Hi i have had 8 pcnl surgerys to date last one about 8 month ago.There are 2 methods of doing it and ive had both, which are done by keyhole surgery through the back then inserting a tube. Then they pass a lithitripsy probe through and break the stone up then fish the pieces out. In the first method they leave that tube in along with a smaller tube to your bladder and stick a bag to your back to collect urine.You also have catheter inserted.Pain wise its nothing bad a bit uncomfortable with all the tubes but quite maneagable pain. Over the next two or three days catheter and tubes are removed again not painfull couple of seconds of discomfort and there out.Then once your passing urine ok they let you go home usuall hospital stay 4 to 5 days though they say it only takes 3. usually pain free im a builder and was back at work in a couple of days every time. Method 2 exsactly the same but they dont leave the two tubes in your back and no collection bag.Instead they insert a stent from the kidney to the bladder and a catheter.Again pain is nothing bad, catheter comes out the next day and once you passing urine ok they let you go home usuall hospital stay 2 days. Now you are left with a stent in for 2 to 3 weeks which i find extremely painfull but by all accounts some people are fine with stents and have no pain. Getting back to work depends what stent is like i tried to go but the stent pain was too bad on every occasion (im also self employed). Hope this has anwered some of your questions
I had the surgery last year after so much pain etc. I was in hospital for the day and went home in the evening. However you can only do this if you have people to look after you as you cannot do normal things for a week or so and you cannot lift heavy stuff like shopping for 3months. Hope this helps.
I had the surgery in this August. I was in hospital 9 days, because of my IBS. So yours will be much sorter then mine, don't worry. My surgery was almost 3 hours, everything went well. They took out every stone pieces from my kidney. I had the drainage tube coming out of my kidney, but a week after they put in a stent, because of the swollen bit betwen my kidney and bladder. I was very happy with the stent, no pain, just bit of discomfort. 3 weeks later they removed the stent without any pain. I'll se my surgeon next week, this will be the first controll since I left the hospital. Good luck with your surgery! Get well soon! Let me know, how is it going
Hi John, I know this post was several months ago, but I stumbled onto it by doing a web search for PCNL. I am facing two PCNL procedures to remove a large stone from each kidney. Lucky me, one in each! I have never passed a stone before and never had any procedure at all to remove one. To say I am beyond petrified, especially at the thought of two of these, is a big understatement. I'm 59 and every small/petite build. I'm in okay health otherwise, but I am extremely sensitive to anesthesia, contrast dye, pain meds, etc., not to mention the heavy duty antibiotics. But aside from all of that, I'm just terrified of the whole entire procedure and process. While of course I'm not glad for you that you have had 8 of these, it is reassuring to hear that you have gone through these procedure so many times with relatively little difficulty. I feel very confident in the doctor that will be performing my procedures, and am thankful I found him. He specializes in kidney stones and does PCNLs very frequently.
His prosposal is to work on one kidney, then I stay in the hospital two days, and he would do the other, I stay another few days and then go home. While I would certainly love to get this mess all out of the way, I'm also fearful of doing what he proposes in case there are God forbid any complications. While I know they would closely monitor me, check my levels, etc., my concern is more about the fact that sometimes things take a little bit to manifest. For example, if one or both of my kidneys suffered any damage from the procedures it might not always be readily evident within a few days. So my concern is if I have both back to back and go home, then what happens if God forbid there is damage to both kidneys.
I have the option of course of doing one at a time and waiting in between, but I'm really torn as to the best (and safest) way to approach all of this. My kidney doc said it is all entirely up to me and I can even change my mind after the first procedure if I want to wait.
Anyway, would be so very grateful for any advice and insight and words of encouragement and hope you might be able to offer. I'm having a really hard time with all of this and don't really have any family or friends nearby for support. Thanks so much, Karen
I was very fortunate that when i was put under they found that the stone had moved just enough for them to break and remove through the bladder.Had a stent in for a month (which ive had many times)this time it was very bad and when i saw my urologist last week i told him im never having another one again...!!!
Glad all stones have gone for time being....Long may it last...
Hi Karen sorry to here of your kindney stone problems and i know how daunting it can be. I still remember how i felt my first time having surgery,if i would be ok with the anasthetic,how painfull it would be and to be honest i was kind of worried for nothing. Im fine with anesthetic and pain is totaly tollerable and there ready with a dose of morphine when you wake in recovery if you need it .As for damage to your kidney i have usually been fine after leaving hospital only having to return once due to a blockage in my euretha. I asked my urologist how many times they can operate on one kidney and he told me kidneys are very resilient and recover very well,in my eight operations i have never really had any problems.
I don know if you have your procedure yet if you have i hope it all went fine and you are ok,if you havnt hope it all goes well for you as i have no doubt it will. I have total faith in my urologist and his team and no doubt yours will be as good if not better being a stone specialist. Think if it was me i would have both done on same hospital visit but if you dont do well with anasthetics you might need a break inbetween surpose it depends how bad it is for you but im pretty sure it wont be as bad as you think it will be.
Anyway hope it either has or does go well for you please let me kmow how you get on
HI John, Thanks SO much for getting back to me! I have not yet had the surgeries. As of now it's planned for the first week of June. It is so helpful to hear more about your experience. I just had an ultrasound a few weeks ago, mainly to check and see how my kidneys are looking since I'm waiting until June. Thankfully they look fine and according to the ultrasound everything seems to be flowing properly. So between now and June I will be doing everything I can to get as strong as I can be physically and emotionally to go through this. I keep telling myself, kind of like what you said, that I'll look back when it's all over and it won't be nearly as bad as what I'm thinking. Thanks again! Karen
I am so relieved to have found this post and to hear others experiences with this procedure. I am 34 years old and just recently found out by CT scan that I have a rare kidney case with many large stones. My options are either to completely remove my kidney or try PCNL which will have to be done at least 3-5 times. I'm scared out of my mind! But I am somewhat relieved to know that others have had this done more than once and the procedure is not too painful. Thank you for sharing your stories.
Never in my life I have been so grateful to hear of other people's suffering lol I honestly thought I was alone with cronic kidney stones, countless procedures and my hate for stents.. I'm 38 yrs old and after, what feels like, millions of operations to clear both kidneys, I still have 16 stones. Sigh* I'm in to get one lasered on the 29th and I'm dreading having a stent put back in, but like you guys, I'm resilient and life goes on.
In the end i didnt have the pcnl done which i was grateful for.Having spoken to many others about it i have found out that its quite straight forward,obviously as with any invasive surgery you need to heal and take a little time off but im sure youll be fine and wish you lots of luck.
