Today is the one year anniversary of Kidney Stone:2011! It seems so long ago yet just like yesterday. For those of you not in the know, a year ago today I made a huge life decision and moved in with my fiance. On that very night I also developed a kidney stone that would begin a rollercoaster ride of emotions and pain for about a week.

I don’t care what sort of man or woman that you think you are, a kidney stone – or any abdominal pain or injury – will reduce even the most hardened he/she-person to a crying fetus in a matter of minutes. On that day, before I was finally given some pain medication, about six hours or so into the ordeal, I was a crying and vomiting mess. A person doesn’t truly understand how good they feel until they have chronic pain.

Kidney stones block urine that, in turn, feels like it wants to burst out of your side. Imagine having to have to pee REALLY bad and you’re in a car that is running over parking blocks forever! Then, imagine that pain isn’t in your bladder but in your side just below your ribs. That is how a kidney stone feels.

A person that is in chronic pain can concentrate on nothing but the pain and if medication is masking the pain all you can concentrate on is when is the pain going to return. But once the stone did pass and I was out of pain it felt amazing. Just the act of not feeling pain made me feel like a brand new person. It was very weird.

So, if I can get through the night to the afternoon of January 8th, 2012 it will officially be a much better start to this year than that of last year! Of course there have already been a ton of better things in this year than the start of last year. But the thing that will stick with me the most is that kidney stone experience. If I never have that happen again in my life then the rest of my life is gonna be a cake walk