All of his pain might not be for naught, ribit. By all accounts, this kidney stone of his is a whopper. So, once he passes it, he can buff it up and mount it on a ring for the missus. Voila! Self-made Christmas present from the depths of his ... uh ... soul.

The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. ~ D.H. Lawrence