My kidney pain has returned. On Tuesday night I was uncomfortable but didn't take any pain meds, just thought I might have heartburn (from eating too much dinner at a friend's house) and a sore back. I did not make a connection to last week at all, but these were the same symptoms. It took me until 3 AM to understand that I had real pain, the kind that stops you in your tracks. Other people feeling this level of pain might have gone to the ER even in the middle of the night. At least that's what other people with kidney stones have told me they did. Not yours truly. I have real pain meds right here. I grabbed the glass of water on the night stand and swallowed a hydrocodone pill. When that didn't take effect, I downed a second dose. Within 30 minutes my pain was gone and I felt very dreamy indeed.
Relief from the 3 AM pain meds lasted until noon Wednesday, when my back pain returned. So I started taking the ibuprofen which Dr G had recommended. That was fine until today. By 1 PM today, taking 400 mg of ibuprofen every eight hours was no longer enough medication.
The SCCA folks weren't interested in managing my kidney issue. They said to talk to Dr G or my regular doctor.
While waiting for my Xgeva shot today (the monthly bone strengthener), I asked if Dr G could stop by. He gave ma an actual "you poor baby," and told me I could increase the ibuprofen and take hydrocodone. He also had researched that atropa belladonna helps kidney spasm pain. So Dr G prescribed Lomitil, which contains belladonna. (Must be the stropping in the mix.) Dr G was pleased that I recalled form my high school Latin that bella donna means beautiful lady. He also seemed a bit irked that SCCA, which had originally insisted they would handle everything while I was on the clinical trial, wouldn't step forward to address the kidney concern.
I took some ibuprofen and a dose of Lomitil, and it kept me pain-free all afternoon. But now I can feel the beginning of some pain tweaks, so I am going to take some more ibuprofen and hope that carries me until bed time.
I will see my regular family practice doctor for an annual physical on Monday, and she can take over managing the kidney thing. Dr G is my oncologist, whose job is to treat my cancer. It says a lot about his commitment to patient care that he is more than willing to treat anything that comes up.
