I've Felt Love's Pain! (It's Like Having A Baby)

Davis Love III has withdrawn from the Wyndham Championship because of kidney stones.

Having experienced a few stones myself, I fully sympathize. The summer after my freshman year of college, I developed an excrutiatingly painful tummy ache. Never having felt anything so painful before, I thought I was dying.

After the diagnosis came in, I was sent to a urologist. He gave me some pain medication and a strainer, telling me that if it hadn't passed by the end of the week, he'd schedule me for surgery. The week passed, but the stone did not. In the hospital, they stuck a needle in my arm, put me to sleep, and inserted a tiny camera inside me so that they could seek out the troublesome stone.

When I awoke, I was informed that the stone must have previously passed on its own without me realizing it. In other words, the surgery hadn't really been necessary. But because they had to mess with such a sensitive area of my body, the doctors also had to leave a tube inside of me. That meant that I would have to return to the doctor's office about a week later to have the tubing removed.

They didn't put me to sleep for the tube's removal. A numbing gel was inserted into the sensitive area. A nurse was also present for a very important reason: she had thick padding wrapped around her arm for me to squeeze as hard as I needed while the doctor removed the tubing. The entire process didn't involve as much pain as you might imagine. But there was definitely some physical discomfort. More importantly, there was mental discomfort--that's why it was so smart of them to have a padded arm available for me to squeeze. The idea of having that part of my body messed with was enough to make the entire experience rather unpleasant. After he had finished removing the tubing, the doctor asked if I wanted to keep it. I was so relieved to have the procedure over with that I told him he could keep it.

I've had a few stones since then. I found out that the worst pain comes from the stone moving around inside you. When the stone actually shoots out of your body, it might be a bit uncomfortable, but it's nothing next to the pain of having the stone manuever itself inside of you. It may sound sick and disturbing, but I finally broke down and saved one of my stones. I store that rough-looking little pebble inside a small plastic container. I don't keep it out in public view, but when people indicate an interest in seeing a kidney stone, I gladly pull it out to share.

When I had a kidney stone attack at school about 7 or 8 years ago, I tried to be tough and avoid leaving school early. I was giving a test that day, and though the pain was great, I paced the room, grimacing and trying to keep hidden how badly I was hurting. Around lunch time, I broke down and told my principal that I had to leave school and go to the hospital. Mr. Farkas drove me himself. As I bent over in the passenger seat, moaning, I'm sure that he thought I was dying. I'm still very grateful for that ride.

I've been told by some nurses that they've seen more men break down crying from a kidney stone than from any other kind of medical pain. I know what they mean. I've also heard some people say that the pain caused by a kidney stone is comparable to the pain experienced by a woman giving birth. Such a comparison could only be a made by a woman who has experienced both. If it's true that the pain is about the same, I have even greater sympathy for what a woman goes through while giving birth.

I still think that having a kidney stone is worse than having a baby. Even if the pain is as bad or worse, there's a very bright light on the other side of that delivery pain: you get to walk away from the experience with a baby to love and raise. After experiencing kidney stone pain, all you have to walk away from the experience with are some stories to share and possibly an ugly little stone to keep. Stones and the stories they inspire don't begin to compare to all the great things that come from becoming a parent. I'd much rather produce a baby from my body than a kidney stone.

I'm honestly not much of a golf fan, but I'm very much pulling for Love right now. I hope his stone passes naturally and painlessly, and if not, I hope the surgery goes smoothly. Best wishes bouncing back, Mr. Love.