09/15/2026
It's Angela; I just wanted to fill you in on what’s been going on with me the last couple of months.
In July, my back was acting up again; I have herniated disks in my L1 and L2, and my S1 is pretty much gone from degenerative disk disease. So, I wasn’t at my desk much.
In August, I dealt with some serious UTIs that caused a lot of infection and inflammation. Any woman knows how awful those are. Once again, I couldn't make it into the office.
On August 21st, I woke up with a 103.7 fever and had Lee rush me to the ER. At Russell's, they immediately ran blood work and a CT scan. They found out I was septic and had a 5mm kidney stone. They had to call around to find a hospital with an open bed and a urologist, and I ended up at St. Vincent East.
In September, I finally had the stone removed on the 11th. I am still having a little bladder spasms but overall I’m finally pain-free.
I'd never had a kidney stone before. The back pain I had in July was actually the start of that little monster. I pray I never get another one, but I’ve learned to take back pain more seriously now. I have to go back to the urologist in December for a follow-up. I’m just so thankful to the teams at Russell's and St. Vincent East for saving my life. And I am ready to get back to work and setup Halloween decorations.