I had a few more incidents with the evil things over the next few years but the one that added insult to injury...........
Early Oct 1986
I was in the process of a divorce and had custody of my two girls 16 and 13-1/2(at their request) and was doing some dating. I had made a connection with a local nurse who seemed to have a lot going for her, such as a good attitude and built like a throughbred as well being interested in ME
I did not get to go on a proper date as i was involved in my outfitting busy season so made arrangements to go out with her when i got back in two weeks time between clients.
After finishing a long tough hunt successfully i was more than ready to party! Drove my hunters to the airport in Calgary, rushed home, cleaned up and rushed off barely in time to meet the gal at a local but semi classy country bar and grill which she suggested being a country gal herself, perfect!
All went well for a couple hours. She was real nice! After dinner we moved to the dance floor and all was mostly fine, though i had difficulty concentrating and it was much tougher during a slow dance and she was sorta smiling/smirking
Then i felt a bit of pain in my kidneys....OOOOOH NO! Can't be, must be a stitch from dancing i thought, knowing full well i was kidding myself.
It came on fast and i toughed it out for a while, trying to act normal until she said, whats wrong? Nuthin......hey she said, i'm a registered nurse with 5 years in ICU and i know hurtin' when i see it! After some stammering i admitted that i may have a kidney stone. She said she was gonna take me to the hospital pronto, i begged off and said i would be fine with a bit of rest. She knew i lived 25 miles out in the boonies and suggested that we go to her place where i could rest a bit and be close to the hospital ..... "in case i finally quit being a macho dim wit" ...... who? me?
When we got to her place i was praying heavily for a quick remission and some TLC, didn't even come close to happening! It got real bad and i finally ended up rolling in agony (and embarrassment) on her living room rug, she called the ambulance, saying......your going! And your not puking on my car seats! Ah sweet romance
I called my oldest daughter from the hospital at about 2 am and of course terrified her, but had to explain why i would not be there when they got up for school and finally talked her out of rushing down to the hospital with her sister, saying they could not learn much while worrying about dad
She had seen me with them before and was sure worried but conceded that they could do nothing and would go to school.
The damn thing finally passed the next morning with the help of some really good cheap drugs. My gal friend came to see me and i was so embarrassed i had trouble talking but all would have been fine if she had not laughingly mentioned that she had looked up and checked my medical records and that i seemed like a fine specimen other than the "STONES". Hmmmmmmmmm i said,...... lemme see yours. .....Nope, no way, Hmmmmmmmmm, aw c'mon, you saw mine, nope! The budding relationship kinda stalled there
