”

I said, “Huh?”

He said, “We are going to be releasing you.”

“But I still have the kidney stone,” I said.

He said, “I know but that’s how it works, these days. We will release you with some super-duper fun pain meds and you will need to make an appointment with a urologist to deal with this further. Because of the size of your kidney stone it is not likely you will be able to pass it without having it broken down into smaller pieces.”

Sounds like a blast, huh?

Fortunately Everett, who is a Physician’s Assistant, was in the room with me and was able to be my advocate.

So at approximately 1a.m. I was discharged from the hospital and driven by Eric to a 24 hour Walgreens to get my prescriptions.

This morning Eric insinuated I may have been a bit loopy on that drive back to the retreat center.  (That probably explains why I was wearing my underwear over my head when I awoke this morning.)

I was able to get some pain-free sleep last night. But this particular adventure is not over yet because I cannot drive due to the super-duper fun pain meds so we are working on how I will get home. If you know someone who could give me a lift with a helicopter that would be much appreciated. (My helicopter needs a new sparkplug.)

What occurred last night reminded me, again, what a blessing it is to have friends who will look out for you and help you. God gave me three helpful guardian angels last night who made my very painful situation much more bearable: Everett Shaw, Cindy Shaw and Eric Livingston.  I am grateful, to put it mildly, for their kindness and love.