A Rerun . . .
Sorry to share here that I had another kidney stone.
I knew there was a 4mm one hanging out in my left kidney. They saw it when they originally found the 7mm one back in mid-October that required surgery on October 26th. Wednesday night the 4mm decided to take a ride down my ureter. I knew it was either a stone or another infection, I was pretty sure it was a stone, though, and I prayed that its journey would be quick and I would be able to pass it.
I spent all of Thursday at Northwestern, going from the doctor's office (where my BP was 165/82 from the pain, but they would not give me any pain meds until they knew what was going on) to have an ultrasound (where they said they saw a stone in my kidney but nothing in my ureter) and then another CT scan (which was successful), all the while carrying a bucket to dry heave into. All fricking day.
It was really the no-fun plan, but the pain was not as bad as my first two stones, otherwise I would have gone to the ER. When they called me back upstairs to the doctor's office after the CT, they said that yes, the stone was in my lower ureter near my bladder. They also said that they wouldn't do anything for it - they wanted me to try to pass it on my own. My choices were to go to the ER, stay in a hotel near the hospital overnight, or go home.
I got some Tylenol down me around 4 in the afternoon in the doctor's office, and I managed to keep it down. It helped enough that I decided that I would go home. It was a relatively easy decision - there were 100 people ahead of me in the ER at Northwestern . . .
They did, ultimately give me some pain medication, and when I got home, I took my potassium citrate and a torodol. The pain was subsiding and I was able to eat some toast to take my meds. Everything stayed down.
Thankfully - and for the first time - during the night when I got up to pee I was successful at passing a stone. I had been peeing in a "top hat" and straining my urine since Wednesday night. When I got up on Friday morning, there was the stone in the top hat. It made it to my bladder and I hadn't even felt it as I pee'd it out in the night.
Based on its color, it's most likely another uric acid stone. It was 3-4mm wide and about 5mm long.
Here's a close up.
Wicked wee beast, isn't it?
It's out for analysis now, and my BP was 122/70 at the doc's on Friday. Amazing what that kind of pain does, huh? Anyway, I think it was the final stone. I am concerned, though, because although the ultrasound was wrong about it being in my ureter, they did say they saw a stone in my kidney. I don't think that the CT showed another stone in my kidney, but we were so focused on the one making its way down my ureter that I didn't get a clear answer. I'm hoping that this was the last one - the 4mm one that was identified back in October. I think that the physician's assistant said it was the 4mm stone that was identified in October - I will be sad if there is still another stone in there. The results of the CT should be in my record where I can access it by Thursday or Friday - I'll know for sure then.
I have another ultrasound in January - even though they got the stone wrong they could see that my kidney was swollen again and we have to make sure the swelling goes away and I can't have any more CT scans for awhile - I've had too many in too short a period of time. I also have to have blood work done to see what what the level of uric acid is in my blood. It's possible that this is hereditary in some respect and I might be put on a drug called allopurinol. I'm hoping not - I really want to control this with dietary changes and I know I can. This is my second chance to prove it.
For now I'm going with the ultrasound being inaccurate and setting the intention that this was the last stone. I have an appointment on Thursday with Jill Harris, my kidney stone prevention coach. She will be able to help me figure out how best to eat going forward. Now that I'm an equal opportunity stoner (I've made two different types of stones: calcium oxalate and uric acid) everything is a little more complicated.
I'm seriously considering buying some loose pearls and having some jewelry made . . . I've have two 4mm stones, a 7mm stone, and a 5mm fragment. Might make a nice ring, don't you think?
Christmas Eve/Sarajevo. You hear it a lot, but you don't see the video very often.
Happy Christmas Eve . . .
I knew there was a 4mm one hanging out in my left kidney. They saw it when they originally found the 7mm one back in mid-October that required surgery on October 26th. Wednesday night the 4mm decided to take a ride down my ureter. I knew it was either a stone or another infection, I was pretty sure it was a stone, though, and I prayed that its journey would be quick and I would be able to pass it.
I spent all of Thursday at Northwestern, going from the doctor's office (where my BP was 165/82 from the pain, but they would not give me any pain meds until they knew what was going on) to have an ultrasound (where they said they saw a stone in my kidney but nothing in my ureter) and then another CT scan (which was successful), all the while carrying a bucket to dry heave into. All fricking day.
It was really the no-fun plan, but the pain was not as bad as my first two stones, otherwise I would have gone to the ER. When they called me back upstairs to the doctor's office after the CT, they said that yes, the stone was in my lower ureter near my bladder. They also said that they wouldn't do anything for it - they wanted me to try to pass it on my own. My choices were to go to the ER, stay in a hotel near the hospital overnight, or go home.
I got some Tylenol down me around 4 in the afternoon in the doctor's office, and I managed to keep it down. It helped enough that I decided that I would go home. It was a relatively easy decision - there were 100 people ahead of me in the ER at Northwestern . . .
They did, ultimately give me some pain medication, and when I got home, I took my potassium citrate and a torodol. The pain was subsiding and I was able to eat some toast to take my meds. Everything stayed down.
Thankfully - and for the first time - during the night when I got up to pee I was successful at passing a stone. I had been peeing in a "top hat" and straining my urine since Wednesday night. When I got up on Friday morning, there was the stone in the top hat. It made it to my bladder and I hadn't even felt it as I pee'd it out in the night.
Based on its color, it's most likely another uric acid stone. It was 3-4mm wide and about 5mm long.
Here's a close up.
Wicked wee beast, isn't it?
It's out for analysis now, and my BP was 122/70 at the doc's on Friday. Amazing what that kind of pain does, huh? Anyway, I think it was the final stone. I am concerned, though, because although the ultrasound was wrong about it being in my ureter, they did say they saw a stone in my kidney. I don't think that the CT showed another stone in my kidney, but we were so focused on the one making its way down my ureter that I didn't get a clear answer. I'm hoping that this was the last one - the 4mm one that was identified back in October. I think that the physician's assistant said it was the 4mm stone that was identified in October - I will be sad if there is still another stone in there. The results of the CT should be in my record where I can access it by Thursday or Friday - I'll know for sure then.
I have another ultrasound in January - even though they got the stone wrong they could see that my kidney was swollen again and we have to make sure the swelling goes away and I can't have any more CT scans for awhile - I've had too many in too short a period of time. I also have to have blood work done to see what what the level of uric acid is in my blood. It's possible that this is hereditary in some respect and I might be put on a drug called allopurinol. I'm hoping not - I really want to control this with dietary changes and I know I can. This is my second chance to prove it.
For now I'm going with the ultrasound being inaccurate and setting the intention that this was the last stone. I have an appointment on Thursday with Jill Harris, my kidney stone prevention coach. She will be able to help me figure out how best to eat going forward. Now that I'm an equal opportunity stoner (I've made two different types of stones: calcium oxalate and uric acid) everything is a little more complicated.
I'm seriously considering buying some loose pearls and having some jewelry made . . . I've have two 4mm stones, a 7mm stone, and a 5mm fragment. Might make a nice ring, don't you think?
Christmas Eve/Sarajevo. You hear it a lot, but you don't see the video very often.
Happy Christmas Eve . . .
Comments
Hoping all is more peaceful going forward!!!!
Janice H.