Oh boy. I remember the worst thing that ever happened to me during the holidays.

I was in S. Korea, and had an interesting Christmas Eve day.

My friends decided we should go to a Buddhist temple on top of a mountain, so we took a cab over and started ascending. Amid the beautiful sites, I started feeling a bit of pressure in my abdominal area, but I figured it may just be gas or a cramp. We kept walking, and about mid-way up the mountain, I realized that the pain was getting worse.

"Oh, come on, man! We just got here! Can't you tough it out?" they said. I told them I had to go, and they were welcome to continue their journey. But they reluctantly followed me down the mountain. As I got closer and closer to the bottom, they began to realize the seriousness of the situation as I started clutching my side and grunting like a bear in a trap.

When we got to the bottom, there were no cabs, so I started the 5 mile walk back to the base. Soon, they had to help me walk, and each of them got one side of me. I was holding my breath and gritting my teeth as the pain pulsated on the left side of my body. I began to drool a tiny bit, not giving two winks about the designer jacket I had purchased the day before and simply thinking, "I'd rather die than feel this pain."

At this point I realized what was going on - I was having a kidney stone. It had happened before, and my reluctance to admit that it was happening again existed simply for my own self-placation.

As I was writhing in pain and couldn't take another step, deus ex machina turned its head and a cabbie pulled up to us. "Your friend! He OK?" he said, and they shoved me in the cab.

I was curled in a ball in the back, saying "Kill me, kill me," under my breath, as the cabbie kept looking back and muttering in Korean, presumably something like "You better not hurl in my cab." We gained access to the base, which was like a ghost town. We pulled up to the clinic and I limped into the reception area and collapsed on a folding chair. I sat there screaming when I saw the doctor, who questioned me as they do, remaining calm. "How long have you been experiencing the pain? On a scale of 1 to 10, how... why do you think you are having a kidney stone?"

My pain so bad that I was at the brink of passing out. They were preparing my paperwork when the doctor said, "He's not in our system. He is going to have to go to a Korean hospital." Now, I love Korea and Koreans and I would've gladly went to their hospital, but I was in so much pain that I couldn't even move. I just started crying and saying, "No... no... I have my ID right here... I have to be in the system... no"

As we turned around to leave, the doctor said, "Ok, put him over there." They put me on a portable bed in the corner and shot me up with goodies. The pain disappeared, and I felt better than I ever had. "How is the pain now, on a scale of 1 to 10?" "One," I said.

I heard the doctor say, "As soon as he pees, get him out of here." I tried to "hold it in," because I just wanted to rest and I had no idea how I would feel when the meds wore off, but eventually I had to give in because they were pumping me with fluids.

Luckily, I must've passed the stone while lying there. I left, and nodded at the doctor, with a mutual "Don't tell anyone about this... No, I won't" moment, as I knew he was breaking protocol in order to help me.

Everyone was scared and happy that I was feeling better. By the end of the day, I was happy as can be, and rewarded myself with some Burger King!

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