My First Ultrasound...

(Leah) Ok, now I know I have you attention. Catchy title, huh?? I would LOVE to explain. First of all - I AM NOT PREGNANT so that is NOT why I got my ultrasound. Just wanted to make that clear!
Amy and I went to bed around midnight on Friday night. She is still pretty sick with a sinus infection, so I had Baby Moses again. I woke up around 1:30am feeling like I was about to wet my pants, but when I went to the bathroom I didn't go much, but still had that feeling. I thought it was kind of weird, but didn't think much of it. About 2:30am I woke up again with the same feeling and also a pain in my lower right abdominal area. I tried to shift around on the bed to get more comfortable, but nothing helped. I got up to go to the bathroom again - still not much - and felt the pain even more. My first thought was appendicitis - I know I'm thinking worst-case scenario here, but I'm just being honest! I woke Amy up (sorry, Amy!) and told her how I felt. I wasn't sure what we were going to do, but I was hurting pretty badly. We talked it out and decided to call my Mom and explain everything to her and then get her to call our nurse friend, Stephanie Bennett, to see what she thought it might be. By this time I was feeling clammy, sweating like crazy, and thought I was going to faint. It was not fun! I sat down on my bed and drank a ton of water and waited out the dizzy spell. Then Amy and I trooped into the living room for a middle-of-the-night phone call to Mom. Rachel (my sister who is almost a nurse) was very helpful in getting all of my symptoms down and relaying them to Mom who was on the phone with Mrs. Bennett. My pain was worsening and it felt like they were taking FOREVER in coming to a diagnosis. There were several options: Appendicitis, Kidney Stones, Gallstones, or Ovarian Cyst. Great...so many choices!! To help diagnose, Rachel had me do some jumping jacks. So, I stood in the middle of the living room at 3:30am and did about three jumping jacks no problem Apparently, if it was appendicitis I would be doubled over with pain. Ok, we could almost rule that out. I felt so silly! Amy was on the phone with Rachel this whole time who was relaying all of this info from Mrs. Bennett. Next test: I laid on the floor and Amy felt all over my abdomen pushing pretty hard so we could localize where the pain was. We finally decided it was right above my hip bone. Good! Mrs. Bennett said she thought it might be kidney stones. I have NEVER ever had a kidney stone in my life, so I had no idea what to expect. Next test: Amy put her hand over the area that hurt then put her other hand flat against my back directly opposite her first hand. Then she balled up her first hand into a fist and started beating it against her flat hand. "Does that hurt??" OF COURSE IT DOES...YOU ARE BEATING ME! I didn't notice any new pain so that wasn't helpful at all. I had to lie down at this point because the pain was pretty intense. Amy had me get up again to do more jumping jacks...still pretty silly looking, but no problems. Rachel wanted to know if we had any antibiotics I could take in case it was appendicitis. The only one we had was the one Amy had gotten for her sinus infection on Thursday. She ran back to get it and spelled it out for Rachel so she would know. It took about three tries to get the correct spelling while in the meantime I'm writhing on the floor in pain. I think at this point I yell out "Can you please hurry it up?? I'm dying here!" I was NOT a happy camper! The final test because we were still puzzled about this issue with my bladder (feeling like I had to go NOW, but not much coming out): Amy had to feel her bladder and then go to the bathroom and feel what it felt like empty. Then I was to do the same and we were to compare and see if I was fully emptying mine. She ran back to the bathroom while I lay on the couch. I was still chugging water as the pain intensified. Then it was my turn to go to the bathroom. I walked in and felt so sick! The next thing I knew, I was leaning over the toilet throwing up everything that was in my stomach - mainly the water I had been drinking. Amy had walked away, but came back when she heard me and told this to Rachel who relayed it to Mom who relayed it to Mrs. Bennett. We thought this might help pinpoint a diagnosis, but apparently throwing up from pain can happen with any of the four choices. NO HELP! I tried to go to the bathroom, but still had the same problem. By this time, I was in a lot of pain and was willing to do anything to get out of it. Amy didn't tell me this until later, but she apparently walked away while I was going to the bathroom and told Rachel, "Ok, Leah is in a lot of pain and she's getting very grumpy and ornery. I'm taking her to the clinic!" I didn't mean to be grumpy and ornery, but I was in so much pain and it felt like they were taking FOREVER with deciding what to do. So, at 4:15am we loaded up the car, Amy, me, Richard, and Betty, and headed to Al-Shafa Modern Medical Clinic. We finally made it after what felt like an eternal car ride. The doctor was there which was a blessing because I was warned that she might have to be called in since it was the middle of the night. Amy did a lot of the talking and Mrs. Bennett told us to get an ultrasound done. Unfortunately, Al-Shafa doesn't have an ultrasound machine, so we would have to go to another clinic in town that didn't open until 8:00am. Thankfully, the doctor told me that I could take some Ibuprofin to help with the pain. What a wonder drug!! I had almost immediate relief. We got back to Sonrise and Amy and I went into the living room to do some research and wait until we could head to Rippon Medical Center at 8:00am. I ended up falling asleep while Amy ate two bananas and some Digestive Cookies. She eventually went to bed around 6:00am. About 6:45 I woke up to more pain. I didn't think I could take more ibuprofin so soon, so I went to wake Amy up to help me get into a hot water bath (thanks, Logan for the tip). She was NO HELP whatsoever since she was so tired, so she told me to go turn the burner on and get the water going we had boiled previously. I was a little miffed since I was the one with the possible kidney stone...what a friend! I tried to turn on the burner which required using needle-nose pliers, but had no success. There was also a big roach a few inches away that I had to keep my eyes on at all times...no taking chances of it coming any closer. I finally gave up on the burner and tested the water. It was still pretty hot from earlier, so I lugged it back to the bathroom that was already filling with cold water. I poured it in and there wasn't much at all. I climbed in anyway and just poured the water over the area that hurt and felt some relief after only 20 minutes. I heard our room stirring, so I headed out to investigate. We still had some time before we had to leave. Eventually, I started getting restless and wanted to hurry up and get ready. The pain was returning, so Amy instructed me to take more Ibuprofin. It was about 7:30am by this time. I was trying to hurry, and Amy was still lying in bed too tired to move. She had started to feel bad with her sinus infection again and said she felt like she had been run over by a truck due to lack of sleep. It took her about 10 long minutes to finally crawl from bed and get dressed, but eventually we were out the door. We arrived at Rippon about 8:30am and were told to wait for the front desk guy to arrive (weren't they supposed to open at 8:00am?) He finally walked in the door about 8:45am and then informed us that the ultrasound guy wasn't due to arrive until between 10:00am and 11:00am. I wasn't in too much pain, but really wanted to start crying at this point because I was ready to get this over with. We took Steven to the clinic for a cough he has been having (he is doing much better from the measles though) and killed about 30 minutes doing that. We still had time to spare, so we headed to Flavours restaurant for breakfast. Amy and I split an omelette and had some delicious banana bread. About 10:30am we headed back to Rippon where we were told the ultrasound guy still had not arrived (WELCOME TO AFRICA Y'ALL!!). We waited in his office until he finally walked in about 11:30am. Morris from Musana had come by to check on me and brought me some pineapple. Amy explained my symptoms to the ultrasound guy (radiologist on his namebadge) and he said that it did sound like a kidney stone. I climbed up onto the ultrasound table. Morris had already left the room, so Betty and Amy stayed for moral support. The radiologist was about to get the sheet to cover me when in walked Morris again. He asked if he was supposed to leave and I told him that if I had to take off any of my clothes he needed to go outside. The radiologist answered "Definitely!" We all busted out laughing. Then it dawned on the radiologist to ask one more question..."Are you the husband? If so, you can stay." Betty, Amy, and I lost it completely! We were crying we were laughing so hard. Of course he wasn't my husband. Morris did go wait outside thankfully! We got ready for the ultrasound and I felt totally comfortable with the radiologist. He put that cold jelly on me and we started. He looked all over and didn't see anything, but said that I defintely did not have appendicitis or else I would not let him do the ultrasound due to so much pain. That made me feel good. He said that I most likely had a kidney stone which was pretty small because it wasn't showing up on the machine. He said to go home and wait it out. Amy forbid me from taking anymore Advil so that we could monitor the pain level to see if it was moving. We got home to Sonrise about 1:00pm and I immediately headed to bed. The pain was starting to come back, but was a dull ache at this point. I didn't want to get into a hot bath until the pain got worse, so I tried to wait it out. I couldn't go to sleep right away, but eventually drifted off about 2:30pm. When I woke up a few hours later, I felt fine. I went to the bathroom and didn't feel like I had that feeling anymore of I HAVE TO GO NOW that I had been having all day.
Right now I am pretty much pain-free!! I guess I passed it and didn't know it because it was so small. Amy and Mark kept telling me how much pain I was going to be in (not helping!), so I was prepared for the worst. I had been praying all day for the Lord to let it pass quickly and I know my family was praying as well. All I can say is, I have no pain right now. Let us pray that it is gone forever. It is so weird to have a kidney stone in Africa. I have NEVER had one, and here I am serving in Uganda and get one. Just another bump in the road as my Dad said. Anyway, just wanted to share my story!! Thanks for listening and enduring through all of the details. Hopefully not too graphic for some folks out there!!