The perfect storm

Sunday 18 July

Sunday was not exactly the day I had planned... If you are of a delicate disposition, stop reading now!

At about midnight I suddenly had a stabbing pain in my lower abdomen which I assumed was to do with a bit of constipation and so spent most of the night in the toilet. At about 2.30am it started raining and by 3am it turned into an almighty storm - we were all up and following its progress on the weather channel. I was still in some considerable pain but the storm certainly gave me something to take my mind off it. Then at about 4am the electricity went off and we were plunged into darkness just looking out into the wildness of the storm.

Eventually the storm abated and we went back to bed although there was no chance of sleep with the pain I had in my side. At about 8am Aileen went out to get me some Alka Seltzer thinking that might do the trick but it made no difference and so Tony and Aileen took me to the Mercy West Urgent Care Clinic to see a doctor. Of course, in the back of my mind was the knowledge that health care is not free in the US and that I would probably have to deal with my travel insurance company so I gave them a quick call.

On the way to the clinic we saw some of the devastation caused by the storm - some enormous trees were down including a huge pine tree which had been uprooted.

On arrival at the clinic there were about 6 forms to fill in and I received a blank look from the receptionist when I said I didn't have an insurance card or a social security number. Nevertheless I was taken through to a treatment room where a nurse took my blood pressure, etc. She also took a sample of blood and sent me for an x-ray and then I had to wait for the doctor to arrive. The doctor was a very pleasant lady who explained that my symptoms were pointing to appendicitis and that I would have to go to a hospital to get the opinion of a surgeon. If this diagnosis was correct I would have to have surgery which would mean at least a week of recuperation and would put paid to my trip to Chicago at the very least.

Me in the Mercy West Lakes Hospital, Des Moines

By this time it was about 10.30am and we got into the car and drove to the Mercy West Lakes Hospital, about 10 minutes' drive away. Tony and Aileen told me this was a brand new hospital and it was certainly very smart indeed. I was shown into a treatment room and had more forms to fill in and they told me that the surgeon was on his was and that I would have to have a CAT scan. Before that I had to drink some contrast material (not barium, but apparently something similar) - I had to take four lots in half-hour intervals. They put in an intravenous needle and took more blood samples and gave me a painkiller. At about 1.30pm I was taken through for the scan which involved lying flat and going backwards and forwards through a big doughnut-shaped machine. I was then taken back to the treatment room where Tony and Aileen were still waiting.


After about another half-hour, the surgeon came through and told me that thankfully it wasn't appendicitis and that I had a kidney stone which would probably pass in a day or two. He prescribed Vicodin (which is the drug Dr Gregory House is addicted to in the TV show House!) and recommended that I drank lots of fluid - in fact he recommended beer! Sadly he was unable to give me a prescription for that! He said that there would be no problem with my continuing my journey as planned - what a relief! By now Tony and Aileen felt that they knew the workings of my bowels intimately and we were rather amused by the surgeon's recommendation that I get a stool softener to help with the constipation...


We then went to the Hy Vee supermarket which has a pharmacy to pick up my prescription and went home for a well-earned cup of tea! Fortunately by this time the power was back on...

Aileen, Tony and me, Maffitt Lake

After our tea we went out for a little run in the car to Maffitt Lake which is an absolutely beautiful place where Tony goes fishing and they have picnic areas, etc. We also drove around the area past some amazing properties - there is certainly some money around here!


Back home for lasagna and then to bed to catch up on the sleep lost the previous night.