Won't you roll away the stone....

[Jonad724]

Or so sang glam rock big hair band Mott the Hoople in 1974 and to be honest I really didn't understand this song until I was told I had two kidney stones which had been causing recurrent kidney infections. Being a triathlete I am naturally disappointed it's not three but there you go, I'm working on it.

If you've read my other post 'A tale of two kidneys' you'll know that I competed my first half ironman triathlon (swim 1.2 miles, Bike 56 miles, Run 13.1 miles) in aid of Meningitis Now with an undiagnosed double kidney infection. In august 2015 I completed my third 70.3 (so called because that's the number of miles completed) and immediately came down with another kidney infection.

Since then I have had another 4 kidney infections so have been under medical investigation and I have to say in comparison to how I was treated with viral meningitis the consultants and nurses who have been looking after me have been amazing. I wondered why that was and concluded that it's because there are more plumbers than neurologists in the world and I suspect it's the same for doctors. You would be surprised however just how similar plumbing and urology are especially when looking at the wrong end of what looks like a camera on the end of a garden hose and a female consultant with a job to do and no possible idea of the panic she was inducing, erm are you going to be using that then I asked. Oh yes she said, it's perfectly routine and won't hurt, well it won't hurt her that's for sure. I remember saying to my wife when our first daughter was born that child birth was relatively painless apart from the hydraulic grip she had on my hand. When I came round on the floor in the maternity ward.............

Experiencing viral meningitis can seriously dent your confidence in the medical profession and since I have been misdiagnosed with arthritis not once but twice (it turned out to be a torn cartilage) I was about as cynical as they come. I particularly hated the cheery optimism of my own doctor when I felt I would never walk more than a mile 3 months after VM let alone race triathlon again when he told me I would be right as rain in 2 weeks. He was wrong as it happens, I was off for nearly 6 months and didn't race triathlon for five years.

So what I have learned is that it takes 3 years to become a plumber and 7 years to become a urologist but that the similarity of use with hoses and cameras is really quite striking and you'd be surprised where they can put them, I know I was! It was though a refreshing change not to battle with doctors for once, to get an appointment without a fight (in fact the consultant booked my MRI scan) and not to be told that was I was experiencing was all in my head. I'm not recommending kidney stones (although I would recommend long distance triathlon as a challenge for Meningitis Now) as they hurt and kidney infections really grind you down but all this has restored my faith in at least part of the medical profession.

Most people are surprised at how upbeat I am about having kidney stones but when you've had viral meningitis, kidney stones are just a mild inconvenience in comparison so it's press on regardless and invest in pharmaceuticals (I think I ought to, I have had the world's supply of antibiotics since August). As the saying goes 'When life throws you lemons, throw them back at the git'.

I will leave you with my wife's definition of a triathlete as 'someone who really doesn't understand that one sport is enough' and yes when my youngest daughter was born I kept my mouth shut, there's only so much trauma my brain can take!