Update On Kidney Stone Issue

I have been dealing with a stubborn kidney stone and pain associated with that stone for over 2 weeks now.
After straining my urine and collecting various debris and "gravel", I took my collection to my Urologist yesterday.
As far as I knew and based on what was in the strainer, I had not passed my stone as of yet.
My most recent xray could not locate the stone although the xray before it showed a stone relaxing and enjoying itself about halfway down my ureter.
There was also a chemical level that had been checked a couple of times via a blood test that showed this chemical level to be much higher than it should be and was a concern to both the doctor and I.
The chemical level showed that my right kidney was not functioning properly which could very well be attributed to my stone somewhat blocking the flow of urine and backing it up into the kidney or the cause could be something else. It came across to me that it was most likely to be caused by the stone.
This chemical level is not something one wants to stay elevated for any real length of time because it could permanently harm the kidney.
The Urologist and I discussed the various issues and unknowns that we were dealing with at this time.
No evidence of the passing of the stone, elevated chemical level showing less than ideal kidney functioning and pain in my right side.
The doctor took another blood sample to get a new reading on this chemical level but we would not have the results back for 2 days.
It was decided that if I did not go in for surgery today, then it would be 2 weeks before he could get me into the surgery room and 2 weeks was too much time to let pass by with that chemical level possibly being as high as it was when last checked or it could be higher at this time....only the blood test could answer that question.
So as I left my doctors office, I was to be at the hospital in Elizabeth City by no later than 9:30 this morning.
I say this morning because it is currently 3:30AM here.
I was woke up by pain in my right side about 1:30AM and I lay in bed trying to let the pain pass so that I could get some sleep.
As you can tell by my current typing of this blog entry, my attempts to get back to sleep failed miserably so I decided to get up and get something productive accomplished. Thus...here I am being productive or at least as productive as one can be at 3:31AM with a looming surgery scheduled for around 10AM.
You know how they say that timing is everything? Well believe it because it is true.
For the last 2 weeks, I have been drowning myself with the intake of water so as to flush the stubborn kidney stone out of my system. Had that happened before yesterdays doctors visit, my upcoming surgery might not be a happening thing.
After returning from my doctors office visit, I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going in for surgery. I had thrown away my urine strainer while at his office and gave up on pumping gallons of water through my system.
It was time to give my system a little break and enjoy my usual drink of choice..diet cherry cola or some diet cola variation.
So around 8PM I had to use the bathroom to urinate.
No sting...no blood....no problem.
Looking into the bowl i see this dark speck staring up at me. Figuring what have i got to lose, I shove my hand into the bowl and put my finger on this speck. Lo and behold, it is a kidney stone.
I carefully fish the stone out of the bowl and protecting it with my life, I walk upstairs and proudly present it to my Veronica.
We carefully place this stone into a secure plastic packet so that I can take it to the hospital with me tomorrow.
So the good new is that I am 99% sure that this is "THE STONE". The bad news is that we have no idea what that chemical level is at and my doctor will most likely go ahead with the "surgery" to check both kidneys to see if there is anything else that might be going on inside me that would cause that chemical level to be elevated.
Hopefully the latest blood test will show that chemical level down to where it should be but unfortunately that won't be until after today's medical journey is complete.
When they say timing is everything....believe it.
See you on the flip side...