I'm back at work after a successful surgery to remove a kidney stone, but the journey wasn't without its challenges.

I'd hoped to make it back to work by Tuesday after my surgery on March 5. However, because of significant post-op pain and a few unforeseen occurrences, I didn't make it back until this Friday.

The surgery itself went very well. Doctors had me in and out of the operating room and headed home to rest very quickly. I was quite comfortable for the first couple days.

The first problem came when, three days after surgery, I went to remove the stent left in to protect a tube connecting my kidney and bladder from collapsing after the stone was removed. I was instructed to gently pull on the string protruding from my body, and the stent would eventually come out with it. This whole process actually was not as painful as I'd thought, it's just very surprising to see about a foot of string and a long tube come sliding out of you.

Then came the fun part.

Less than an hour after the stent came out, I was sitting down on the couch to relax when the pain in my kidney returned - the same burning ache that sent me to the emergency room the week before. Needless to say I was very surprised, as the stone had been removed.

As I was doubled over in pain, I made a frantic call to the doctor's office, asking if it was possible I had another stone or that they had missed something. Turns out I actually was having spasms in my bladder which doctors told me could continue for several days after stent removal.

By the end of three days spent waiting for random spasms to hit - one got me while I was trying to get some groceries near my house - I was very happy to see the pain subside. The pain from the spasms actually rivaled that of the kidney stone moving through me, leaving me crying at times.

I'm very thankful for the understanding team that helped me through the process, and calmed my frantic fears.

Now, I'm just happy to be back at work and to put this behind me. I'm hoping this will be my last struggle with kidney stones, and that I'll never have to feel that pain in my abdomen again.

Wish me luck.