Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You were right, the Dr. suggested Lemonade and citric acid. (I've been drinking it since before the procedure) The thing is He didn't do a urine test to see if my body was putting out Hyperoxaluria in my urine. When I asked them to do it, they said Dr. chooses if he wants you to have the test. WHAT !!!!!! I told them I'm paying for it and I WANT IT.....If my body isn't putting out the High Oxalate then I don't need to be doing a low Oxalate diet, but eating sensibly. I don't eat meat, I'm vegetarian, with emphasis on fresh vegetables, beans, legumes, all the things that Low Oxalate Diet says not to eat because they are High in Oxalates. I don't eat packaged foods everything is fresh or occasionally some frozen veggies.
I have to make a decision soon as the pain in constant and I need to rid my kidney of the rest of the stone. The one decision I have made is NOT to go back to this Urologist, as some of what I read is that he should have been taking Xrays during the procedure to determine if he needed to move the direction so as to blast all of the stone. I know he didn't do that as HE WASN'T THERE, two technicians did the blasting, and I never laid eyes on him before during or after. But he chardged me $2,800.00 to perform the procedure, on top of the $19,000.00, for the use of the room for one hour. Then after the fact, I found out he owned the Lithotripsy machine. aaaaarrrggggghhhhh......Can you tell how frustrated I am.....
I would check into a new urologist, and yes they need to know where the stone is to blast it and try to get good breakup. He should have done blood and 24-hour urines with a stone analysis to see what it was made of, wishing you luck, and I would for sure find a new doc.
i would like to thank you for your post. about two years ago the ct scan showed that i had 2 stones that were no more than mm in size. well that is when all my UTI's started and the swelling in my stomach and back pain. the doctor said that the back pain could not be from the stones because they were to small and that the UTI's that were coming every two weeks like clock work was from not "wiping the right way" or not drining enough water. I drank 8 16 ounces of bottled water a day. Anyway, for two years i have gone through this pain and just last month I was sent to see a urologist. Well that urologist stated that he did not see any stones and that he did not see anything wrong . He told me that 8 out of 10 women just had UTI's for no reason and that I would be one of those women. The urologist told me to start cleaning myself before and after urination with betadine to stop the growth of bacteria. Then he wrote me a prescription for antibiotics and told me to take one as soon as I felt the symptoms of a UTI. He told me that i would be on antibiotics for the rest of my life. That was not good enough for me. So, two weeks later I ended up with polynephritis(infection of the kidney). So why physician sent me to another urologist. Well this urologist wanted me to get a CT scan done. Well, I had the CT scan yesterday and it showed that I had calcification of the kidney. Yes, kidney stones and alot of them. I also have hydronephritis(swelling of the kidney). So hopefully I will have the same procedure and all of this will be behind me. I have had 2 stents in my right kidney once when I was 17 and another when I turned 30 years old. I am ready for this to be over. Thank you once again for your posts.
There's a ton of good information in this thread already, just thought I would share my experience. I was diagnosed with a 7mm stone in September of '09. Urologist suggested lithotripsy, I asked if we could wait a few months to see what happened and he said that would be fine. He said the stone was too large to pass on its own. Had another Cat Scan 3 months later and the stone had doubled in size to 14mm. Urologist again suggested lithotripsy and I agreed. In hindisight, I don't know if that was the right decision.
The lithotripsy was done this past Monday. The procedure itself was pretty easy. I went under and didn't feel any pain. I think it took an hour or so. After it was over, I had some minor discomfort but nothing major, and was able to go home a couple of hours later. Once home, I found myself to be quite nauseous, but I suspect this was strictly due to the anesthesia, as I've always had a hard time with that. I threw up many times that day, but started to feel better in the evening.
The next morning, I woke up about 4 am, about 18 hours after the procedure, somewhat uncomfortable. I found that I was beginning to pass the fragments. Passing them was painless, but I just didn't feel well overall. The vomiting started again and I felt some pain, despite having taken a Percocet. As the morning wore on, things got much worse. I could not keep any food down and would vomit even water about 30 minutes after drinking it. I was unable to urinate more than a small trickle and had pretty strong pain; again, despite having taken a Percocet. This went on and on throughout the morning and eventually I called my urologist. She simply said--"Go to the ER, you may have a blockage and your kidney could be swelling".
I went to ER in quite a bit of discomfort. Again, the Percocet was likely helping with the pain somewhat but I just felt horribly uncomfortable and nothing I could do would change that. I eventually was given a bed in the ER and after a few hours started to feel a bit better. They performed a Cat Scan in the ER and confirmed that the fragments had formed an obstruction in my urethra, just as it entered the bladder. The urologist suggested performing another procedure where I would again be put under, and a stent would be inserted to break up the blockage. I was very hesitant to do that but the procedure was scheduled for the next day. I stayed in the hospital overnight.
As the night wore on, I started to feel better and found I could urinate normally, although I wasn't really passing many fragments. The next morning I felt really good and had basically no pain or nausea anymore. I was still urinating normally as well. The urologist canceled the procedure and said I could go home if I was comfortable with the understanding that I may be back if the pain/nausea returned. I went home that morning.
Since then, I have had some pain but nothing that hasn't been manageable with Percocet. Today, the 4th day since the procedure, I seem to be passing numerous fragments. I basically am pain free today, although I did have some discomfort last night. At this point, it appears that the procedure was a success.
That being said, I don't think I would do this again if in the same situation. The stone was causing me no problems at all before the procedure. After the procedure was done, I wound up in the ER. I basically was given a kidney stone attack as a result of the procedure. Also, everyone, and I mean, everyone I interacted with at the hospital, from x-ray technicians to nurses to physician assistants, asked me if this was my first lithotripsy. One x-ray technician said "We get a lot of repeat customers with this"; in other words, this doesn't solve the problem long term. I can't believe that there isn't an alternative to this procedure.
Anyway, that's basically it. What I don't know is what would have happened if I never treated this stone? Maybe things would have been much worse but I don't know...
What I don't know is what would have happened if I never treated this stone? Maybe things would have been much worse but I don't know...
No way of know, of course. But, IMO surgery is worth it. As I mentioned before, while I was being prepped for my surgery an emergency patient was wheeled in. He was a big beefy guy who looked like he's usually tough and stoic. He had a kidney stone that he had not treated and it had begun to move. He was in serious pain, and it scares me when I see a tough guy like that in pain.
So from now on, if I get diagnosed with a big kidney stone I'm treating before it moves and gets stuck in a painful place.
BTW, it's now just a little over six months since the surgery. My weight levelled off at 163-165 pounds. I've gotten in to the habit of drinking much more water, although I don't drink from the gallon bottle anymore (I probably still drink a gallon of water some days, though). I haven't had a cola and don't miss it. I sometimes eat steak and chocolate but not as much as I used to.
Caladium,
I think the reason you didn't have a huge amount of pain from your stone is because it wasn't completely blocking the flow from your kidney. I had one that did, and believe me, it's very, very painful. I was living by myself at the time, and I wasn't sure I could drive to the hospital a mile away without passing out. I'd had back surgery twice, brain surgery once, and a couple other surgeries, plus 3rd degree burns, etc., etc., so when I say it was severe pain, you can believe it was.
Yes, passing the stones from the bladder on out is uncomfortable and includes a little pain, but when your kidney won't drain, the pain is very real.
I also had lithotripsy. Actually I was prepped for it twice, but the machine broke down while they were conducting the procedure on the patient ahead of me, so I had to go back the next day (Saturday) to have it done. This was in a city 150 miles from where I live, so I had to stay in a hotel that night (delivered by taxi). The next morning I was allowed to drive home and was back to work on Monday. The stint was removed the following Friday and I drove 800 miles immediately after removal.
I've passed several stones since then (about 14 years ago) without the need for lithotripsy. They've been uncomfortable but have not been accompanied by any severe pain. In fact, I'm afraid one's on the way as I write this... colorful urine and minor back pain. Oh boy! (No insurance either -- uninsurable.)
... What I don't know is what would have happened if I never treated this stone? Maybe things would have been much worse but I don't know...
If it completely blocked your kidney and you couldn't get prompt medical treatment, you might be dead now. It's really not something you want to ignore.
Well the lithotripsy did not work for me - had it done 2 times and that stone must be harder than a diamond. So, I am going in on April 21 to have percutaneous ultrasonic lithotripsy - basically, the poke a hole in your back, make a tunnel down into your kidney, blast the stone with some ultrasonic waves directly and then suck out all the debris, run a ureter stent and then sew you up with a drainage tube running from your kidney out of your back. The drain tube will stay in place for about a day and then the ureter tube will stay in about 2 weeks. Frankly, I am more terrified of the ureter stent than the actual surgery. I hope I have an easy time like you did with your stent. I am terrified of when they remove it also. But, my doctor told me he could sedate me if I wanted him to for the removal, but we would decide closer to the time to remove it. I have passed kidney stones in the past and it was much worse than having a big one lodged in my kidney. I have had pain with this one, but nothing like passing one which is excrutiating and requires pain meds. Luckily, I passed the prior ones quickly, so it only hurt for a few hours. At one time, they almost gave me morphine, but I passed it right before they gave it to me. This is the fourth kidney stone I have had and the only one I could not pass due to size. I have probably scared myself to death watching the surgery on youtube, reading about people and their stents - I am glad yours was more positive. But in all seriousness, I wish the ESWL would have worked on me so I would not have to get punctured. Since it didn't work, I went back to work the next day because I wasn't passing any stones, so I had no pain. I hope recovery will be quick with the puncture surgery. wish me luck!
As a follow up, it's now 1 year and 3 weeks since my ESWL. I just had a check up with the doctor and am doing great. No more signs of stones. I've been following the diet restrictions, although some more carefully than others. I haven't had ANY cola at all, but sometimes I have chocolate (I don't pig out like I used to, however).
Most importantly, I've gotten the habit of drinking plenty of water throughout the day. I probably drink at least a half gallon or more. I also drink lemonade fairly often in the hopes that it's dissolving any future stones.
My weight came back a little. It went all the way down to 165, but over time has crept back up to 169-170.
Yeah you can't really let kidney stones just stay there and take the wait and see approach. I had a 2.4 cm stone in my kidney. My kidney became infected from the blockage and I developed sepsis. I spent 8 days in the hospital (including 4 days in ICU) Believe me not treating kidney stones is not an option. They can kill you!!
I have had two Lithotripsy procedures. I have a large stone right now. I do everything, but some people are prone to them. The doctor is trying to wait a while for the next Lithotripsy. You can't just keep having them. Hard on the kidneys. I have had no pain with them, but every case is different.
I drink at least 2- 2/2 liters of water each day, filtered. We have a Berkey filter so it is great tasting water and pure.
I see the Urologist every three months or so.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
...Can you tell how frustrated I am.....
