Like it matters to really anyone, but today I finally passed a damn kidney stone...

Okay, I know... TMI (too much information) but bear with me...

I have a kidney ailment... my kidney's filters don't work properly so I get about a stone a year... usually two... since I was in my early twenties.

I've learned to cope with the pain and usually work through it... and other than being "irritable", I only did the screaming, crying, throbbing pain bit on the first two... and one biggy when I turned twenty-nine.

Every other man (and almost as many women) will go through a kidney stone or two... and yeah, everything you've heard about the pain is true... sorry...

I was sitting at a dinner with an old friend and their aunt... their aunt had gone through them and I was in the "midst" of one... not too bad, but it came up as I was... well... um... excusing myself frequently to use the little boys room.

"I read online," the friend said, "that it's the second worse pain next to child birth a person can go through!"

"No..." replied the aunt... "It's worse."

A while back, I read that fellow Canadian William Shatner, on the set of his teleivision program "Boston Legal", had been "rushed off the set" with "severe lower back pain"... I knew immediately... "Welcome Mr. Shatner to the Wonderful World of Kidney Stones!"

Before I get to my point... if you've searched and come here about information about this ailment, here's TESTED and TRIED and PROVEN suggestions to help...

Matthew's Tips for Kidney Stones...

#1: Get used to the pain... gut it out. It ain't going away until the stone passes. (see #6)

#2: See you doctor as soon as possible and have an ultrasound or CT scan... make sure it's small enough it CAN pass.

#3: Talk to your doctor about a procedure called lithotripsy... it's worked for me once wonderfully and is great when dealing with HUGE stones.

#4: AVOID - Loading up on protein (meats), Calcium (especially calcium "tablets" like antacids), Salt, "Dark Pop" (colas and other "dark" pops are bad), and fats (fried food, fatty meats)... and one last weird one... avoid citrus drinks like orange juice and lemonade. They usually contain high amounts of calcium.

#5: Drink at least two litres of liquid PER DAY!* Cranberry juice IS BEST!** (Really, anything that make you "go" (okay, pee...) like a racehorse... and yes, that includes beer...) Water at least... If in doubt, buy a two-litre bottle of ginger-ale or Sprite/7-up... drink it, rinse/clean the bottle... and then ensure you polish off that bottle's full of water per day.

* - Don't pound back the two-litres in ONE SITTING... space it out throughout the day.

** - Cranberry juice is acidic and DOES help break down elements of a stone making it pass easier...

#6: Pain killers... probably not too great an idea. Although some SWEAR by them, when a stone is bad, I find taking even percocet is like tossing bricks into the Grand Canyon... Try to "gut it out" unless your doctor thinks otherwise.

So, there's my tips...

Me? finally in comfort, I'm gonna lie down, read, maybe watch a good movie... because kidney stones, regardless of how "used to them you get", are hell.

Thanks to the SECOND BEST "inspirational posters EVER"! Those Star Trek posters are fantastic... but...

...sorry, these posters are way better...

I know of late I haven't been the most "positive" of bloggers, but spending some time surfing about and looking through things for my own notes, I kept bumping into stuff... and... well... this is not as much of a rant as it is a lesson to some folks... no one in particular though...

Magic is spelt Emm-Ay-Gee-Eye-See... not majik, magick, magik, or any other variation with a "K" or "J"... unless you're invoking Aleister Crowley or a screen writer hoping to revive "Buffy The Vampire Slayer".

Wicca has not been around for "centuries" or since "ancient times". It really traces it's roots to a British civil servant named Gerald Gardiner and it's roots are no older than the 1920's.

There is no shame in not being psychic. Not everyone is.

On the same note, most people experience moments or "flashes" of weird stuff thought to be psychical in origin... maybe it is, maybe it isn't... but it's weirder to meet someone who's never experienced something that they thought was a "psychical moment"... they may not admit it immediately, but over time, they will "tell their story".

There... I feel better now.

Next time, attacking the "txtng gnr8shn"... and/or "g33k 5p3ak".