Ever heard that phrase or something similar? Some agents pick the company they work for partially based on the number of meetings they have. I remember when working in Corporate America that phrase was tossed about freely.
I worked for a Fortune 500 company that would pull you in off the street for a meeting and then drain you of all your positive energy. I got in a huge argument with management when I said I was not going to attend future meetings. I told them they were taking take me out of the right frame of mind right before visiting key clients. In the end, I attended the meetings and they changed their management style.
So back to the title of this blog. Yesterday I was sitting in our Monday morning sales meeting and began to feel a little nausea. I was sure it wasn't because of the meeting. As the meeting went on I felt worse and worse. At the conclusion of the meeting I ran into the restroom and found no relief. I quickly figured out what was happening, it was a kidney stone.
I scooped up my laptop and ran out the door for home in a hurry. On the way out I told WooHoo Sally (Celeste Cheeseman) I thought I was passing a kidney stone and was going home. For the next two and a half hours I went through the cycle of pain and nausea. From a couple of previous episodes I knew what to expect. My personal home remedy that seems to work is to get in the shower as hot as I can stand it and run it on my back and side and then soak in the hot tub. In between I answered the phone and scheduled appointments.
After a couple hours (it seemed like a month) my wife called and then I suddenly felt it. Sorry honey gotta go! It passed, Thank God! How can something so tiny cause so much pain? A couple hours later I was on the road and back to normal.
The next time someone tells me that sales meetings remind them of passing kidney stones; I can honestly say they do for me.
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Randy L. Prothero, REALTOR®, ABR, AHWD, CRS, e-PRO, GRI, SFR
Century 21 Liberty Homes
Randy Prothero is well established as an expert in working with military / VA clients and first time home buyers. His home seller's (listing) campaign is one of the most aggressive marketing programs in the area.
Based out of Mililani, Hawaii. Randy services the island of Oahu (Honolulu County) and the Leeward Regional Chairman of the Honolulu Board of Realtors. To improve overall professionalism in his area Randy also offers classes for real estate agents.
www.HawaiiRandy.com * Oahu (Honolulu County) Property Search * Hawaii Military Relocations
Randy:
Ouch, no fun. I can not even image what that experience is like. Glad that this experience is behind you.
Oh Randy, what pain! I know what you mean, and Sales meetings do seem to have the same effect.... I try to offer suggestions for topics - so our meetings aren't so dry...
Hope this week is better for you!
Ouch! I hope you feel better soon Randy! Sales meeting can be very painful at at times too!
That was something else...I could see your face turned a chalky white....and after giving you a couple of hours and calling...I could still hear the pain in your voice. Geez Randy...I'm just glad you got home and nothing worse transpired. I think I would have rather gone to emergency and have them deal with it :)
Randy, oh my....
Someone told me passing a kidney stone was worse than having a baby. Now as a mother of 5 I know how that feels so if the statement is true. God Bless you.
P.S. I hate sales meetings...............never go. ( well occassionally )
Poor baby!
I was just going to say I heard it was worse than going into labor, but I see Missy beat me to it!! I have found that some good video games on my phone helps pass the time at our weekly office meetings. I can listen to the meeting, hear what I need to hear, and improve my tetris game all at the same time!
LOL, Randy. Well I certainly have experienced the pain of endless corporate meetings, but not, thankfully, the passing of a kidney stone. Glad to hear all is well again. I have heard they are rather painful. As far as boring meetings, test messaging works when they get especially tedious. :)
Jeff
Randy,
I've never gone the kidney stone route, but here you have described the pain better than any description I have ever seen before!
Randy that is some remedy, I just hope that you did not pass the kidney stone while you were still sitting in the tub ......... LOL
Ouch. I've never had one but it sure does sound painful! I'm glad it passed Randy!
Nope...I've done both and at least with the kidney stone you can get some good pain killers and a cute nurse. haha
Randy - I am happy you got rid of it. I have known people having the same experience and they described it as painful. Hopefully there won't be a next time.
Randy... lol Sorry for laughing, but I think I passed my first kidney stone about a month ago.... boy, that was pain.... I couldn't sit, stand, and tried laying on my side. Thanks for the hot shower tip...
In regards to your post.... I worked for a branch that had one every Monday... 90% of the time, it was a waste of my time and I also told the branch manager this. My current company? We had our first one of the year 2 weeks ago. In most cases, it should be like that.... and if you need some guideance or help.... get to know a few that work for your office and call them up or meet them for lunch. network.... good post.
Randy, luckily I have never had this problem but I don't envy you because I heard it is EXTREMELY painful. Good luck to you in having no more of these. I hear it can be calcium buildup and not drinking enough water? With regard to meetings, I have been in some long ones where I would rather stick a pencil in my forward then go on and on and on with the meeting.
Randy, I just spent 4 hours in an emergency room figuring out that I have a kidney stone. One thing to know is that it feels like appendicitus(sp) and if you have not had an appendectimy(sp) you should get yourself to an emergency room with stomach pain that will not go away.
I was told it will take two weeks to pass the stone and to go back to the emergency room if the pain is too great. Plus they gave me medicine to help with the pain and to help the stone pass more easily.
I would not suggest doing this all at home!
Glad yours turned out ok.
Lorraine & Loretta - I was better pretty fast, once it passed.
April - It has been moving forward since then.
Jim - Our companies meetings aren't really bad at all. I was having a little fun. I have worked in places where the meetings were really bad.
Sally - I have them before and knew that in the emergency room, I would have suffered a lot more. At least at home I can get the hot shower going to relieve some of the pain.
Missy - I told my wife it hurt worse than having a baby and she said I couldn't know that. :)
Carol -I Tetris on my phone before, I need to add it back on.
Jeff - As a good multi-tasker, I find e-mail is a quality use of time. LOL
Mike - It is a pain you never forget. That is why I knew immediately what was happening.
George - I passed it to the appropriate porcelain bowl. LOL
Monika - It is the worst pain I have ever had.
Chuck - Sounds like fun, but my way got me back to work in a few hours.
Jennifer - I hope that was the last. I only drink water and have cleaned up my diet the last two years, so I was surprised to get another one.
Jeff - I do not mind having regular meetings in our business, so we can exchange listing info, etc. It is also good when we bring in quality speakers.
Gary - I only drink water and plenty every day. I still got a stone. Ouch!
Robert - This was my third time and 4th stone (the first time I passed two stones). I have the drill down pretty good. I can control the pain to some level with hot water. I also call my wife at work so if needed she could take me to the hospital.
Ouch. Haven't had the experience yet. (typing one handed so I can knock on wood at the same time). Thanks for the tips Randy and glad it passed relatively qucikly.
Pete - I have heard of folks having to get them surgically removed. I am quite lucky in that regard.
Never had one - yet. I did hear that they hurt really bad! Given a choice - I will pass on the stones!
Gary - Good choice. I thought with my diet changes and drinking lots of water everyday, I would not get them anymore. Because of all my weight loss the doctor has me taking calcium. I am wondering of that may have contributed.
Randy, I'm glad you're feeling better! Those things hurt! My hubby has had them his whole adult life (about 4-5 episodes a year). He said that he'd always heard that it's worse than having a baby, but he was in the delivery room when our son was born and he said "No way...having a baby is much worse"! LOL
Linda - That is an argument I will never win with my wife. I am convinced the kidney stone was much more painful. It was only a few hours though.
Randy, i have not told this to anyone. The reason i missed the AR gathering in Las Vegas was because I was having an attack. I stay in the Hotel Room. I returned home on Friday. On Saturday I was in the ER with another episode. I return a few weeks later on another er visit. Finally, had surgery on Jan 3. The kidney doc said to drink a glass of OJ each day and stay away from Ice tea. Hope your better and no repeat.
Frank - I only drink water, with a rare small amount of skim milk. I avoid the OJ. Too much sugar for me.
Randy, I am a diabetic as well. I have not had OJ for the last seven years. I was surprise the MD recommend to me.
Frank - I completed reversed the effects of diabetes by losing a ton of weight. I no longer even check my blood. I still follow a diabetes type diet to be safe.
Ouch - I hope I never have to go through that. Drink more water.
Georgina - I slush when I walk now.
I must share this with the realtors with my office. They think there day is bad when they have to start it off coming into a sales meeting! Surely this will show them just have good they have it!
Jamie - Fortunately my sales meeting don't usuallly end with a kidney stone.