Candidate Steve Grossman Deals With Kidney Stone Pain Rather Than Miss Mass. Debate

March 27, 2014— -- Steve Grossman wants to be governor of Massachusetts so badly that even a painful kidney stone wasn't going to get in the way of attending an important debate.

"If you want to be governor, you have to step up and do the job," Grossman told ABCNews.com. "You have to suck it up and that's how I feel."

Grossman, 68, who is the state treasurer, said the pain started early Tuesday morning. He popped some Advil and said he didn't even think of cancelling his packed schedule for the day.

That night, Grossman participated in a forum on issues facing the LGBTQ community that was hosted by public broadcaster WGBH and MassEquality at the Boston Public Library.

Grossman remained calm and collected as he fielded questions and said he tried to hide his discomfort.

Grossman, who said he has suffered from kidney stones in the past, described the feeling as "a small piece of jagged volcanic rock and as it travels its pathway, it scrapes the passageway and creates a lot of pain."

At times during the 90-minute debate, Grossman grimaced and rubbed his kidney area, but remained remarkably composed as he answered questions.

After the debate, Grossman, a Democrat, said a reporter for Boston Magazine noticed he wasn't feeling "100 percent" and asked him how he was feeling.

Grossman told him about the kidney stone, he tweeted the news and the story went then went viral.

After the debate, Grossman soldiered on through his evening, attending GetKonnected's Diversity Game Changer Awards.

"My feeling was I was going to pass this kidney stone at some point," he said. "You just have to fight your way through the pain and deal with the reality of life."