i have an enormous staghorn kidney stone and will need PNL surgery sometime later this month. i have read some of the comments on this site and it helps but i am still scared to death. has anyone had a stone this big? (4 1/2CM) two months ago. how long will be before i can drive my car, go back to work? what is the pain like ect and how long until i can be back to normal. i do drink and smoke 
Woa.
I thought my 1.5 cm stone was impressive. Is yours still in the kidney? I felt so great after my stone was removed, I was back up and feeling normal in 2 weeks. All depends on the stent situation. Stents are the enemy.
4 and a half cm = 45mm !! are you sure it isn't mm not cm you are refering , that seems awfully big ??
I had a stag horn stone that was 8 cm. I had pcnl surgery in July but they weren't able to get it all. The doctor broke two drills getting what he did. The surgery was uneventful and then had lithotripsy but still couldn't get the stone to break up so I still have about 3 cms left. It is an infection stag horn so I get Utis frequently. I'm always on an antibiotic. Taking a break for a month and then deciding how to proceed with getting the rest of the stone out. Will probably go at it again in October. If it wasn't an infection stone would leave it alone. The pcnl wasn't bad but the anesthesia screwed up my mind for about a month. Was under for 3 hours. The stone that remains is stuck in the calluses I guess.
Just FYI my son checked the Guinness book of world records and the largest stag horn stone is 11 cms. Haha
did you have a PCNL? im not scared of lithotripsy, its the cutting my back open to poke a hole in my kidney im afraid of lol. yes, it is in my kidney and so big that it will not move 
nope, its 4.5 CM yeah i know thats enormous. i am afraid because it is that big that they will have to do more than one surgery im scared to death googling on the web thats why im on this site, to get comfort on the aftermath of surgery lol its taking up almost half of my kidney and function is only at 36 percent which is good. they were talking about having to remove my kidney but thankfully at this point im able to keep it!!
yeah ive had a raging UTI, been on antibiotics for 3 mos now so how was the pain after surgery? did you have that tube that goes from your kidney to a bag to empty urine? it all just sounds like a nightmare! any complications after the PCNL??
I had no pain after surgery. Just a little soreness in the incision site. Had to stay in hospital one night. Had the drainage tube taken out before I went home. Stent was removed about 2 weeks ago but really had no problems with that either. Just recurrent uti all the time. always on an antibiotic. My kidney function was 30 percent. My stone filled the entire kidney. Had it for years but ignored it like it was going to go away. I am also a smoker but didn't have any the day of surgery. What state are you in. I live in Arizona but I'm in New York State at the moment.
Ah no, I had 3 lithro. No cutting.
Wish you luck! There is also another really good site that has lots of info...
Lots of long time kidney stone suffers there, you may want to ask them.
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well that makes me feel better about the situation since yours is somewhat like mine! i was worried about how long they kept the drainage tube in and how long the hospital stay would be. im sure ive had mine for years but didnt know until the painful UTI. so i can smoke until day before surgery? im in north carolina im also wondering how long until i can drive again and work and eat lol? im a single mother so i work 7 days a week and google says weeks, im hoping not.
I drove two days after surgery. The only thing is you get some urine draining from that hole in your back for about three days. Just cover with bandage. Get bandage without weave as it absorbs better. Don't read those horror stores on Internet. I did that and was scared to death too. Probably work in about a week or so. I smoked up until night before surgery. They tell you not to but I did. Guess it's more for anesthesia. I think you will be fine. Hope they can get the whole stone. Then it will be over. I have more to go through The lithotripsy was a breeze. Home in an hour and a half. No pain.
wow really, thats great! i hope i have the same outcome as you did lol. wish i could just do lithotripsy seems there is less to worry about with that thank you so much, you really made my day and im going to relax now and try not to think so much about it for a little. i find out sept 11 what day they will be doing it. i hope they get it all too! im sorry you have to go again, thats terrible. it really does suck having to be on antibiotics and in pain on and off for that long. im so glad i was able to get some answers from you. i have to have a platelet transfusion before and that makes me a little nervous bc i have thrombocytopenia, my blood platelet count is only 77 so im at risk of bleeding ughh. thank you again
You will do fine. I think I'm quite a bit older than you. I'm 69. My stone was found in 1998 and I chose to ignore it. My own fault. I do dread more procedures tho. Keep me posted as to how you do. I'll be praying for you and a quick recovery.
Forgot to mention I had the guide wire put in my back the day before the surgery. Maybe you will have that done that way or day of surgery. My doctor said it saves him time. Either way is acceptable. That was done without problem also.