another bad December
 

Short commute of 4.5mi Thu night turned into a nightmare. I tipped the bike when I started to lose control and landed on my right knee in a snowbank. There was no damage to the bike and the landing was pretty soft. I knew something was wrong as soon as I got on the bike. Every bump was agony in my lower back and I was walking very slowly all night long once I got to work.

The ride home was 100x worse. Besides the back pain, a winter storm had dropped a couple of inches of snow and freezing rain. It took an hour - I was splashed, cold, wet, sore, and the roads were terrible icy ruts and slush. A lot of times I couldn't get through intersections so walked until a break in traffic to grab the right tire track. The back pain didn't help when trying to get moving through the slush.

I knew I was sore and the storm lasted the 1st half of Fri so I arranged a ride to work that night. After sleeping, my first leak of the night is barely a dribble and noticeably red. :eek: Started drinking lots of water and the color went away by the 3rd time and the volume increased to normal. Sorry if TMI. So far so good - regular color, flow, and volume. I'm hoping it was just from the strain of riding home but if it comes back I will have to see a doctor. This will suck since we are switching providers this year and Cigna has managed to screw up just about every aspect of enrollment. I can't imagine their claims process will be better :notamused:

The back still hurts, mostly when walking and seems to be when force is applied a certain way on my right leg, not sure if its a disc or muscle problem. It also seems to hurt more after resting so I don't know whether to take it easy or work it out. A short ride Saturday morning and the bumps still hurt. I may have to end my car free life style of 18 months since I live alone and hate asking people for favors (will get rides this week and take it from there).

Get yourself checked out, just to be safe. If you had blood in the urine, that could indicate at the least, a bruised kidney. Color and voume is restored, yeah, but that could well be because the other kidney has taken up the slack.

Also, even if you hate it, don't be too proud to ask for help. It allows others to feel good about themselves when they get to help someone out....

Agree with Tom here. I understand your independence, but you need to get your lower back checked out. Blood in the kidney is nothing to chance. You could be jeopardizing your chances to ride in the future. Why not be safe rather than sorry later?

Took it easy and got rides this week. After a nap Christmas night there was more blood in the urine and for the rest of the night. Went to the hospital and they said I have a 5mm kidney stone. I also asked if they noticed anything else and they said no. The urine cleared after 5x total but I'm going to see my doctor for a urologist referral. The general pain from walking is rare now but I may as well have him check for slipped discs or something while I'm there.
Weird coincidence that I would get a stone after a fall. Maybe Tom is right and there was some over-compensation going on. A student RN at work said the hospital should have given me a strainer and some AB but they gave me FlowMax and Percocet instead. Guess I'll have to get a 2nd opinion on the CAT scan.

I've had several kidney stones. They form attached to the wall of the kidney, and eventually fall out, or get dislodged. The first one I had started to pass after I got side-swiped (in a car). The impact of falling is enough to dislodge it and start it's journey. There is no pain when it's in the kidney. The severe pain is mostly from contractions as it leaves the kidney, and the Ureter (tube) tries to adjust to the solid object. The pain usually turns to a low ache as it continues in the Ureter. I have passed a 5mm stone, which is about as big as can be passed. I would follow up with the Urologist, because a stone that size can cause a blockage, and over time the kidney can swell.

They can usually do and ultrasound to check the kidney size, and a flat plate x-ray (regular single x-ray) to track the stone. I let them do a cat scan once in the emergency room, but since have read that the radiation is several times more than a flat plate, and not worth it for a stone.

I have passed them all without surgery, including the 5mm. I was scheduled for the procedure where they go up after it (yep, through THERE), but thankfully it passed on it's own before the day. Don't worry, the last few inches only last a half a second!

Not an expert on this, but a 5mm kidney stone sounds like an awfully large stone to try and pass… It’s an irony, that a fall off your bike, may have saved your life, or at the very least helped you locate a problem that you didn’t know you had. Best of luck to you…

A week of not riding and windy 4mi round trip to the store taught me that I may get 2, 1/2 hour exercise sessions a day when commuting but I'm still out of shape and need to do more.

5mm sounded large too but the RN guy at work said that is probably an upper limit to what can pass. Picked up the meds today. Have to give up soda and caffeine until this ordeal is over but will see if I can cut soda out for good.