Kidney Infection

Last night at about 2:30 am, I was awoken with an intense pain in my right flank, around my kidney area. I did some internet diagnosis, which of course proved unhelpful. I thought about going to the nearest ER, but I know that my insurance isn't accepted there. There is the possibility that this will be considered a 'true' emergency, in which case I won't be charged as much. So with the staggering cost of healthcare in my mind, I decided to call the nurse hotline listed on the Blue Cross Blue Shield website.
The nurse asked a few questions, and she seemed knowledgeable and helpful and recommended I get help within three hours. I thought I could go to an Urgent Care Clinic, but they didn't open until Monday. I discussed the issue of cost and quality of care with the nurse, and at that point, the pain was intense. I decided to head to the ER. I woke my husband up to tell him I was going, and I asked him to drive me. He said no, which in retrospect was the right thing to say.
At the ER, the pain was bad enough to make me wince, and I had trouble keeping my tears from flowing. And I had trouble sitting down. Luckily, there was a short wait, and I was seen quickly. After updating my information with registration, I watched a few clips on CNN about Trump's antics. When the parents of the soldier he insulted gave their speech at DNC, I started to cry. The hate and terror Trump brings is alarming. And, of course, emotions are different at 3am then they are at 3pm.
After being admitted, I was asked to give a urine sample, and I answered all the questions about the incidents leading up to my being there. I had a UTI, which I self-diagnosed and treated with cranberry juice. I had pain in my flank earlier than I realized, and the pain was intense at about 8pm. I thought I was about to be on my period, but there was no blood. I thought I had to poop, but I didn't seem to have to.
The nurse recognized that I must have had intense pain for several hours, which I supposed was true. She says I was lucky to get in on time. That nurse was a lovely woman! We joked around, I told her about myself, she told me about herself, and she was able to acknowledge the seriousness of my condition without alarming me or allowing me to think the worst was going to happen.
Of course, the ER is filled with waiting, but things progressed quickly enough until about 7am. There were some life and death traumas being brought in, so I wasn't tended to as quickly as I would have liked. In order to move my discharge along, I stood at the nurse's station in my gown with my IV stand until someone came to help. I remained grateful that my health problems seemed solved, and that the personal were nice, but busy.
On my way out, I told one of the staff members that a person's ER outfit choice at 3am is much different than it would be at 10am (it was close to 10 by the time I was discharged). And looking how I looked when I was discharged meant that I was going to have to rush out of there and rush to my car and rush home. Luckily, he thought that was as funny as I meant it to be. Except I had to drop my script for antibiotics off at Walgreens.
When I got home, The Hubs was loading the kids in the car. I wanted so badly to be with them, because I was so scared while I was at the ER. I wanted to be normal, and hang out with everybody. But I was exhausted, had a headache, and was really hungry. The Hubs took the kids, and I made food, called my mom, and took a nap.
Things looked better when I woke up. But my flank still hurts a little.