There's a Light at the End of the Tunnel

Too bad it was a train.

That's what it felt like yesterday when the doctors told me that even though Vern had virtually gone through the entire surgical procedure, they weren't able to actually make any progress at all. They weren't even able to get a guidewire or their instruments into his kidney because the stone is so large that it completely fills the entire kidney. There was absolutely no room. The doctor said it was as if someone had poured concrete into his kidney.

They sent him home, in a lot of pain and still with drainage tubes in his back. He had a rough night and a rough day so far today. They will remove the drainage tubes on Tuesday and then we will talk about other options to remove this stone. Unfortunately, it gets more complicated from here and will involve more surgery and definitely more time off of work to recover than originally anticipated.

You would think that with a stone this big, at least they would let us name it and bring it home.