[jedberg]

> if you don't want to get a kidney stone (and believe me, you don't)

To put some perspective on that, I recently had one and it was the worst pain in my life. I asked some women who have had both a stone and a natural childbirth which was worse, and they said the pain is about the same.

The difference is that at least you know +/- about a month when you're going to have a child and can prepare; with the stone, you're just suddenly in excruciating pain.

[bkmartin]

And, at the end of childbirth you get the joy of having a baby... no one has cake every year to celebrate the birth of their kidney stones.

[jtolj]

I had some warning. Mine had shown up in an x-ray and CT scan for an unrelated issue.

Every nurse I talked to seemed to take sadistic pleasure in describing how painful it would be when it came out.

Still nothing could have prepared me for that amount of pain. It was truly horrifying.

This is why when given the opportunity to tell people to drink more water, I do it. I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone.