What’s the worst that could (did) happen
General Topic
I made a trip to the ER yesterday evening, with severe discomfort in my upper right groin. Ends up, I had a kidney stone attack. First time experience for me ( and it’s highly overrated). Doing much better today with meds, but still haven’t passed it yet. I just got back from from an aoudad hunt last weekend, and the wife and I leave in the next couple of weeks for New Zealand.
It got me to thinking, what health related issues have you had before or during a hunting trip? Other than a few bumps and bruises and a minor tweaked knee, I’ve been very fortunate, so far. My buddy had a severe kidney stone attack 2 days after we got back from an elk hunt, back in the late 80s. Thankfully it didn’t happen in the mountains. Dropped him to his knees.
I have a buddy that went caribou hunting with his brother in law in Canada. One morning the brother in law was found dead in his sleeping bag when everyone else woke up in the morning. Sudden heart attack. Mid 60's a no major health issues up to that point. About the worst that could happen, and a royal pain to get the body back to the states. The phone call to his sister was a bit unpleasant as well. Bill
Had mono during the 2000 season. Sucked. I would feel good, get up early and go hunting and it would just kick my butt. I'd be dead tired and feel like crap for a couple days. In 2010 I was dealing with a bad sciatica issue. Got a cortisone shot to get me through bow season. Shot a nice buck in IA that year.
Same as 12 yards…bad sciatica flare up hunting whitetails in PA. Lucky for me we hunt the mountains….wife’s uncle and grandfather had to leave eary that week so I was basically solo. Shot a few and boy did everyone suck getting them out. Don’t know what I woulda done had it been on a real hunt out west living in a tent…
T-Roy, a co-worker had a stone, the docs used ultrasoundsound to break it up so it passed easier.
I was backpacked 17 miles into the Popo Agie wilderness when one of my friends started pissing blood before rolling around on the ground in agony. He was trying to pass a stone. We drew straws and another friend walked him out all night, then drove him 90 miles to a hospital. Not a good time for anyone, especially him.
Then a hunter I was guiding died in my arms on an elk hunt the mountain.
Personally, the worst was a severe case of diverticulitis in elk camp before I knew I had diverticula. It was bad, and I could have died. Horrible cramps and bleeding. Thought it was just really bad food poisoning. I got lucky.
You wake up dead like the guy in llamapacker’s post. Other than that everything else is just an experience.
T-Roy, make sure you get that stone taken care of before we room together at PY. I don't want the PY guys on our floor hearing moaning and straining noises coming from our room.
Had a stone removed in January, the size of those large marbles... Dr. Said if I had not had surgery I would have lost my kidney. I did put it off till after hunting season... not smart, could have had real issues but turned out Ok.
Never had asthma until I was 59. Then wham…severe adult onset obstructive asthma. Good luck seeing a pulmonologist in the middle of Covid. My General practitioner feared I might not survive. Would dope myself up to go hunting but barely make it back to my truck. Cough until I passed out several times. Can’t imagine that happening out on the mountains without meds. Buddy had some Diverticulosis elk hunting last fall. Had a flood & couldn’t get back to town. Was in bad shape by the time he could cross the creeks. A family I know we’re back country elk hunting. Got the wash water & the boiled water mixed up. Picked up sheep parasites & they were to sick to get out. Ironically the shepherds found them in bad shape & all were life flighted out. Lots of ways to get in trouble.
October the 7th 2010. Bow season started October the 14th.
I was diagnosed with stage 3-4 testicular cancer. Through a year of medical mishaps that exposed my whole body to it, it had moved into my stomach, my adrenal glands, and my lungs. Basically, the pet scan showed it in most of my organs. They gave me a 20% chance to live 5 years if the initial treatment was successful.
12 years after all chemotherapy treatments, I’m alive and have recovered well. The only thing I still struggle with is short term memory, tingling in my extremities, and a constant ringing in my ears.
October 14th, 2010, I went bow hunting. Fresh off of 15 chemo treatments the week before. I tried climbing a tree but was so swimmy headed, I couldn’t. So, I set at the base of the tree and keep falling asleep. I was awakened three times that morning by deer snorting at me within 25 yards. Finally, I walked back to the camper and slept.
I didn’t kill anything that day. Or, that bow season. But, I was able to “hunt” a total of 4 days that year.
It took a long while to take all the chemo and get over it. But, the following bow season I made up for lost time. :^).
There’s been a few more instances of health that foiled with hunting trips. All were related to food poisoning or contamination on traveling to the hunt. My last time out elk hunting I ate at a truck stop in western Kansas. The second day in Colorado I developed “loose bowels”. I would drink or eat something and have to go within a minute. I was weak. I was wore out. Dehydrated. I hunted 9 days and finally called it because my body was simply shutting down. I didn’t kill an elk either. lol.
That’s the two that really stick out in my mind.
Got Kidney Stones the day I returned from MuskOx hunt, Dr. told me it was border line of being to big to pass . Gave me meds and sent me home and a couple of days later I was fine.
I got some terrible virus in 17' up in Canada. Severe headaches with nuchal rigidity (neck stiffness), high fever, uncontrollable shaking and body aches. Made my appendix flare up with all the inflammation and thought I was going to have to land in Chicago and go to ER. I figured it was viral meningitis. Still shot a buck even though it wasn't the one I was after.
I got cellulitis at the end of the first of back to back elk hunts. It was great coming back to camp after the morning hunt and squeezing puss out from between my toes.
Had a bad hip issue that turned out to be a nerve thing before a hunt last year. Luckily a friend was able to diagnose it and talk me through how to deal with it.
Pat….that noise will probably just be my reactions to some of the answers to your most recent “Bloodtrail Challenge” questions…
Feb. 2017, early AM, taking garbage can out to curb for pick-up later in day, slipped on ice in driveway, down I went with damage to left shoulder rotator cuff, had surgery & did PT for months.
By deer season still could not draw bow.
By mid-Oct. I realized I could draw a bow if I switched to left handed shooting. Did so and by the time of the rut in Wisconsin I was able to shoot fairly well. By mid-Nov. I was successful on a buck & a doe. My season wasn't lost,...but almost.
I’ve dealt with back problems off and on since high school. I’ve tweaked it a couple times on hunts. Once during a solo mulie hunt and once before a pheasant hunt. I hunted through it on the pheasant trip. It was tough. My buddy had no pity and wouldn’t slow down ;)
I also had my wisdom teeth out years ago, and mine were tough. Damaged a nerve coming out, and the left side of my face is partially numb. I was on an elk hunt and kept smelling a really strong odor. Kept telling my buddy I smelled elk. Then I started to have a bad taste. No pain though. Got home and my mouth was swollen fairly bad. I had a tooth infection and couldn’t feel it.
The worst part was the smell and the look on the dentists face during the root canal ;). He actually winced when it popped open ;)
This past bowhunting season I had a mini stroke and lost memory of all persons names including my own and even the name of my Tacoma that was in camp. My memory did return after some time elapsed. I posted a more detailed account on the current "Aging Out" thread. Many years ago I had a heart rate of 220 while bowhunting mule deer in Nevada and ended up in the ER. They had to stop my heart and then get it going again which is kind of a weird experience. I take several pills every day since then to keep oxygen levels to the heart up.
Thanks for NOTHING, Bake! I just had a flashback to one night when I assisted a buddy of mine down at the Union Gospel Mission in St. Paul…. I can still see the stuff flowing up out of the socket of a tooth that needed to get pulled…. I don’t have any clue how the guy ever made it through the door with that kind of pressure in his jaw…
Myself, I ALWAYS have heavy antibiotics on hand in case my diverticulitis flares up on me; I have some other stuff going on - a lot of Aging Jock Syndrome - but apart from the diverticulitis (which CAN kill you, just like an appendix), nothing known that could rise up to smite me.
This is a great thread…drew my Co moose tag this past year with about 20 pts. Bubble wrapped myself all summer, no dirt bike, no mountain bike, just hike, run, shoot, gym, eat well and go into it in top shape. Opening morning I get up in my camper with terrible back pain and wicked sore throat. Ibuprofen for breakfast and struggle bus all day. Day 2, worse, day 3, i drive back home go in and see my general doc. Test positive for Covid. Avoided it for 2.5 years and wake up with it first day of my OIL hunt of course. Took some Prednisone and I felt back to normal that night. Killed a bull the next evening. But nothing tops Miranda’s story a few years ago in Africa trying to pass a stone and dodging bullets from the riff raff over there. Cheers to our health !
Late Nov. of '96 I went out for a solo deer hunt in an area several hours from home. Drove our old beater Ford Class C motorhome out to camp in.
Got out there on a Fri. evening, and wanted to hunt from my tree stand the next morning, so I picked out a good tree with a view of the trail. Put in the screw in steps as I went up the tree, and just as I was swinging the stands belt around the tree my foot slipped on the step, and with my left hand grabbed a branch to stop me from falling. It stopped me, but I wrenched the rotator cuff pretty badly. The stand was set up, so I went ahead and worked my way back down the tree.
Uncomfortable night, and hiked to the stand while it was still dark. Weather was miserable..cold, windy with sleet..the kinda stuff that will chill you to the bone if you're not dressed properly.
Hurt like hell, but I made it into the stand, pulled my bow and daypack up and then sat for a few. Started wondering if I could even draw my bow, a 60# Custom Kodiak t/d. Made two painful attempts...it's not happening. Had a hellofa time getting the tree stand disconnected from the tree, but finally got it, and the screw in steps. Tossed it all in the MH and drove 5 hrs. home.
Didn't have surgery, but did have a whole lot of therapy done.
I feel the same as I did at 30 hahahahahaha
You guys and all your ailments.... wait, that's a few glasses of wine in this evening talking. Everything is all good to go with a few glasses of wine and oldmanitis :)
I'll check back in the morning and see :) Thankfully never had any issues on the mtn so far at 61+
In spite of being a smart ass, I get it and am just praying none of these stones or ailments hit me on my hunts. Be well fellas as none of us are getting any younger.
Cheers, Pete
Drank some bad well water, at least that's what we figured it was, during an Illinois rut hunt back in 2002. The last couple days and the drive home, me and my buddy were popping immodium pills every 6hrs or less. Went to the doctor after getting home and was prescribed something to get over it. I'll just say those were a few rough days.
Not me but a friend of mine went on a guided elk hunt out west with a friend of his. They went in on horseback several miles to where the spike camp was and he shared a tent with his buddy. Next morning he got up to hunt and his buddy said he was not feeling the best and was going to sleep in. My friend went with the guide and hunted til 10 am and came back to camp. he went in to wake his buddy and his buddy was in the sleeping bag still, he pulled back the bag and his friend had committed suicide with his hand gun.
I feel your pain. Got a kidney stone driving up to elk camp about 13 or 14 years ago. Got so bad I couldn't even drive. My buddy drove me to the hospital in flagstaff and I spent the day there. This was a Sunday and I finally passed it out in the field on Thursday morning. Trying to describe to someone what the pain is like to someone that never had a stone is like telling someone what it's like to have child who doesn't have one. They just don't understand. Pain would come and go but when it was on, it was debilitating. Cold sweats & excruciating pain lasting from 10 minutes to two hours with zero letup. I've been drinking a glass of water with real lemon juice every morning ever since and so far, they haven't come back.
Kidney stones suck! I've only experienced that one time (to date)...but that was enough!
My worst health issue while hunting happened during a solo deer hunt on the Kaibab in 2020. Had a heart issue since birth...a couple times per year, for no particular reason, my heart rate would jump to 220bpm. Tried to have it fixed in my younger years, but no doctor would touch it with a ten foot pole. That said, a drug called Toprol typically kicked the rhythm back within a minute. My second day on the Kaibab, an episode flared and the Toprol failed to do its job. Drove myself to the hospital in Kanab, Utah (roughly an hour from camp) and they got the heart rate under control within an hour.
Good news, the nurse in Kanab told me there was a procedure to fix my issue. When I got home, I had a nerve in my heart cauterized and have not had any issues since...knock on wood!
I'll be 66 this coming season. I've been lucky so far with no major issues while hunting, knock on wood. My best hunting buddy died of a heart attack 5 years ago on our N.Carolina hog hunt. We had just got back to the truck after an all night hunt in the swamps. It was colder than usual that night, and we were fumbling around with the knobs ,trying to get the heat turned up . He started shivering uncontrollably and went into cardiac arrest. Both guides performed CPR on him, but couldn't revive him.
I recently suffered a massive heart attack. Five months ago on October 25th. I’m only 44 years old. Couldn’t go back to work for a few months but convinced my cardiologist to let me go hunting only a week out of the hospital. I just had to promise not to hunt out of a treestand or get too excited. He obviously doesn’t hunt lol!!
Glad it worked out for ya T-roy.
Good luck, Robb
2 years ago got kicked in the calf by an asshole horse hunting with Forest in Colorado. Calf was so swelled pants would not go over them, a giant hematoma. Pretty much ruined the hunt, still feeling the effects to this day.
The worst for me was hopping on some deadfall in the mountains and getting too cute with some logs that were running nearly straight up and down the slope. You can imagine what happened. Maybe a slight case of altitude sickness. Also, sliding down the tree on the bottom half of a climber.
So, nothing bad here, knock on wood!
Year 2010 I was climbing a tree with combination of screw in steps and tree forks. It was wet and I was rushing to get up. Missed a hand grab on a wet limb and fell on my left shoulder breaking the ball off the humerus. Had to walk out 1/2 mile to the truck. 12 weeks healing and lots of physical therapy. I remember thinking as I lay on the ground gathering my wits that at least I wasn’t paralyzed.
My son became so ill deer hunting the day before Christmas I had to carry him out of the woods. They removed his gall bladder Xmas morning. Would've been fatal on a remote hunt.
My experience with kidney stones lasted almost the entire month of this past oct. Had 2 of them. Passed one the day after the pain started the other almost a month later. On the pain scale if directly after smashing your thumb with a hammer is a 10. I'd rate a kidney stone at a 7-8 the problem is, or was in my case the pain just wouldn't ease up, didn't matter what I did I just couldn't get away from it.
Picked up a couple parasites on an elk hunt. Aftermath was brutal. Meds took care of the Giardia right away but the other lingered. Can’t remember for sure maybe Campylobactor or Chriptosporidium??? Lost about 45# by the time it was done
interesting thread. the unexpected illnesses and medical conditions are what they are, but the guy taking his own life is just incredible and sad for everyone involved. wow.
as they say, knock on wood. i have nothing major to report and hope it's not my turn this fall.
Drove up the BC to hunt Bison several years ago wpke up the first night of the drive about halfway there and my elbow was hot and sore. Knew right away I had an infection in it as I had had same thing years before on other elbow. Called Outfitter and asked if they could get me in to see a DR. when we arrived, they sent me to hospital but hospital told me they would be to expensive and sent me to a clinic down the street. Got in and saw Dr. who confirmed what I already knew and wrote me a prescription which I filled and started taking the Antibiotics. Next morning first morning of hunt shot my bow a few time to make sure I could then went hunting. Killed a big Bull around 3;30 that afternoon.
Infections are the worst. I bumped my shin on a ladder in the early eighties. It was the Monday before our deer season . By Wednesday my shin had swelled too much to put my pants on My family doctor took one look and sent me to the hospital. I spent the first week of deer season with an IV trying to get the infection under control.
My buddy and I were in the Anchorage airport coming back from a Kodiak deer hunt one year, and when he came out of the bathroom, he was completely white as a ghost. He was trying to pass a kidney stone and the worst thing he ever did was get on that flight. it seems the change in pressure made it much worse. Luckily, there was a doctor on board that had some morphine.
The same buddy broke his ankle while we were taking a ‘short cut’ off the mountain, ( read loose shale) packing a deer I shot in Nevada.
We were back packed about 13 miles into the Kalalau valley on Kauai one year and my buddy sprained his knee back there. He made it out, but I had to carry both of our packs out which wasn’t too fun. And no, I am not a hard on hunting buddies- grin. Shit happens.
I almost had covid on my last hunting trip, got it the day I got back, or at least felt the effects of it. Probably was getting on the trip or already had it.
The kidney stones I had last year were a bitch ! Bloody urine, bad pains, and don’t ever want another. I had one after the first attack that was 8mm, too large to pass. They broke it up with some kind of Buck Rogers contraption and I never felt it, but it’s gone. Thank God !
I hurt my back the day before I left for a Colorado mule deer hunt. Figured I'd go easy and it would be manageable. Big mistake. I hung in there the whole week but it almost killed me. Could hardly move, let alone walk. Can't believe I made it home on my feet. Was flat out for two weeks after. And you guessed it, no deer killed on this one.
I'll turn 60 in September. Injuries from a couple of car accidents and genetics have posed quite a challenge. 20+ surgeries take a toll. Some days I can do okay, and some I spend in the camper. I'll be elk hunting until I can't anymore. I still need to call in a 350" bull for Randy Giesey. This September is it!
One of the worst/scary/embarassing occasions happened in January of 2021. Giesey and I were in southern AZ and I managed to get a bowel blockage that made it impossible to take a leak. I hiked my way to camp and waited for Randy for a couple hours. I told him I was pretty damn sure I needed a hospital, and soon. Saying I had to pee badly is an understatement! We left camp set up and hopped in his suburban. The road out of this craphole canyon was incredibly rough and steep. All the bounces were hell on a bladder that needed to pop. When we finally hit a decent gravel road, I hopped out to try to piss once more. Nada. We hauled ass to get some cell service and as soon as we did, had my wife and a friend of Randy's checking for the nearest hospital. Nogales was it but still over an hour away. It got dark before we hit town and finally found the hospital. and over nine hours since I had pissed last.
The hospital was like a third world experience, hanging tarps as room dividers, busted counter tops, dirty floor, a dude in the hall with a severely broken leg. screaming and moaning everywhere. Thankfully a catheter did the trick, not that I recommend it for fun. The doc wanted to leave the catheter in until I got home. She was very unimpressed that I was still hunting and home was a week away. So cath finally out, we stayed the night in a terrible motel to make sure the hospital was close just in case. I tell people it was the longest week I spent one night in Nogales! Haha
Last spring I developed systemic neuropathy. My feet were naggingly numb and I thought I had sciatica. One day at work, I went for a walk during my lunch break because walking always helped my sciatica. By the time I finished a mile, I had bi-lateral numbness in my arms to my elbows and legs to my knees. Walking was more like "flopping" my steps. Probably looked like Frankenstein. Very disconcerting. Went through several diagnostics and the best guess at a cause is a severe long-term vitamin B deficiency.
Tried to work through it and it improved but I wound up in AK on a grizzly hunt with a heavy dose of fatigue, muscle weakness and really poor cardio performance. I was lucky because I had no long stalks and was able to hunt the last couple of days in the Archery Zone along the river.
I'm still working through it. I also have bouts of brain fog that just come out of nowhere. Quite frustrating and occasionally embarrassing but I get around well enough to hunt in VA.
1988 I had a homemade treestand collapse while I was in it. Fell 18'. Hit the ground and my body accordianed, knee hitting my forehead which split my eyebrow open. Laid on the ground with pain from my neck to my waist. Made it difficult to breath. I could move my toes, so I wasn't paralyzed. After 10 minutes, I decided I needed to get up and out. Clawed at the oak tree to upright myself and shuffle out of woods to my truck. Drove to town (past hospital!) and home. Friend called amb and I spent 3 days in hospital w/20% compression fracture in vertabrae.
I did hunt (on the ground) 8 days after incident. (2 weeks after incident, at my first check up the doc told me not to hunt. Needless to say, I did not acknowledge his "recommendation")
It was that incident that taught me I was not invincible.
"Tried to work through it and it improved but I wound up in AK on a grizzly hunt with a heavy dose of fatigue, muscle weakness and really poor cardio performance."
You left out the worst symptom you had to suffer through on that trip - the company.
More kidney stones here too
First time I was turkey hunting, and I didn't know what was happening. A 60 mile drive to the ER later I found out what was trying to kill me.
Another time I was deer hunting in the UP. One night about midnight I woke up with sever pain in my lower back. I knew what it was and woke my dad up so he could bring me about 60 miles to the nearest ER.
I had another one last fall after I got home from a WY elk hunt. Thankfully it didn't happen 1 week earlier.
Matt, the company did make me grateful for the brain fog. :)
In September 2007, I was setting up a 3D shoot at my club by myself and fell on a pointed rock. Put three more targets out and started getting nauseas so headed home. Got home and wife saw I was not right and took me to the ER. Broken tibia. That November in Ohio, I stepped out of a climber I thought was at the bottom of the tree (it was dark) and dropped about 4 feet onto the roots. Ankel hurt bad but continued hunting. Got home and two weeks later it was really throbbing. Went to Ortho doc and he looked at xrays and said "you are either really tough or really stupid". Broken ankle. That same season in January, I caught my boot on some wire under the snow and fell. I heard a crack like a .22 going off and my shotgun had clevered my right pinky on a log. I figured it was dislocated so knowcked it back in place by putting my hand on a tree and wacking the back of my finger/hand. Next day my had was blue up to my wrist. Back to the Ortho doc. Not dislocated bu snapped the finger bone and my set was not very good. He suggested surgery to fix but it wasn't my trigger finger so no surgery, just a bent pinky. Fast forward to January 2022. Dragging a really big doe up a steep slope on a 7 degree morning, I feel a slow growing but intense pain in my left heel like someone slowly driving a knitting needle into it. Back to Ortho. Torn achilles tendon excerbated by large bone spurs on my heels so ended up having surgery on both heels. Surgery went well but the ortho boot they put you in caused really bad sciatica in both legs and back throughtout this last season. Getting better slowly but surely! Keep hunting!!
Buddy and I were horsebacked 15 miles with outfitter when his horse went down on the 3rd day and he broke his leg.He had leg numbness due to a treestand fall he spent 99 days in hospital for.He finally told me that his leg looked funny that night. We packed out next morning and went to ER.Ride out sucked for him.Lost him to COVID a year ago.
Friends were dropped off for a 10 day Alaskan moose hunt. Day one they were building a fire. One of them was stomping some branches to break them. Unknowingly 338 bullets flew out of his pocket & landed in the fire. Eventually one of the bullets exploded severing a finger. They all ducked for cover trying to figure out what happened. After a quick bullet count they figured only one was missing. Overnight a huge storm blew in & destroyed their tent. So they moved down into the brush to get out of the wind. Spent the rest of the week weathered in wrapped up in the remnants of their tent fending off brown bears. Never were able to hunt at all.
Some pretty crazy stuff. My worst was pretty mild and almost kind of funny. Got flown in to moose camp in 2019 knowing I had a pretty good bout of vertigo going. Of course the flights only made it worse. I remember packing my buddies bull out and being so dizzy it was hard to walk. The good thing is that tundra is soft and made my mostly controlled falls not so bad. :)
So far so good. Was well into the back country on a canoe trip one year with a stomach ache. Made it back a couple days later and went to the hospital with appendicitis about to rupture so they pulled it out. Glad that didn't happen back in the bush.
Pat, beware of spending too much time with Troy....
I went shed hunting with some dude that goes by T-roy and ended up in the ER with a broken leg. I have a plate and 8 screws in my leg and a cool stick that Troy found for me to use as a crutch to get back to the truck. I still think I was close to a 200" match set and somehow he tripped me....LOL.
T-Roy, make sure you get that stone taken care of before we room together at PY. I don't want the PY guys on our floor hearing moaning and straining noises coming from our room.
Troy told me he was hoping he didn't pass it as it gave a cover story for the moaning...just saying...
I fee your pain t-roy, kidney stones are a curse! Played and lost that game several times. As painful as they are, all is good if they can pass on their own. Had one get stuck in the distal ureter one time and they had to go in and retrieve it. The procedure was fine, but they had to put a stent in because of infection and that was worse than the stone. Gave me bladder spasms which were terrible. Knock on wood, the stones haven't interfered with hunting yet. My best buddy did pass one a couple years ago on our annual hunting trip. I think he passed it on the 4th day, not an enjoyable trip for him, but he toughed it out.
Several years back, my good friend and neighbor had a brother-in-law die from a heart attack in his stand while deer hunting. I wasn't there at the time, but it was just down the road from my house. I guess it was quite an ordeal getting him out of the tree and then out of the woods. Very sad.
Good friend of my was at his cabin last fall deer hunting with his boys. In the morning he said he was tired & wasn’t going out. Boys went out but one was worried & came back shortly to check on him. Found him slumped over in a chair in an awkward position barely breathing. Managed to get him to the hospital in time. Lungs were full of blood clots. Had a Covid shot earlier in the week????
My friend had a heart attack and passed right after shooting a big boar with huge tusks with a perfect shot hunting in a Florida swamp with dogs. Man, I really miss him but if I had to choose away to go when my times up that would be it.
Another had an all day sit deer hunting. Had a piercing headache all day. At dark he climbed to the ground & collapsed. Couldn’t get up & phoned for help. Found his legs & lungs had blood clots. Same drill…just days after a Covid booster. Both guys 50ish & healthy as horses.
Stubbed the hell out of my toe in '05 as I was walking to the truck to leave the house to go on an elk hunt. I live in Indiana and was wearing flip flops. Not as bad as a kidney stone but it hurt. I used to chew tobacco, to help me quit I would chew on straws, evidently there is a nerve or a muscle behind your eardrum that connects to your jaw. When this muscle is overworked it flairs up. I have had a kidney stone and have had this flair up MANY times before I figured out what it was. I would take a kidney stone knowing if I made it to the Dr. they could make the pain go away. This pain dropped me to my knees and made this grown man cry like a baby. The only thing that would work would be oxycodone, imagine asking a Dr for oxycodone and they don't believe you. I'd go to the Dr and they said they didn't know what was wrong and wouldn't do anything for me. I FINALLY got into an ENT doc and she had it figured out in 5 minutes... Quit chewing on straws! That ruined a lot of hunts over 20 years considering I would chew straws while on stand, by day 2 or 3 of vacation I'd be miserable.
No movement as of yet. Have a Dr’s appointment in a couple hours. Friday evening was pretty brutal. One of the worst parts was the vomiting/dry heaves every 30 minutes, for 12 hrs straight. Evidently, nausea is a very common symptom of kidney stones. I thought that I had the stomach flu on top of the stone. Not much fun wretching up nothing but bile. My rib and back muscles feel like I’ve been beaten with a rod, as well as an extremely sore throat. Way better than the alternatives, though!
t-roy, for me the vomiting is the worst just before the stone passes into the bladder. I hop in and out of the shower because the hot water always feels good on the lower back. Keep slamming the water and hang in there!
Deerhunter72, along with Diverticulitis Kidney and bladder spasms were awful after surgery... nurse only would give me overcounter Tylenol for 5 hrs of leg wriggling pain, while my doctor was in another surgery.
2021 fishing trip out of Sitka Alaska. Many years ago in the Gulf of Mexico, I got sea sick. I never forgot the feeling. Prior to this trip, I asked my doctor for prevention of motion sickness. He advised and prescribed a behind the ear patch. There were 12 of us on this trip( 4 in a boat). Two of the guys could not be convinced to take some precautionary meds…..one was on my boat. We left harbor at 6am. That first day he spent until 2 in the afternoon puking over the side of the boat. He was white as a ghost, and there is no going back to harbor until the end of the day. Completely wrecked his first day of a long awaited trip. Needless to say, his approach was different the rest of our trip. If you have never been sea sick before, it’s an experience to avoid. We are going back in July. Pretty sure the entire group will be ready.
