I set out for Friday night yoga, was too early, as usual - but if I go home first, I am late. So, I washed my new car at the car wash next door to the studio. Not a bad idea. I was starting to get ashamed of how dirty my lovely car was looking. I finished with the car, relaxed in yoga, went home and decided to get to know "Spore" a little better before going to bed early. I had intentions of getting up around 6 again and being at the barn around 8 to ride before the therapy class, and so I could be showered and somewhat human when we headed south in the afternoon to see Watchmen in IMAX - we'd had advance tickets for almost 3 weeks.
My phone rang around 9:30 p.m. My boyfriend. I figured he was getting the goodnight phone call out of the way, since he'd been cranky earlier in the day. Wishful thinking. He wanted me to come take him to the ER...another kidney stone. I had been planning to go to bed in 30 minutes. I wasn't happy. But, I didn't want him in an ambulance or in the ER by himself. His landlord had been drinking with some buddies in the yard and was in no condition to take him. So, trying to keep myself from getting cranky (afterall, it wasn't his fault), I sucked it up and drove an hour to take him to the ER. We got there around 10:45 or so, and apparently walked in just after the Friday night ER rush had finished.
They didn't have a bed for him, so we were stuck in the lobby after seeing triage. They wouldn't give him pain meds while he was in the lobby and he was pretty miserable - getting increasingly so. Around midnight, they finally brought him in. We've never waited that long in this ER - and believe me, we've been there a few times in the last year, for the same thing.
Thank god I went with him and not his landlord. His landlord is a perfectly nice man - but he's a bit odd, and the two of them would have gotten nowhere. My boyfriend refused the cat scan. The doctor on duty had his records, could see he has had several stones in the last 6-8 months, and the symptoms were all there. Neither the doctor, nor the RN had any doubt it was in fact a kidney stone. The cat scan is a formality and also to check to see if there's blockage. Anyway, he refused because he's not working and has no health insurance to go with several ER visit bills already. I don't blame him, but it sure would have looked a lot worse if his fairly normal and well, mostly straight-laced girlfriend, had not been there with him. Honestly, he probably acts like more of a drug addict than I'd actually care to admit when he's in that much pain. And again, I don't blame him, I know by how hard it is to watch him in that much pain, just how bad it is. I just happened to consider the irony of the situation had the landlord been the ride, rather than me. He probably wouldn't have gotten medication with a refusal of a cat scan.
We left the hospital around 1:30 or 1:45. And then had to find a 24-hour pharmacy in the middle of a small town that all but rolls up the sidewalks at dusk. I thought I knew of one on my route home, just before the main highway. I was right. Yay! We dropped the med at the counter and said we'll wait for it. Then went to get him some food and cranberry juice. He hadn't eaten all day, and definitely needed food before he could have any more pain meds. I picked out a can of soup. He wrinkled his nose. Sounded boring, until I offered to make grilled cheese with it. Then he was excited to eat - he thinks my grilled cheese is the best thing ever. Well, actually, he loves all of my cooking. I, on the other hand, was not even remotely excited to be cooking at that hour. Oh well, at least I sold him on something quick and easy, right?
Back to the pharmacy counter, pay for the pain meds, and get back in the car to head back to his house. I feed him and head back home...I walk through the door at 3:30 a.m. So much for getting up early to ride.
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