Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Kidney stone

I really can't explain the connection I feel with the kidney stone I passed last week. You know, had I not gone through the pain of passing it, I couldn't love it like I do--like God wants me to. Somewhere in the great plan, God planned for me, little ol' Ben Blair to pass his very own kidney stone. I was so eager to see what it would look like. I have placed it in a little jar, and we anxiously await our first visit with Dr. Stigler, our urologist. Somehow I fear he'll treat my kidney stone like any other kidney stone. That is the sad thing about Doctors; they see so many patients and specimens, they often can't see what is special about the individual, in this case me and my specimen--my kidney stone. My worldly friends only see the downside to my passing a kidney stone. They can't understand the joy, joy such a quirky little pebble can bring someone.

10 comments:

  1. The creative process is, indeed, difficult, but rewarding.

    If your urologist does not admire your stone with at least the enthusiasm of a Japanese business man accepting a business card, I suggest you find a doctor with a more refined appreciation of aesthetics. ("Did you make this? This . . . piece . . . is impressive. A very impressive piece. Had you ever produced one before? Do you think you could produce one again? Etc." It would be demoralizing to have some hack take a quick look at it, maybe comment on the size, and proceed to talk about diet.

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  2. Anonymous5:46 PM

    Most people in your situation are ashamed or at least embarrassed. I am glad to see that you are not. It is a lot like God and the way he works. You were making this thing long before you ever realized it and only when you felt it's pains did you realize (and become thankful) for the choices you had made in your life. You should be proud of what you have made, it likely took a lot of painstaking effort. For this reason it should be displayed in a prominent place in your home, or better yet be made into something useful. If it is large enough it could be a paper weight. Or if it is one of those spikey ones(staghorn calculi) you could fashion a small mace for your favorite dungeons and dragons figurine.

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  3. Anonymous9:07 PM

    ben,
    first of all, nice work.
    I was just wondering, if you swallowed it could you pass it again? just curious,
    jared

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  4. Anonymous9:32 PM

    ...so..is it shaped like a kidney bean?

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  5. Anonymous4:13 AM

    Is there some way we could use it in a Stanley Cup competition?

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  6. Ben, you should post a picture of the stone, so we can try to understand better.

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  7. Anonymous: I'm not sure that I want it to be useful. Then I would feel like I was using it. What kind of person would just use a kidney stone? Like it's just there to please me? Having said that, I am captivated by the possibility of making a mace for a D&D figurine.

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  8. Ah hah! I finally found you Ben. It's taken a lot of checking things out, looking high and Lo Down, and to and Fro and now that I've found you, you has better run for it like Lebanese terrorist were after you for stealing their plutonium. Just kidding. It’s amazing how small cyber space can be though.

    So now you have another “chip off the old block” sitting in a jar. Congratulations. I’ve heard of more and more people that have been passing stones and I wonder at times if I am just a “ticking time bomb”. It’s not like people have their kidneys checked for stones on a routine basis… If I pass one, you’ll be at least one of the first …hundred and three to know.

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  9. Lyle! Don't you think I didn't catch the BTTF reference. I just watched Back to the Future this weekend. I think my favorite line was when Doc said: "Please excuse the crudity of the model. I didn't have time to build it to scale or paint it."

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  10. Sooo, that's why you didn't show up to stake presidency meeting last week...

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