In the Belly of the Beast

Recently, I had a bit of a medical incident. The night before my scheduled trip to the States to visit the last remnants of my family (my two extant sisters), I woke with tremendous pain on my left side. I am no stranger to kidney stone passings, as I have experienced these internal eruptions dozens of times over the past 40 years. I was not shocked by my predicament, but was instead very disappointed that my trip to Virginia was quickly fading away.

As usual, I eventually set out for the Emergency Room (at about 2 am). I try to avoid this at all costs, but usually I cannot, as the pain is simply unmanageable at home (I suppose if I were a heroin addict and had access to the drug, containment of pain could be achieved, but I am not, and don’t, and can’t).