Not looking for any medical advice, just your experience and your opinion. You guys are a wealth of information. I was diagnosed with a kidney stone after blood in the urine about 4-5 weeks ago. The stone has moved down the kidney, but no movement recently. I have no pain and currently no blood in the urine. Went to the urologist today. He said we can't wait forever. But he gave me 2 choices. 1. Wait another few weeks to see if it passes. 2. Go in at get it with a scope and laser. I went with option #1. Don't know if I did the right thing. Thoughts? And most importantly, give me the unvarnished truth about what to expect with option #2 (which I am thinking I will have to do anyway.) Thanks.

You will be fully sedated for the procedure. You will have a few days of intense burning when you need to go. I had blood for about 2 weeks afterward but am also on anti-coagulants. Be prepared to drink lots of water and going often to flush the stone fragments.

1. how big Is the stone he wants to retrieve? Anything over 8 mm is usually broken up and then passed.

2. Until then, drink as much lemonade as you can handle. The acid helps reduce them.

My doc told me that if I had to drink soda, drink mello yellow, as it has citric acid in it. My stones are made from dark stuff in tea, coffee, sodas..

Lastly, you could have passed it already and didn’t know. With the several I’ve had, once they leave the kidney and get to the bladder, it’s smooth sailing- they say the urethra is bigger diameter then the ureter.

I have only had one,never want another.
There was lots of puking and passing out as my wife was driving me to closest hospital as we were at deer camp.
Was not fun as she kept slapping me beside my head as I kept passing out and her yelling at me,don't you die on me
Then that out of country doctor would not give me and meds till I accidentally puked on him.after the shot I woke up the next afternoon.
Bet your ass they strap the next case down on the gurney to prevent that circus.

I had a kidney stone about ten years ago. It hit me in the night as I was moving from one house to another. A kidney stone moved down and blocked a ureter, backing up the kidney. It became septic, and shortly I was in so much pain that I couldn't say my own name or answer a question. I vomited repeatedly for eight hours until a decision was made to operate. It turned out to be one of three. A stent was put in the kidney to the bladder, and another operation was required to remove it. I was awake for that one and unsedated: I don't recommend that at all. (Imagine someone pull starting a chain saw, except that the cord goes through your penis and up into the bladder and kidney. It really is like that, and it took several tries).

I'd have preferred to break the stones up ultrasonically, but there's one device in this area and it's on a truck. It wasn't available.

Kidney stones passing...much like giving birth through places that were never meant for that purpose.

A few years ago at a rural air tanker base, one of the pilots collapsed, and in assessing him, I suspected a kidney stone. He was presenting with the symptoms of a heart attack, and we treated it as such, and rushed him to the local clinic where they determined it was probably kidney stones. A few days later he passed a stone and came back in the field. He described it as one of the worst experiences of his life. I can't say I'd disagree.

That's not encouraging, I know, but it's good to have as much information as you can up front. If I could have one removed, I'd go that route. Be aware that if they do, any time they go that route, the potential for some damage or loss of function is possible.

I've passed several (none for the last few years thankfully). For me, I'd want to know the approx size before I chose either of your options.


The biggest (and the last) one I've passed was just a little over 5mm - jagged and sharp little bugger. It wasn't fun. I drank LOTS of water and cranberry juice to help it pass. Anything bigger than that and I'd seriously consider your second option.


Doc told me with the last one that if it gets lodged in there and you can't urinate, go directly to the ER.

Thanks for the honest responses. That's what I was looking for. I chose option #1, but I may change to option #2. Any other comments continue to be welcome. (MikeinNC - I like nice tart lemonade, so I went out and bought a good supply, Enjoying a cold one now!)

I have had thirteen kidney stones over the years. I passed most of them, but have had three removed surgically, one by lithotripsy, one yanked out with what was described as a grappling hook and the most recent by laser. All of the methods had the desired effect, but I will warn you that they involve a catheter in the urinary tract. It takes an OR to put the tube in, but they remove it in the urologist's office. That removal may have caused more pain (albeit very briefly) than the stone itself. As noted by the posters above, the size of the stone will likely dictate your next step. I have passed a bunch, but the ones they removed were too large and were possibly going to block the ureter (you don't want to there). I'm sure the scans will determine the size and help with the decision.

I had an 8 mm stone that felt like I was going to die, they put me on flowmax until surgery.
I went in and had them take it out but they couldn't find it, somehow I passed it or it broke up on it's own ??

the best part was waking up after surgery I don't know what they gave me but dam I felt so good life was perfect for about an hour. lol a little bit of blood after words and a chunk of a blood clot that felt dang weird coming out, and that was it zero pain.

I'm going thru the kidney stone thing right now (blood in urine...not visible in pee and only showed up in the urinalysis) it turned out to be an 11 millimeter stone according to the CT scan...everything is now complicated by my being on Plavix and a low dose aspirin (the results of a stroke and stent in my carotid artery back in April)...they won't do the lithotripsy at the local hospital until I've been off both for 7 days (my neurologist said I can stop the Plavix after 90 days for the lithotripsy, but not the aspirin ) the urologist said his hands are tied on lithotripsy until I can be off both for 7 days)...

I'm going in the morning for an x-ray to see if the bastard has moved. Right now the only issues are mild pressure and discomfort in my left lower back followed by an instant urge to pee, which makes me think it is moving down. I had one I couldn't pass back in the 90s that was broken up via lithotripsy (not any fun but better than the alternative as described back then...pissed blood and "sand" into a strainer for a couple of days.)...it was also a traveling device in a box truck that would go from one local hospital to another which meant I had to wait two days for it to come to my local hospital. At least now things have changed so that hospitals do have their own in house...

I would highly recommend you have it broken up with lithotripsy if at all possible if it won't pass on it's own...it's not a pleasant experience but it's not that bad knowing that the pain from the stone blocking your kidney will subside. My fear is that in my case, they will use the "fish it out" method and I will have to endure a stent in the ureter and it's removal later on (really NOT any fun according to a couple of friends that has had it done)...think Al Swearengen in Deadwood

What sns3guppy described is pretty much spot on...my prayers are that you will pass it or they can break it up into passable sizes...lithotripsy is pretty common today.

Lithotripsey! I hear the new Dornier Delta III Lithotripter is a real stone buster!

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:

the best part was waking up after surgery I don't know what they gave me but dam I felt so good life was perfect for about an hour.

Probably Dilaudid...that was the only thing that worked for me on my last one...thank God the nurse was not stingy with it...good stuff

Fentanyl was the ER temporary solution to initial phase of the stones I had earlier this year.

Eventual lithotripsy that busted several but there's one remaining. Option 3 was 'leave it alone, it may go away OR we'll see you back here'.

The pain meds left a couple weeks of constipation which eventually became as big a problem as the stones.

So far so good with the lithotripter.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
1. how big Is the stone he wants to retrieve? Anything over 8 mm is usually broken up and then passed.

2. Until then, drink as much lemonade as you can handle. The acid helps reduce them.

My doc told me that if I had to drink soda, drink mello yellow, as it has citric acid in it. My stones are made from dark stuff in tea, coffee, sodas..

Lastly, you could have passed it already and didn’t know. With the several I’ve had, once they leave the kidney and get to the bladder, it’s smooth sailing- they say the urethra is bigger diameter then the ureter.

This. My last stone dropped into the bladder in March. I didn't piss it out until early May. It can take some time.

A. what did your nephrologist say ?
B.
are you drinking 1 liter of water every six hours?
( thats 4liters per day )

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bendable,

I had lithotripsy to break up a 12mm kidney stone and then was promptly sent home with Flomax pills. The stone was still in the kidney when it was broken up. After I got home I pee'd nearly pure blood the first time. Shortly after that, the rubble then flushed into my ureter and created a blockage just where the ureter meets the kidney. That's when the fun began. I describe the pain this way: Someone taking a red-hot, rusty, jagged machete and sticking it all the way through you and then sawing downwards while simultaneously kicking you in the balls with every beat of your heart, accompanied by profuse sweating, and projectile vomiting. (My nurse told me she gave birth to a 7.5lb baby with no pain meds, and also passed a 7mm kidney stone. She said the kidney stone hurt way worse than the birth.)

I had to be taken back to the ER where I was put on IV Dilaudin and IV Flomax, which really only took the edge off the pain. But it did let me start passing urine again. I was sent home with Percocet. After that, the pain was manageable. I even went back to work. I was at 90% pain reduction.

It took exactly 30 days for the rubble to make it to the bladder. During that 30 days, it felt like I had a small pine cone in my abdomen. Not horrible, but just a discomfort.

On the last day, I was sitting on my couch eating chicken. At that point, the rubble passed from my ureter into the bladder. The pain only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like someone shoving a lit sparkler up my dick. When the pain went away, I immediately had to Pee like a racehorse. I took the filter they gave me and pee'd into it and heard the stones hitting the paper. I ended up passing a 5mm stone, a couple of 4mm stones, a few 3mm and a bunch of sand. At that point, there was 100% pain and discomfort relief.

The ureter, the tube between the kidney and the bladder, is much narrower than your urethra. A stone moving steadily through the ureter isn't always super painful as long as urine can pass by it. It's usually when the urine backs up on the kidney when the "I wish I was dead pain" kicks in. YMMV.

Once the stone reaches the bladder, you can usually piss it out with ease. If it will pass through the ureter, it should easily pass through the urethra since the urethra is about twice the diameter of the ureter.

Here's part of my gem stone:



Here's the deal, though. As bad as the pain is, it's usually only pain. Pure pain. It's because everything is up against one of the biggest nerves in the body, the nerve that runs into your nuts. That's why it feels like you are getting kicked in the balls. But you aren't really being injured that badly. It just feels like you are. And everyone survives, and then they join the elite club of kidney stone survivors. And then you become the guy who tells his kidney stone story, gives advice, and lives with the satisfaction of knowing you will probably never hurt that bad from anything else - ever.

Micropterus has pretty much described my experience with lithotripsy and ureteroscopy. Dilaudid nearly killed me, but morphine was just faaaabulous!
Two incidental benefits of the horrible ordeal:
1. Cute echo techs and nurses I worked with came in and provided sympathy
2. Urologist found cancer in my bladder at a very early stage, before I’d had any symptoms

Morphine didn’t work for me initially, then the stone moved and I was drunk as a shithouse rat...

The second one I had, they gave me fentynal...that
stuff is the shit, I didn’t care I had a kidney stone....good stuff

I’ve had several small stones andgravel but I hope I never get another one

If they have to go get it, piss like a girl the first few times afterwards. I was unprepared for the pain of urination after cystoscope reaming.

Did he prescribe you a medicine (like Flomax) to open up the passage ways and a screen to catch the stone?