Kidney Stones....

[Rustpot 1]

So I'm wrapping up what has been the WORST three weeks of my life to date. This gets somewhat detailed and graphic. Do everything you can to NEVER have kidney stones. Drink lots of water.

It all started January 24th when I noticed I needed to piss a lot and my balls were tender. I passed it off, played sond pond hockey the next day and broke my big toe. Hooray. Then on Monday the 26th I had to piss a lot again and once again had tender nuts. Not willing to take chances when the family jewels are at stake, I decided to go into the hospital, thinking it was a urinary infection at worst. I ended up in the ER and was told my urine had blood. Two CT scans later the doc is telling me I have a somewhat large kidney stone. They told me I had a decent chance to pass it in a week, if not go to a local doc then get a referral to a urologist.

A week goes by, I'm on Vicodin and pissing through a sieve the whole time. Bupkis. Go see the doc, get put on Flomax and sent in for another CT scan. Stone hasn't moved. Drive 2 hours to the next biggest town that has a urology department. Have my tender balls manhandled, an impromptu prostate exam (put your elbows on the table... you'll feel a little bit of pressure...), and long story short there I had surgery scheduled for Feb 10.

All this while I feel like I'm pissing rocks, need to go every 60 seconds, have mild kidney pain and bouts of nausea. I figure it's all no problem, I'll deal fine with this.

Monday the 10th rolls around, I get back from campus at ~6:30 after experiencing some pretty decent testicular pain during lab and proceed to drink a bunch of water to get some urine going. 45 minutes later I was being rushed to the ER in so much intense pain I thought I was going to pass out and my balls, pelvic region and left kidney were all going to burst. We're talking vise-grips on my left nut with hammers and knives continuously beating/stabbing me all over. 2 mg of Delaudid in the ER and I'm doing ok. Delaudid is apparently 6x more potent that "traditional" morphine they tell me. Wonderful.

OK, so I make it to surgery without too many more complications the next day. When I wake up after I am in so much intense pain I can't even talk, I end up pissing a full urinal bottle full of blood in the middle of the room, and they pump me with who knows what kinds of pain killers to get me to shut up. So to keep my ureter from swelling shut they've left a stent in place. This stent can be removed by yours truly, so there happens to be 2 pieces of surgical thread coming out the tip of my dick. These threads irritate me whenever I move, and the stent does not allow me to bend at the waist without intense pain.

2 days pass since surgery. 2 days full of bloody, fire, razorblade piss. 2 days of not being able to move or bend at the waist without pain. No much sleep is had, as you can imagine.

Today is Friday. My discharge says to take 2 Vicodin and pull out the stent on Friday morning. 1am rolls around and I'm thinking it's good enough. I take 2 7.5/500mg pills, wait half an hour, and head to the bathroom. Pulling this thing out has to be the most excruciating experiences a man can face. 18 inches of rubber hose, as well as a whole lot of blood, slowly, forcefully, pulled free via two small surgical threads. I collapsed on the floor in a pool of my own urine and blood when I was done.

Two hours later a blood clot has lodged itself in the wrong spot. Once again I am in some of the worst pain I can ever conceive. Another trip to the ER, another 2mg of Delaudid, 4 hours in a bed on IV, and a new prescription for Percocet and I'm home again for the time being.

[number21 3]

shit...

i have heard tough kidney stone stories before. this is by far the worst!

hope it's over for you soon man and that they NEVER happen to you again.

[Too Old 1]

Had 'em twice. First one was unbearable pain almost... but then it passed right as they were x-raying me. Felt like shyt for the next week as I recovered. Second time was during the night and it passed before I had to ask the wife to drive me to the hospital. Went to work in the morning but was pretty sore. They're surely not any fun, that's for sure.

[Race4LastPlace 31]

Ouch. That has to be the scariest story I've ever heard. Get better soon, I really don't wanna have to read a sequel. Maybe go with Versed next time it may knock you loopy enough to laugh at it all. Best of luck to you and the downstairs mix-up.

[mack 44]

Absolutely horrible stuff to get. I got them a couple of years ago in the middle of the night. I was back in Nashville and the family was up in AK, so I had to basically fend for myself. Woke up in the middle of the night really thirsty so I chugged a big bottle of water. Still felt hot and thirsty and thought maybe I needed sugar, so I drank some OJ. On the way back to my bedroom I crumpled on the floor and started to writhe in pain. Made it to my bed and just kept writhing and finally called a friendgirl and she came to take me to the hospital. 15 mins later, before she came, I felt pretty good and the pain was gone. Went in anyway and found out I had kidney stones.

Only got one hour of sleep--in the ER--and went to work because I had stuff to do and my bosses basically told me to get out as soon as I was done. Sat at my desk and *wham* started to pass another one. Went home and stayed in a bed for three days, save the times I had to pee thru a sieve into the collection jug.

[DEATHTRON 19]

What is the best way to prevent this?

Zach

[Rustpot 1]

What is the best way to prevent this?

Zach

Low sodium diet, less red meat, drink lots of water, eat more bananas.

Apparently my dad has gone through the joys of kidney stones 4 times. I feel lucky to have gotten my first at age 22.

Friday was fun enough. Lots of sleep, sore back, pissing a lot. No more blood as far as I can tell, the discomfort is getting less and less. If I'm still shitty tomorrow I need to go back on pain meds so I can actually make it through the day and get all my school work made up.

On another note I HATE being on pain killers. Constipation, wild mood swings when I'm coming off them, crazy nausea, sudden drowsiness. People take this shit for fun? I'll get my Percocet/Oxycotin pills today and see if those treat me better than Vicodin/hydrocodone.

[foppa21 0]

My wife had kidney stones a few years ago. She ended up having a reaction to the contrast dye for the CT scan and scared her mom half to death. She actually got sent home with a foley catheter and I'll never forget her coming to graduation with her foley bag in a large handbag. She also had to have a stent put in and had a low grade fever almost the whole time she had it. I think, though, that she had hers taken out in the doc's office.

I don't think you'll see a huge difference with the Percocet vs Vicodin. They're similar. Percocet/oxycodone is a little stronger per milligram than Vicodin/hydrocodone. I think you may have Oxycontin confused with oxycodone.

[Rustpot 1]

She also had to have a stent put in and had a low grade fever almost the whole time she had it. I think, though, that she had hers taken out in the doc's office.

I don't think you'll see a huge difference with the Percocet vs Vicodin. They're similar. Percocet/oxycodone is a little stronger per milligram than Vicodin/hydrocodone. I think you may have Oxycontin confused with oxycodone.

My dad has his stent removed at the doc's office as well, I'm guessing this self removal is a more recent thing. I'm also guessing Flomax for treatment is also more recent. I still have 14 days worth left, along with ~50 Vicodin and 10 Percocet.

I probably am confused on what's what. I do feel a little better using 5/325 Percocet vs. 5/500 Vicodin. I also have 7.5/500 Vicodin and two of those get about the same effect as a single 5/325 Percocet.

[flyguy1697 0]

Woohoo congrats! When I was 15 I noticed my balls felt a little weird and I had the urge to piss about every 35 seconds. My friends were busting my balls, pun intended, because I couldn't last a conversation without having to rush to the bathroom. So a few days later I started pissing blood, maybe one of the scariest things you can see when your 15. My dad has had a long history with them (last night actually he took himself to the hospital because he has yet another one) so I figured I should tell him. He takes me to the doc and the doctor tells me that I have a stone, the size of a dime in my kidney and it won't move. I ended up getting lithotripsy (sp?) and it hurt like a god damn bitch. Needless to say my coach wasn't too happy that I wasn't around but man, I pissed gravel for the next week and I even thought about just cutting it off. But wait, the fun still to come. After they blast this little fucker it turns out that a piece fairly large was still left but the doc said I could still pass it. So one night, I'm just sitting around watching a movie and my god I felt like my penis was about to erupt. For all you who have had this terrible problem you know, that you cant even sit down and be comfortable no matter what you do. I'm talking I have a heating pad on my back and I'm laying down and I started to cry. I knew this little rock was trying to force its way out so I did what I thought I had to do. I grabbed onto that little string handing out of my wang chung and started pulling it out, I swear to you I thought it would never end. I collapsed from the pain and my brother, yes me brother, had to come down and pull her the rest of the way out. After that night the rock ended up coming out and I kept it in a little glass jar to explain to my kids someday how bad the little shits hurt.

My doctor told me asparagus juice is great for them and also drinking beer helps because it flushes your system and of course makes you pee a lot. They say the worst things are iced tea, some sodas and cranberry juice. I still have three guys hanging out in my left kidney and i'm waiting for them to make a move. Until then, Ill continue to pray that they dont.

PS- My mother said having a kidney stone hurt worse than child birth.

[Rustpot 1]

flyguy, I feel your pain.

My uncle is a urologist and I talked to him a few hours ago. Good to know my lower back and kidney area feeling sore for a few days after is pretty common from having everything swollen up for so long.

Good to know about the beer. I think I'll treat myself to a few gallons as soon as I'm 100%.

[foppa21 0]

Yeah, I haven't heard about the Flomax treatment before, but urology definitely isn't my bag. Generally, it's used for guys with enlarged prostates.

[Rustpot 1]

Apparently one of the effects is to allow more give and stretch with the ureter as it tapers to the bladder. Probably intended for when an enlarged prostate is kinda pushing everything shut. My uncle wanted me to start it and the urologist I saw was disappointed the ER and general practice docs I saw didn't get me on it sooner.

[mack 44]

One of the best ways to prevent them? Don't drink apple juice; drink some red wine if you're legal. Apple juice was my go-to drink and it ups your chances by around 30%.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Good God....I hope the phrase "pissing blood" never enters into my vocabulary. But, I am glad to hear that beer is serving a health benefit for me!

Cheers!

[Rustpot 1]

Good God....I hope the phrase "pissing blood" never enters into my vocabulary. But, I am glad to hear that beer is serving a health benefit for me!

Cheers!

http://www.x-entertainment.com/kool-aid/re..._lemonade/2.jpg

I'm not talking Gatorade red (though the stent removal did draw straight blood), but that's a pretty accurate color for Tuesday.

mack; I'll probably never drink apple juice again now.

[foppa21 0]

There are more than one type of kidney stones, so one set "avoid this," won't protect you from everything. A good general rule of thumb, however, is to try to drink enough water every day. An easy way to figure it out is to take your body weight in pounds and divide that number by 2. That number is the amount of water, in ounces, that you should be drinking a day.

Being a nurse, you'd be amazed at the kind of urine and clots/sediment/gunk that can be found in a patient's foley bag. Sometimes it can be downright disgusting.

[Rustpot 1]

Being a nurse, you'd be amazed at the kind of urine and clots/sediment/gunk that can be found in a patient's foley bag. Sometimes it can be downright disgusting.

Now that you mention nurses, I have a beef I'd like to vent about. Over the last few weeks I've had 4 IV lines and one blood draw tube (probably has a real name, eh?) in me. 4 of them were done no problem, first shot, taped it down and I dealt with them removing them no problem. The nurse who prepped me before surgery decides to do it on the back of my non-dominant hand. She proceeds to shave my hand, start the IV and put about 8 pieces of tape and two large tape patches on there to keep the sucker in place. I make a side comment about how the shaved hand will be nice for when the tape comes off and she tells me that's why she did it. That pissed me off. Nothing about how she wants the tape to stick better, how she wanted to be able to see the vein or anything, she did it just to be nice...

When the IV came out I was on so many pain meds I didn't even care, and it's just fucking tape besides. So now I'm going to walk around for a month with one bald hand, having to explain it to everyone.

The med student who was with her was fine as hell though, I very much regret not talking to her more... She even initiated the conversation. Idiot. The radiology nurse was smokin too, but she was pregnant. I had to drop my pants for her :lol: I'm going bakc for my follow up in two weeks and I'm very much going to hit on the one cute urology nurse if she's there again. And then I'm going to buy the pistol I put on layaway when I was in town there last week.

More on the topic of my kidneys, I had mild pain again this afternoon and pissed out another blood clot. A few more days of this and I'm just going to lose it. I really don't want to be stuck on campus for 13 hours on Monday and have this shit going on.

[foppa21 0]

I wouldn't really make a big deal out of it. Just be glad she hit the vein on the first shot! Chances are, she actually did do it for one of the reasons you mentioned. I occasionally make side comments like that without really thinking about it in response to something a patient says, especially if I'm real busy that night. It works out better when both my patients are intubated and sedated and I don't have to focus on a running conversation with them. Just kidding...somewhat. ;)

As for the number of IVs, you got the short end of the stick since you were in and out of the hospital a couple times and not in there for a straight stretch. It depends on the facility, but we can leave IVs in for four days, if they stay patent, before changing them. PICCs can stay in for a hell of a long time, and central lines for a while too, can't remember the exact length. By the way, what do you mean about a blood draw tube in you?

I wouldn't expect anything out of any of the hot nurses or med students. It would be a huge ethics violation to take advantage of a patient-caregiver relationship to initiate something. However, if they were to somehow meet you at a bar, club, game, whatever outside of work...all bets are off, feel free to try to tap that ass. ;)

[GekigangarIII 0]

I've been there Rustspot. My first one was when I was about 25 I believe (10 years ago). I had to have surgery after it didn't move for 3 weeks. Since then I have literally had them about every 1.5 years since. I haven't had to have surgery since but it's gotten close a couple of times.

Honestly it really does wonders for your pain threshold though, after having stones nothing else seems that bad.

I think the worst part about the first time I had them was after the surgery getting the stint removed. It really depends on where your stint was placed, mine was way WAY up there, up between my bladder and my kidney. There's only one way to go get that thing, the hard way. They literally stick a roto-rooter (complete with little claw/grasper thing at the end) right up your junk.

One thing that really cracked me up (retrospectively) was that it was the first time a doctor was honest with me about the level of pain when he was going to remove the stint. Normally they try to dress it up a bit (you're going to feel a "pinch" or "discomfort", etc.), but this time he says to me: "ok, I'm going to be honest with you. This is going to hurt like hell. It's going to hurt worse than anything you've probably ever experienced. It's ok if you want to scream". I think I nearly passed out just hearing that. After he did the deed, he told me I was the first patient in 20 years that didn't make a sound during the procedure. He was impressed but I think it was fear of dying that kept me quiet.

The reason it hurts so bad is there is a sphincter that holds the urine up there, basically the "off switch" for your stuff. Well, to go get the stint they had to literally punch through it... the wrong way. And that hurts. A lot.

If you had to go through that, I'm sorry bud. I feel your pain.

Oh and the diet/drinks crap is just pure bs. It works if they actually grab your stone and analyze it and decide it's consistency is related to those things. But in my case they got the stone and analyzed it and could not determine why I got it. I've tried everything. Cranberry juice, wine, lemonade, low sodium diet, low fat diet, you name it I've tried it and like clockwork I get them about every 1.5-2 years. Whoopie!!