January 2

Poor Matt. He suspected he had kidney stones after suffering some pain on the harbor cruise. Then the pain continued off and on all day yesterday. At 5:00am this morning, he shook me awake and said the pain had gotten substantially worse and he couldn't take it any longer.

They gave him some pain meds, verified he had an 8mm kidney stone after giving him a CAT scan and some x-rays...and then they almost gave him a heart attack.

The doctor sauntered in and informed us that Kaiser said Matt's coverage was terminated in JULY. We both stared at him in disbelief because Matt had set up automatic payments specifically so this situation would never happen. Turns out, there was a limit on the amount that could be taken from his bank account so, when his premium increased above that limit, they didn't process the automatic payment. He never noticed, didn't get a letter from them and, hence, no insurance. Thank heavens they let him back pay for 7 months of coverage so this emergency room visit should be covered. Fingers crossed!

As we were (FINALLY) leaving around 9:30am, Matt said he had to visit the restroom. They had given him this strainer that he has to use when urinating so he can collect the stone when it passes. Not sure why but they want to see it. Anyway, it took him a while so I was waiting down the hall and this man goes into the restroom next to Matt's. I have never heard someone vomiting so loudly. It was almost like he had a bullhorn. There was another man bent over in the hallway just groaning in pain. I have to say, I'm glad I don't have to spend much time at the emergency room. You should have seen the bathroom I thought about using. Ew.

Matt finally emerged from the restroom and said, "I think part of it passed because there was a little grain of sand in the strainer". He hasn't been in pain since. It's crazy that something so tiny could cause such massive pain.