We’ve had more than 12 inches of rain in the last two weeks. Hey, it’s homesteading, right? But it didn’t help that I found out that I need gallbladder surgery, then after two attacks of severe pain in his left side, Will ended up in the ER Saturday night.
I thought it was probably kidney stones as severe recurring pain in the left side and/or back often indicates that, but you never know. So in we went. (Will doesn’t have health insurance and receives medical care through the VA…which isn’t open on weekends and evenings so we figured it’d be expensive.) After taking his blood pressure and temperature, the nurse handed him a urine cup and screen and pointed through the door to the bathroom. In a minute, Will came out with an amazed look on his face. There in the screen was what the nurse and doctor described as a “huge” kidney stone!
Done deal! Relieved that we were right and that he’d passed the stone, we came home with follow-up instructions to keep screening urine and to contact his primary care VA doctor, which he will do.
It’s amazing how quickly health issues can pop up with no warning at all! Luckily, this was relatively minor and should be resolved. Now Will is making sure to drink plenty of extra water both for prevention and to flush out the big stone’s possible little brothers.
Meanwhile, the electric fence continues to keep the cattle and deer out of the corn/pumpkin patch as it grows nicely. Will’s little 12-volt fence charger hooked to a truck battery is doing the trick. We’ll see if it keeps the deer away when the corn gets taller, though…
Will’s been working on the rock work on the new barn (I promise photos in the next blog!) and it looks real nice. We’ll always remember the spring 2014 seminar every time we look at the first section as the guys pitched in and learned slipform concrete work by building that section. Looks great, guys! — Jackie
Tim,
I’m trying the peanut butter/aluminum foil this afternoon. So FAR the deer haven’t been in the corn/pumpkin patch but I have no ilusions about that being permanent!
Evil trick for deer that works – and is fun: Put little pieces of aluminum foil folded over your electric fence ‘wire’. Put peanut butter on the foil. The deer can not resist the peanut butter. When they try a taste, ZAP! We measure success in our garden by the distance from hoof print to hoof print after the big jump, the farther apart the better the zap. They don’t come back. We use this on a single wire over our sweet potatoes. Deer think sweet potato vines are candy. Cheers!
Dandelion root tea is protective of the liver and will help open the bile ducts to empty the gal bladder regularly. This helps prevent gall stones. I wish I had known this before I had to have my gall bladder out. It may be too late for you but it might help some of your readers.
Ditto the cranberry juice. My PCP says to drink it regularly to prevent kidney stones.
deborah motylinski,
Thanks Deb. I just hate complaining people….especially when they don’t have much to be complaining about. We all have our storms in life and whining and complaining does nothing but make us and everyone around us more sad/worried/miserable. Sometimes if you smile, even if you don’t feel like it your face tells your brain you’re really happy…not miserable or worried.
One thing I’ve found is that when I’m worried about something I try to keep real busy. Not only does that take my mind off things but gets a lot done too, which in turn makes me feel better.
I also keep telling myself that in a day, week or month this will be all past and I will have survived. There’s always someone that has it much worse than me and I just give thanks that I’m alive. Then go from there. Going “what if…what if…” will drive you NUTS.
Ruth,
We already have researched the oxalic acid thing. His doctor is having the stone tested so we know its composition so that’ll help with dietary cautions in the future. She says the most important thing is to drink lots of water and not get dehydrated. Dehydrations helps cause stones to form and drinking lots of water flushes them on through before they get big enough to cause trouble. Makes sense. In the meantime, Will is drinking lemon juice with water as we figure the acid may help disolve any small stones.
Franci,
Yeah. I had a few bouts of pain in my upper right abdomen and decided that after the cancer thing I’d better get it checked out. An ultrasound showed my “bag of rocks” and I soon talked to the surgeon. I don’t want to “wait and see” and have a possible bad blow up and nasty surgery when my body is fighting an infection. Glad to hear your strawbale garden is working.
Robin,
thanks for the tip. So far Will’s drinking lots of water and so far, no more stones.
Dave,
No, Will’s too young for Medicare but it looks as though the VA may pay for the ER trip.
Wow, I am most amazed at your upbeat and positive attitude. I noticed this, also, when I attended the first two seminars. Nothing seems to get you down.
There was no”woe is me” which seems to have worked for you these many years of homesteading. When you went through the illness with David, your cancer, the care and tending of your parents, you never complained and I would love to have you share how you manage to keep a smile on your face no matter what comes your way.
You are a survivor and a happy one who shares her life ups and downs and keeps all of us trying to emulate you. Godspeed.
So sorry that you guys are having health problems. It always happens when we are the busiest,doesn’t it. Jackie for your upcoming gallbladder surgery The newer procedure is way different from just a few years ago, even so make yourself a small washable bag just large enough to hold a pound of dry beans.
put beans in a ziplock, then into your little bag, hold the bag on surgery site when getting up, moving around, etc., the pressure helps a lot with pain. My “old bag” has seen lots of use,same for friends & family.Speedy recover to you both !!
Hate to hear of health problems. Good news is I had gallbladder surgery 5 years ago with absolutely no pain. Pray you have same. Also have an Amish remedy for not only dissolving but preventing kidney stones. 6 beets boiled in 3quarts of water. Boil slowly. After 1 hour strain into jar. Store in ref. drink 3 glasses a day until gone. Hope this helps.
So sorry for your health troubles you two! Wishing you both a speedy recovery.
Poor you, and Will! I’m so sorry for you both (have had both problems and my family has a history of them). I don’t know about the lemon juice above, but cranberry juice is very good for kidney, bladder, and UTI problems. A glass for breakfast is a good preventive, but for me the pills worked as well. There are many foods that have a high amount of oxalic acid and these will cause stones or increase the chances of having them in people who are suspectible. He might want to do a search on the internet or talk to his doctor about them.
best wishes for a speedy recovery for you both, I know both things are mmiserable. I have a procedure coming up where they go in my spine and burn out the offending nerves. scared, but maybe I can be out in the garden again.
Glad to hear Will is feeling better. My husband suffers from kidney stones too. Also, I have had my gall bladder out, but it was several years ago when a multiple day hospital stay was necessary. Wish you a fast recovery after surgery. I love the Interstate battery hooked to the fence charger. My husband works as a general manager for an Interstate Battery distributorship. I have been unemployed for 5 years and do not have health insurance so preventative medicine is the best kind. Therefore in less than 2 years a couple of emergencies have led to hospital bills that resemble a car payment that I can’t drive. The economic condition of this nation is a real struggle for the middle class. God bless you both for this blog.
The best tried and proven home cure for kidney stones is 2 oz of fresh lemon juice, 2 oz of olive oil and then consume 1 quart of water in the next 60 minutes. You can repeat this 2 to 3 times a day. You will usually see results in 2 days and usually pass the stone without pain. My family and friends have had great sucess with this treatment. Best wishes, Brian
Really sorry to hear the both of you are having a bit of health problems. Never having had gallbladder problems, I still remember my moms. Hers was way before the new type surgery, and her advice to us: “DON’T MAKE ME LAUGH!” LOL, of course my brother and I just had to act sillier than usual! Please take it easy, I know that is hard advice to follow, but none of us want you hurting more than can be avoided.
Glad Will got rid of his rock so easily. A very painful experience! And prayers you get the micro surgery not the big zipper. The micro isn’t too bad, just have to be careful for a bit. Had mine out about 15 years ago. Had an xray taken for some reason and there was a “sock of rocks!” Much as I like to prowl around alone figured I better get rid of it. Corn/pumpkin patch looks good. Hope the charger keeps working. I finally got the straw bales all planted. Everything looking good so far. Discovered I really like weed cloth with straw on top. Bindweed can’t figure it out….so far.
Thinking of you
Franci
Happy to hear Will was able to pass that stone relatively easy and without a big medical bill to go with it. My prayers are with you on your upcoming gall bladder surgery. My wife had it done a couple years ago. She was able to go the micro incision route and was out of the hospital the next day.
Doesn’t Will qualify for Medicare? What do you do for heath insurance?
Take care,
-Dave
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