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Unfortunately, I learned about passing a kidney stone the hard way!
Photo left: An 8mm kidney stoneThat’s right folks, just passed my very first kidney stone tonight, and let me tell you, it’s NO JOKE whatsoever!
From what I heard this past week from EMS, the nurses and doctors in the Emergency Room, specialists and anyone that’s known someone, who has had to pass a kidney stone, it is supposedly more painful than having a baby!
Well, I have never had a baby yet, but I can certainly attest to the fact that it’s the most painful thing I’ve ever had to go through in my life!
My stone was 4 mm. I’ve known about it since July, when it was seen on a CT scan as an incidental finding. “Oh, by the way, you have a 4 mm kidney stone too.” Yeah, thanks…NOT!
I haven’t had pain with it until Sunday night, when within 5 minutes I went from feeling fine, to screaming at the top of my lungs and writhing in pain on the ground, vomiting and crying!
The ambulance couldn’t get here quick enough, as I met the EMTs halfway down our sidewalk…It was awful!
I couldn’t sit still for a minute.
What did they do for me?
They immediately gave me Gravol, then a shot of Morphine with the IV they started, before I got to the hospital.
At the hospital, I received shots of Toradol throughout the evening, and they scheduled me for referral to a specialist and sent me home after I was more comfortable, promising it would be within the next 2 days. They sent me home with more Toradol.
No call for 3 days, and then a call with my scheduled CT for SATURDAY! Are you kidding? What if…well, I have another attack, right?
Well, as I could only take the Toradol every 6 hrs, I happened to have another really bad attack last night, Wednesday, where the pills just didn’t kick in. Again, vomiting, screaming and writhing in pain as I waited for the ambulance.
No pain med or Gravol this time in the ambulance…I had to wait this time. However, the pain was more excrutiating than ever.
When I got to the ER, they gave me 2 different pain meds, one of which was Toradol and Gravol to boot.
Throughout the night, I also received morphine, but they actually sent me for an x-ray last night, and scheduld a CT for the next day. A CT was done this morning and the urologist came in to see me.
I told them that 2 weeks ago, my stone was still in the same place as in July, the northern pole of my right kidney, and was still 4 mm big, which actually is quite a large stone. I said to the doctor that apparently my stone is moving…
The specialist laughed and said, “You’re not kidding. It’s not just moving, it’s sprinting for the door!” I asked why and he said it was only 2 mm from entering my bladder, where I’d be able to pass it and feel no more pain.
He gave me the option of staying in the hospital to pass it, or go to the comfort of my own home to pass it with medications of course. At least I would know exactly what it is, how far it has to go and equipped with pain management.
I opted to go home, and he sent me with Toradol and Flomax - a drug for men’s prostates…Sounds strange, but it was supposed to help with the spasms of the bladder and surrounding urinary tract.
Now, he said if I had to come back into the ER, he would have to admit me and may have to go in to get it surgically, if mother nature couldn’t handle it itself.
Well, I’m pleased to say, I passed it this evening and I must say, with instant and immediate relief!
Problem is, they say once you get them, you are more prone to getting them again.
This was no fun! I can totally empathize with others who have stones! You don’t want to get them!
***
I wanted to share this experience with those of you trying to figure out what’s going on and what they’ll do to help you.
I hope you learned from this Urinary Tract post on Your Health Today! Until next time…
I hope you never have to go through this in your lifetime,
Kimberly Edwards
P.S. Apparently, you can get supplements that you can get to prevent yourself from getting them. Believe me, I’ll be investing in these…I NEVER want to go through that again:
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A ct scan I had today showed I have a lot of little stones and one big one. The nurse said it was the biggest she ever saw. The thing is I feel nothing except a small ache in my back. They had me do the ct scan because I am peeing large amounts of blood. I think they may have to operate. Should I wait till it passes? What options did they give you? Did they tell you what kind of stone it was? thanks!
Hello ck1:
I’m sorry to hear of your diagnosis…that’s no fun!
You are urinating blood because the crystals are scraping the sides of your urinary tract and injuring it.
A CT scan is the correct thing for them to use to diagnose kidney stones.
Your back will hurt because of it. In fact, as was in my case, I had shooting pain all the way up my back to my shoulder blades, cramping and it felt like I was being stabbed.
My doctor said it’s all as a result of your body cramping and spasming from the stones passing.
They may have to operate on the stone if it’s really that large.
You can go through a method where they blast it with ultrasound waves and the you have to pass the smaller parts it was blasted into. Still painful.
…Or you can pass it…Passing it is no joke…
Seriously, you feel like you’re going to die! It’s the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. They say, if you can pass a kidney stone, having a baby is a piece of cake.
Those are really your only options. I decided to pass mine, after they finally gave me my options, because it had passed through 1 foot of my urinary tract already and I had only 2mm left. I knew what it was, I had medication to help me, and I just had to deal with it.
Really, no option is a good option when it comes to a kidney stone…It’s just about what you think you can handle.
I hope this helps you in some way to determine your best plan of attack…
Kimberly