Got the baaaaaad news this afternoon: I have a 1.75cm stone stuck in the mid-pole of my left kidney, which will have to be extracted ASAP.
This will be my second laser lithotripsy in less than a year; I'm also supposed to have a parathyroid scan to find out if I'm hyperparathyroid since my labs were all out of whack. Actually, I was supposed to have the scan done months ago, but I chickened out when I found out I'd have to go under the same scanner they put me under when I had my myoview last winter---I'm horribly claustrophobic, and they had to give me IV Ativan just to get me through a 15-minute test. My urologist said "Make 'em sedate you, you HAVE to get this done".
The good news is, there's only one stone this time, and only one kidney is involved, so maybe having a stent in won't be so bad this time........I hope. In the meantime, I've got only 21 more days of health insurance left, so things had better proceed quickly! Bless his heart, my doc didn't even charge me for this visit (and he offered to give me a professional reference when I told him I'd quit the hospital........we've worked together on occasion, and he's always thought I was a good nurse, but I'm still flattered! ). He showed me the stone on CT and gave me a couple scrips for pain pills---oh, thank God for Percocet and Toradol!!---then told me he'd call with a surgery date as soon as he could schedule me.
Well, if there's anything good to be said for all this, I guess it couldn't have happened at a better time........I'm not working, nor am I under any particular pressure to at this point, and Lord knows I'll need every bit of recovery time I can get.
I've had kidney stones, gall stones and salivary gland stones yet my physican says they're not at all related.
I've had my gallbladder out but any ideas on how to avoid stones? I try to drink more water but other than that I don't know of anything I can do to help prevent having them. Any suggestions?
Marla, ask your doctor about allopurinaol: since my DH been on that, tones which were forming every 6 weeks are now down to 1-2 year, gravel size and passable. No lithotripsy in 6 years and holding at #93 stones passed. Only thing that's helped his calcium oxalate stones.
??? I thought Allopurinol was for uric acid stones, no? I may not be remembering correctly.
I've had my gallbladder out but any ideas on how to avoid stones? I try to drink more water but other than that I don't know of anything I can do to help prevent having them. Any suggestions?
When I had my kidney stones at 16, my doctor said to reduce ihe intake of dairy products (calcium) and reduce or eliminate the intake of all soda drinks. I have followed his advice and have not have any kidney stones in 10 years.
I can relate to your pain, because I think it is worse than labor pain. I rather have 10 more children, that have one more kidney stone. When I had my
k.stone I actually broke a glass in my hand from all the pain (not intended to do that). I also had a huge ovarian cyst and the pain was just as bad as a kidney stone for me.
I am sooooo sorry to hear that you are going through this, but thank goodness that you aren't having to deal with work, etc at the moment and are still insured! Keep us updated!
??? I thought Allopurinol was for uric acid stones, no? I may not be remembering correctly.
Mine was calcium oxalate, and I also thought allopurinol was for uric acid accumulation like you see in gout. Hmmm, wouldn't it be nice if that helped somehow....
What amazes me is how you can be writing on all nurses while passing a stone. I required drugs, a labor coach (Push!Push!), lamaze breathing....
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Thanks for the suggestion about the allopurinol.........when I did my 24-hr. urine some months ago, my uric acid levels were high (along with just about everything else). It's worth a try, anyway; at this point I'd do pretty much anything to stop forming these damned things! What makes me especially mad is, I gave up my favorite drinks (coffee, tea, and Diet Coke) for MONTHS to try to stop it, but all that happened was the stone that was left after my last lithotripsy grew that much faster. (It was a 2 mm stone in May, and now it's over 17 mm.) So, I'm drinking all that stuff again, albeit in smaller amounts than I used to........what's the point of depriving myself if I'm still going to form stones??
Today I'm pretty much pain-free, thanks to the 1-2-3 combo of Toradol and Percocet and Phenergan I took last night. Weird thing is, I had some frank bleeding late last night, and that seems to have relieved things even more.......I'm not sure WHERE the blood came from (I haven't had a period in over 6 months) and this morning there was no more obvious bleeding. I've never had something like this happen before---I wonder if I could have passed a fragment that tore up the ureter on its way out?? That would certainly explain the pain........very strange.
Thanks for the suggestion about the allopurinol.........when I did my 24-hr. urine some months ago, my uric acid levels were high (along with just about everything else). It's worth a try, anyway; at this point I'd do pretty much anything to stop forming these damned things!
I quit taking Allopurinol because the tiny stones that don't always show up on films become even smaller.. small enough to pass. OUCH! I had gravel the whole time I was taking that drug.
Now I have a mega stone in one kidney but it's farrrr too big to pass. Not at all that uncommon, btw... for people to have a mega stone. If I start taking something to dissolve it, can you imagine how much that's gonna hurt?
I have nobody to blame for the stones but myself. At that time I would literally go for weeks without a drop of water. Just Diet Coke. That was stupid. But I have sure learned to drink the stuff now!
I have suffered from stones, I had my first when I was thirteen and my last 5 years ago (4 stones all together). I was told to stay away from protein and caffiene. All I drink is water, juice sometimes, and milk every blue moon. My last stone I had surgery to remove. I definitely don't want to go through that again. It's a horrible pain to suffer through and I hate comparing to labor because the rewards of labor is a cute little baby to cuddle. I never really bonded with any of my stones. I hope all goes well for you and that you feel better soon.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
. It's a horrible pain to suffer through and I hate comparing to labor because the rewards of labor is a cute little baby to cuddle. I never really bonded with any of my stones.
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Too funny!!!!!
I've told people the same thing.........at least with labor, you know it WILL end, and you get something good out of it. :)
). He showed me the stone on CT and gave me a couple scrips for pain pills---oh, thank God for Percocet and Toradol!!---then told me he'd call with a surgery date as soon as he could schedule me.
I hope all goes well for you and that you feel better soon.
rainswhisper,RN
32 Posts
Since we're on the subject of stones...
I've had kidney stones, gall stones and salivary gland stones yet my physican says they're not at all related.
I've had my gallbladder out but any ideas on how to avoid stones? I try to drink more water but other than that I don't know of anything I can do to help prevent having them. Any suggestions?