I've got a Kidney Stone!

Johnny Angell · 04-10-2008, 04:29 PM

A week ago Monday night, I awoke at midnight in great pain. The worst I've ever felt. Making it worse was I didn't know what it was. I went into the emergency room, after 2 more hours of pain, they gave me drugs which made me feel much better.

Than a CT scan revealed the stone. The emergency doc said it was too big too pass and I should see someone in the morning. He said they'll want to do a procedure right away. Yeah right.

The urologist says wait a week. So I get another CT scan today and I've still got it, which doesn't surprise me. I go in at 6:30AM tomorrow for the procedure. It's the sonic wave thing where they shatter it.

Sorry guys, no pics this time.

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TonyD · 04-10-2008, 08:24 PM

ooh, so sorry to here that.
i had one of those procedures a few years ago.

i won't say anything for now but good luck with it.

Johnny Angell · 04-10-2008, 09:08 PM

They're going to do the sonic wave thing that shatters the stone. Then I get to pass the smaller pieces. Supposedly the procedure takes about 30 minutes, once they get down to it. Of course pre and post op stuff will add to that.

The doc says they hope not to do anything invasive. Sometimes that can't see the stone well enough and have to insert a camera. Guess what opening they stick that up?

Shawn.F · 04-10-2008, 09:19 PM

Oh man, from someone who has had two of them in the past few years, believe me when I say that I really do feel your pain. Best of luck on this.

Bob Graham · 04-10-2008, 09:33 PM

I've had them a couple of times and they are definitely no fun. A woman friend once told me that they are more painful than giving birth.

I can't believe that the urologist told you to wait a week. That is much easier said than done. Good luck!

Johnny Angell · 04-10-2008, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Graham

I can't believe that the urologist told you to wait a week. That is much easier said than done. Good luck!

They cynic in me says it's managed care that made me wait a week. They were hoping not to pay for a procedure.

Thanks all for the best wishes. I will post again, after the procedure. I'm hoping I'll feel well enough on Friday to do so.

LDfan · 04-11-2008, 08:37 AM

Damn. I've known a couple of former coworkers that had them. They said it was the worst pain ever. Grown men curled up and screaming and crying from the pain.

Hope all goes well with getting that damn stone out!

J

Blu · 04-11-2008, 04:52 PM

I've had over fourteen since I was 18 and three in the past few weeks. Well I've had them longer but they have become a problem in the past few weeks.

Two on the right side and one on the left side. The big one on the right side was 12 millimeters. The other one on the right side was much smaller.

I had lithotripsy on both sides, two weeks apart. It is under general anesthesia and you won't know anything but you went to sleep. You won't be in a lot of pain or anything.

The bad thing though is they put a stent in on the right side from my kidney to my bladder to keep the passage open and keep the fragments from getting stuck and causing damage.

THAT is very uncomfortable and you can find more information here if your doctor plans one for you.
Ureteric Stent

It SUCKED for the first week and was very uncomfortable. The doctor removed it when they did the left side, again I was completely out and unaware of anything.

You feel it all the time. The second week was better as it seemed to settle in a bit but that first week was horrible.

On the upside they gave me LOTS of Lortabs. Which keep me awake at night so I didnt' really use many of them at all.

Lithotripsy is nothing to be afraid of, it is mainly pain free but you might feel a bit bruised afterwards and you will urinate blood and debris from the stones.

Pray they don't want to give you a stent though!

Francois Caron · 04-11-2008, 05:27 PM

Ugh! Been there, done that. Once. And I HOPE it's only once! Those things are nasty!

I have a picture of it. Wanna see it?

Good luck and get better!

Buzz Foster · 04-12-2008, 01:26 AM

I wanted to jump from my truck going down the highway. I had mine in 2000, and no reoccurrence.

Johnny Angell · 04-12-2008, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blu

Lithotripsy is nothing to be afraid of, it is mainly pain free but you might feel a bit bruised afterwards and you will urinate blood and debris from the stones.

Pray they don't want to give you a stent though!

Lots of good info in your post, Blu. I did get a stent. After I woke up, I noticed a thin string extending from my penis. Apparently they use that string to remove the stint.

My experience right is frequent and urgent trips to the bathroom to pee through a strainer. So far, I'm getting very few particles I can see. A day after the procedure, the blood in the urine has noticeably decreased.

I have a bone to pick with the medical profession, they don't want to talk with you. When I first saw the urologist, he spent less than 5 minutes with me. The second meeting was only a little better. The urologist I had my appointments with wasn't available Friday (I wanted to so it sooner, rathr than later), so the on call doctor was used. He did not talk to me or my wife before or after the surgery.

I was told I'd have bloody urine for at least a day, and that was about the extent information provided to me. I wasn't told how often I should need to pee, the likelihood of finding stone fragments, how big they might be.

I'm learning more about the procedure from this thread than I have from my doctors.

In the past 7 months I've been put under general anesthesia 3 times. This last time I told myself I'm going be aware of going under. Nope, couldn't do it. One moment I'm in the pre-op area, and the next I'm waking up in recovery.

The first drug they gave was an "I feel so good, I don't care what's next" kind of drug. My wife told me I was quite talkative to everyone during this period and I don't remember any of it. Fortunately, Stacy told me I said all the right things.

Francois, of course we want to see the picture.

Blu · 04-12-2008, 09:51 AM

Well I've got to say in my area I had no less than three doctors (the urologist, and two anesthesiologists) not to mention a handful of RNs telling me what to expect. From the pre stuff, what they were going to do, and the post stuff. I had lots of information.

I also had the benefit of a friend who had it a couple of years ago.

I tried the being aware during the general too, nope! I was in preop, they wheeled me into the op room and I moved over to the lithotripsy table and bingo, I was out like a light.

I didn't have a string for the stent, it was all internal since they were removing it during the next procedure the following two weeks.

You can probably expect fragments for 4-5 days. It has been two weeks since the last lithotripsy and I still see the occasional fragment.

I'm sure they told you to drink LOTS of water. It helps a lot. I have my follow up appointment tomorrow with the urologist, it seems that the largest stone that was on the right side is still there, or at least most of it.

So I will have to have it a third time but honestly I haven't felt this one so I know it is smaller and you couple that with the 80 ounces or so of water I drink per day and I might be able to put it off for a few months.

I'm happy everything went well for you though! They aren't fun when you are having an attack!