THE TRAVAILS OF KIDNEY STONES
Tremoring from the abdomen into the left groin
Is it a blood vessel about to explode into a pool of blood?
Is it an earthquake being sensed by your body?
Have humans turned into seismographs or earthquake detectors?
None of the above, but kidney stones making their way to the bladder.

Some get stuck at the junction between the bladder and ureter.
The tremoring was the stone forcing its way into the bladder and
sending shock waves down to the groin on the involved side.
CT scans reveal stones lined up in both renal pelvises and ureters.
And a big one—rock—jammed at the junction of the ureter and bladder.
Others lined up like airplanes on a tarmac awaiting orders for takeoff.

A long tarmac that stretches from the kidneys to the bladder.
As they taxi, they cause more tremors on their journeys
to their final destination—urinal—via the bladder.
As they maneuver their way down the long, tortuous tarmac,
there is intense pain, likened by women victims to the pain of labor.

At the choke points—narrow portions of the ureter—
the pain intensifies and may induce nausea, fever, and vomiting.
Fever is a sign of infection as bacteria love stagnant urine.
Stagnation caused by the stones getting stuck at the choke points.

With luck, painkillers, muscle relaxants, water, and a roller coaster ride, if available,
augmented by repeated imbibement of apple cider vinegar,
the stones descend into the bladder and start banging on each other
as they await expulsion via the urethra into the urinal.
Pain disappears when all stones are safely in the bladder.
The journey from the bladder to the urinal is short, and
the pain is more of a momentary sting.
Do not wish the travails of kidney stones on your enemies.
The pain is better experienced than described.