Yesterday, while resting at home, close to eleven o'clock in the evening, I received a phone call. In that split second of turning around, a sharp pain suddenly spread throughout my lower back.
Initially, I thought it was just a strain from moving things yesterday, but the pain kept getting stronger, and even applying medicated oil had no effect. I began to suspect if my lumbar disc had protruded and irritated a nerve?
The pain surged like a tide, leaving me feeling helpless and restless. I immediately contacted my wife who was out, and as we were on a voice call, I started vomiting uncontrollably due to the pain. I decided to go to the emergency room.
My wife hurried back home and took me to the central hospital emergency department. The doctor administered a pain-relief injection first, followed by a CT scan and urine test.
The pain slightly eased after the injection, but before the CT scan, I had to hold my urine. Despite drinking a lot of water, I ended up vomiting it all out and could only sip water slowly.
When I finally felt the urge to urinate, the doctor performed a CT scan, revealing that I had kidney stones. One of them, with a diameter of 0.6 cm, was causing spasms as it descended. The doctor prescribed painkillers and advised me to wait for the stone to pass naturally at home.
Upon researching, I found out that the pain level of kidney stones can reach as high as 11, second only to childbirth. I had only heard that it was very painful before, but experiencing it myself was the only way to truly understand.
One of the ways I tried to alleviate the pain was by using my toes as a leverage point, lifting my heels, and shaking my whole body to help the stone pass through the narrow passage quickly. I also tried boiling water with grass in hopes of expelling the stone as soon as possible, as I did not want to endure that level 11 pain again.