Kidneys are your friends. Maybe if I repeat this three times and click my heels together....ok. Maybe not. Well, I thought I needed a light hearted diary, but an educational one too after my latest adventures in the land of medicine, so I thought I’d relax and share and shoot if it helps one person avoid some of the pitfalls of kidney pain, I’ve done my job. I spent the other night in the ER so I am just glad to be home and with the pooties.
Please jump with me after the break.
I’ve had 8 kidney stones now, yes...8. I am now housing a big stone in my left kidney so I have a stent in me Basically the tube that goes from the bladder to the kidney needs to be straight so when the stone goes into the bladder when it passes it does so with as little pain as possible. Since my tube is not straight (no comments from the peanut gallery) I had the stent put in to widen/straighten it out to help stones pass thru into the bladder.
The best video to explain the kidney stone process I am not able to embed, but it has a cute doctor and it is well worth the jump to you tube to watch here.
Even with the stent though you still get stones. I had the stent put in two and a half weeks ago, but just this last weekend, as I said, I had to be rushed to the ER due to another new stone. I was in for a few hours when they discovered I was passing one from my bladder. Woo hoo. I got it passed, was given a lot of high-hard-core drugs at the hospital and to take home with me and felt a lot better.
But after having eight stones now and now the stent I can offer some advice
- If pain is being felt and standard painkillers are not cutting it down, get to an ER. I took 4 vicodin and 2 Tylenol 3’s and had no relief at all. I might have just as well been taking M&Ms for all the pain relief I got.
- If you’ve never had one before and you suddenly feel a pain in your back and it seems to be moving, and you can’t sit still, get thee to an ER....trust me, you will know this is no ordinary pain.
- If you’ve had them in the past and know you are at increased risk, keep yourself always well hydrated. Drink lots of water all the time.
- Don’t be a hero. If you start to feel the occurrence of one, and you’ve had one before, call your doctor. Pain is not our friend. (See # 1)
People have asked me if the stent is worth it, and so far I would say yes. Of course I’ve not had it removed yet, which is supposed to be difficult for some people (painful) so I cannot speak yet about that. But the outpatient surgery to put it in was OK. It does occasionaly spasm and when it does it hurts but the spasms go away over time. But each person is different. It makes the stones easier to pass thru to the bladder. So you have less potential time to feel pain, which is always good. So I would opt for the stent again if asked.
I go to the doctor in a few days for a follow-up....but all I know is....hey, anyone want to trade kidneys?