Good grief, I thought I had removed all kidney stones 2 years ago.  Nope!  I awoke about midnight Wednesday 19th with a pain in my right-side abdomen and lower back.  I thought, surely this can’t be a kidney stone?!  No way!  But after 4 hours of tossing and turning and vomiting and walking around the house in the middle of the night, I finally gave up and drove myself to the ER at Hermann Memorial on Studemont street.  

Sure enough, another kidney stone.  It was 7 mm in size.  That’s too big to pass (6 mm in size is the limit to be able to pee it out).  So I get a comfy Ambulance ride to the bigger Memorial Hospital on north 610, where I lay around and wait for nearly 24 hours before getting a procedure.   Finally, at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, I get wheeled into surgery, given some anesthesia, and with Laser Lithotripsy my stone gets removed. 

The procedure only took about 20 minutes, they said.  I was unconscious for it, so I don’t know.  But by noon, I was getting dressed and on my way home.  Cost for all of this?  I’m not sure.  Insurance will cover most of it.  But I anticipate some bonus bills.  Altogether, I suspect my 36 hour vacation at the Hermann Memorial resort will cost at least $10,000.