My recent Kidney stone "Surgery" and hopeful resolution

Kidney and urinary tract
1

Thought I would share my story for those who might be in the same boat, and sorry if this is a tad long.

I have had stones off and on since I was a teenager, usually several years between them. When I hit 40 I started getting them more regular and now at 46 I was getting one every month. Most of the recent ones were small (2mm and under) but still painful. I got so used to passing them that I just stopped going to doc/ER and dealt with it. But about a 18 months ago I noticed whenever I did a lot of physical excursion I would get some blood in urine then within a week or two a small stone would come out ( of course there is always some pain in there too) but once the stone was out the pain was gone. Well about 9 months ago I noticed I would pass a stone but some pain remained and would come and go. 

The odd thing was positions seemed to make a difference, like laying a certain way was better than this or that way... I was about to go out of my mind trying to figure out what the heck was wrong with me, usually my kidney stone pain was pretty much just pain no matter your position. Oh and more excursion = more blood.. Thought for sure it was the end. Went to regular doc and he said, well you need to drink more water..blah blah blah.

Finally found a REAL urologist and he said well lets run a bunch of test and see what we have going on. So they did blood work, the 24 hour urine test, CT scan, Bladder scope thing. Well lo and behold I had a 19mm kidney stone in my left kidney!!

I had had a CT scan about 24 months previous to this last one (had a 3mm stuck). So somewhere in that time period I developed this monster stone in there. The doc said that the reason the pain would come and go was sometimes it was blocking the exit and sometimes it probably would move enough not to, which would explain why some positions felt better.

So I had the shock wave lithotripsy. He gave me a few options including cutting on me but said he has had excellent results with SWL, but may take a couple times to bust one up that large.

So the procedure itself was fine, I was out, I didnt care what they did. The next few days were miserable, the stent thing is terrible. I thought I was going to pass out from the pain of going to the bathroom the first couple days, not sure what happens in there, but holy cow did it hurt. By day 7 I was feeling much better but still not super. By day 12 when they took the stent out I was almost back to normal besides intermittent pain from stent. During this time lots of "gravel" came out.

The stent removal was more painful that I thought it would be, but was short lived so ... I guess I cant complain too much about that. The X-ray showed only some small pieces left and I am pretty sure I have passed most of them (I am now a week out from stent removal).

I have not felt this good in a long time, I am SOOOO thankful to have found a good doctor and be done with the never ending pain over the last year.

Also during all this he found my PTH levels were pretty high (para thyroid hormone) and these control calcium levels from what I understand. So I have a follow up with a endocrinologist to figure that part out, but maybe, just maybe I can get rid of most of these things in the future.

So I guess what I am saying is find a good doctor ( I went through about 4 urologist that have just been telling me to drink more water... I drink a gallon a day and I HATE WATER) and if you get them on a regular basis push to find out why. And I would do the SWL again, though it was not pleasant by any means (the recovery time anyway) it sure beats the constant pain I was in.

Jack

2

Wow, sorry to hear about all of your troubles for so many years. I started getting stones when I was in my mid-twenties through to my mid-thirties, and like you I had several years of no incidents afterwards before they started up again in my fifties (I'm now 59). I've had both the shockwave lithotripsy and cystoscopy to get rid of larger stones, but I totally agree that for me anyway, no matter what the procedure, it's the post-surgical stent that makes life miserable.That pain one gets while urinating stretching all the way back up to the kidneys; honestly, I would count down to the number of days for stent removal, only to then have to deal with that little moment of drama also. The first time I actually fainted from it! The second time I was a brave boy and got through it fine. 

Water, water, water.... 

Good luck and stay stone free!

3

Oh dear. I'm not the only one who has struggled with kidney stones then.

I suffered all last year with multiple kidney stones.

I was a complicated case because I was born with horseshoe kidneys (they are joined together) which made accessing the stones a lot more difficult.

To cut the long story short, I saw 4 different urologists last year and finally the last one I saw agreed to operate.

I had PCNL surgery at the beginning of December in Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

I had a catheter in for 3 days and a stent for a week.

I was in hospital for a week.

I have now had my follow up appointment with the urologist. There is now no sign of any stones whatsoever and he is not expecting me to have any more trouble.

God Bless him  and thank God for him is all I can say really.

Hope you continue to feel better.

Take care and  keep in touch

Sarah xx

4

You may want to give Moonstone Nutrition powder drink a try! This product was created by Kidney doctors, one of whom was a stone sufferer and actually helps prevent kidney stone formation without having to drink gallons of water or lemonade which doesn’t really work or prevent stones. Moonstone Nutrition makes a powder pack that you just pour in to your water bottle and it is prescription strength without having to take giant pills and it tastes good! They have different flavors and are a new product.

5

I’ve I’ve never had kidney stones before until now. Two months ago I came down with diverticulitis which was excruciating pain. I went to the hospital and spent 5 days there with morphine and a lot of antibiotics. They gave me a CT scan then and told me I had diverticulitis and treated me for it.

Just three days ago I woke up with excruciating pain in my left side which I thought initially was another bout of diverticulitis. I went to the doctor the next day and he asked me to urinate in a cup which he said was darker than normal and it contains some blood. He pressed on my abdomen and he said that ruled out diverticulitis. He suggested that the pain I’m feeling could be a kidney stone and he ordered me a CT scan. The CT scan results came back today and I have a 7 mm stone in my left kidney. I immediately thought how could a CT scan just 2 months ago not pick up a kidney stone. I went to the hospital where I was admitted for diverticulitis and obtained the CT scan on a disc as well as the written report. It read that there was nothing found in my kidneys my appendix was okay my gallbladder was okay it was just diverticulitis.

Is it even possible that a kidney stone can grow from zero to 7 mm in 2 months? I read that some antibiotics can cause kidney stones. While I was at the hospital for diverticulitis they were pumping me with antibiotics to no end.

I I have a doctor’s appointment with a urologist on Monday so I’m going to see what my next course of treatment is. I’m very interested in seeing if I can capture the stones when they pass so that they could be tested to see what is causing it. I have a suspicion that it is the antibiotics that I was taking for so long and at such high doses that could have caused this.

Has has anybody heard of antibiotics causing kidney stones and could it even be possible that they could develop in two months? My other suspicion is that when they were reading the CT scan the first time they saw diverticulitis jumping out at them and they quickly skipped over doing a detailed report on my other organs. That is the only other way I think a stone can grow that quick is that it was just looked over and was always there. I have both CT scan images so I’m wondering if I should have the original one reread to see if there’s a kidney stone there. And I’m also questioning if there’s anything else that might have been missed because now I feel as if they did not a good job reading my CT scan. I hope that’s not the case.

6

Jackqm, I feel your pain. I was a chronic former for thirty seven years, and they destroyed my life. I passed them several times per month at first, and then it slacked off to two or three per year after that, but they were debilitating in my case because they often lead to urinary tract infections that often times caused me to be bedridden, for weeks, and so, they caused me to lose my job once per year or so, and so I never was able to build a decent resume. I always had to start back up at the bottom of the pack. The bills stacked up, and girlfriends had no interest in a long term relationship with a guy with this problem. They wanted kids, not kidney stones, and so I couldn’t blame them, but I finally did find one who took on the challenge.

She did a TON, of research, and eventually, she landed on the possibility that high Oxalates in my diet, just might be responsible for my stones. I’d never been one to take such things seriously, calling them “wives-tales”, preferring to go to real docs for good science, so I kind of scoffed at the idea, but as you well know, a chronic former will, try anything, if there is hope for relief from chronic kidney stones. So hell yea, I went along with her suggestions.

We started off by eliminating foods that were in the top ten on the list of foods with high Oxalates, I don’t have that list handy and don’t remember them all because they’ve simply not been a part of my life since then, but it’s not hard to find on the net, some of them are nuts, (Cashews in my case, I always loved them and ate them by the handful, along with lots of peanut butter), certain dark green vegetables like spinach, strawberries, sweet potatoes, chocolate, and others. We eliminated those top ten foods from my diet, and in a matter of months, I noticed a marked difference in my problem. The stones slacked off, and then, they went away !!! Three years later, I had one absolutely horrible stone that was just small enough to pass, did the stent, yet another lithotripsy, the whole nine, but since then, now ten years later, my curse, my stone formation, is OVER.

I have not had one stone, since then.

I would gladly swear to this on a stack of bibles. I am not lying, I have no axe to grind here, other than to hope that even just one chronic former can find relief from this hideous affliction, as I did. When I finally realized that it had worked, I’ll admit it, I broke down and cried like a child. Finally, I could look forward to the rest of my life, instead of dreading it.

I realize that this is a very old thread, but since this is such an important piece of information, I thought I’d go ahead and post, with the hope that just maybe, I might spare one human being from the hideous pain of a kidney stone, which is widely believed to be capable of creating the worst pain that human beings can experience. (A great many of my scores upon scores of stones were so hideous, that people who saw me lying on the pavement, puking, writhing, screaming/moaning and unable to speak, they just automatically called ambulances. The docs would knock me out, and an hour later, I’d walk out, pretty much pain free, and fully aware that while the docs wanted to keep me, they could do nothing for me at that point. To stay would only add to the stack of medical bills. So don’t let them hold you. They have no legal right to do so, ) Also, I’m not so foolish to think that this will work for everyone, but it worked for me, and completely, and since it is a simple thing to try, anyone who is a chronic former owes it to themselves to at least, try it. !!

I have no idea how many Eurologists I saw over those thirty seven years, scores of them, and all over the country, as I eventually found that long haul trucking was a great job for a former, as I normally had a week to deliver a load that I could delver in two or three days, allowing me time to deal with a stone and still do my job, but not a one ever suggested this diet, that did work, and ended my nearly lifelong nightmare. I eventually grew suspicious of them, wondering if at least some of them knew of this simple change in diet, but saw me as a cash cow, a source of regular revenue. I don’t know if this is true, I do not, but I’ve got to wonder why none of these highly educated people knew about this simple change of diet, that could change a person’s life, so much for the better.

I wish any of you, all of you who tend to pass stones the best of luck, and hope that if you are a former, you will at least try this remedy. You have nothing to lose, but your kidney stones.