Which we were, weren't we? Actually, this started as a reply in the comment thread to Mike's latest post, but since it provides some useful medical info that people should be aware of, I thought I'd give it the visibility of a post unto itself:

In case another person being in pain will make you [Mike] feel better, I was in the ER at 4:00 AM this morning due to pain in, um, the same sphere, so to speak.

I'd had a bit of pain throughout the week, kind of generalized and coming and going. Of course I had a few thoughts of "Uh oh" based on what you've experienced. Nonetheless I decided to wait it out a bit, especially given a busy time at work and not wanting to jump the gun (I once went into an ER for possible heart attack symptoms...I felt like I was being all adult and doing "the right thing", but the symptoms turned out to be nothing, and the result was putting a permanent big black mark on my medical history when it comes to insurance...)

Then yesterday it got persistently worse, and I did a bit of Googling...determined it wasn't a hernia (which I've been warned I'm at risk for) but also that it wasn't the Big C (which tends to be painless), so I thought maybe "torsion", which means things get twisted around and blood supply gets cut off. In that case you must see a doctor within hours, or stuff starts dying off.

So, of course, I went to bed.

But my body wasn't having any of that, and between increased pain and mental repetition of "Must see an experienced doctor within hours", I gave up at four in the morning and decided to go to the ER, which conveniently is a block from my house.

This turns out to be a good time to visit the ER...no other patients were in sight, and I was whisked in right away. And here I'd loaded up on DS games and a book for the inevitable wait.

After the inevitable poking and prodding and a high-resolution ultrasound and peeing in a cup, they confirmed that it's almost certainly an infection, and loaded me up with pain killers and antibiotics.

A few key points from this:

- Having Mike's experience in mind absolutely prompted me to pay more attention and possibly act sooner than I would have otherwise.

- Google is the best invention in the history of mankind.

- Living a block from a world class hospital comes in handy once in a while.

- Genetically modified antibiotics For The Win!

- If you do experience unprovoked pain in that area, get it looked at quickly...especially if it's persistent pain, it may be need to be addressed immediately if you want to keep all your marbles.