7 mm kidney stone

[Cary]

Any advice?

[Anon-C]

1. Pass!

[Thomas Hurt]

2. Don't the docs break those up into smaller pieces that are easier to pass nowadays?

Not that passing them is at all easy.

[dewsgirl]

7. Only when they are to big to pass.

7 mm, I believe fits that category, the doctor should have discussed this option with the OP.

[woodsprite]

3. Lithotripsy, if they'll do it.

My dr. said that 5mm and beyond don't pass on their own (for females). In the last 2 years, I've had a 5mm, 12mm, and am in the process of ridding myself of the remains of a 9mm. The 5 and 12 were at the same time, so they did laser ureteroscopy for the majority, then I went back a few months later to have them blast the remaining with the sound waves (lithotripsy). For the 9mm, we went with the sound waves as well - non-invasive, and if they get it busted to the point that it is like sand grains, not much pain at all when they move from the kidney to the bladder. They sent me home with 12 hydrocodone, and I've taken exactly 1/2 of a pill. That was when a piece about 3mm x 1mm was on the move. With the ureteroscopy, I was sent home with a stent for 4 days. The stent was the worst part of the whole thing.

At 7mm, if it's not causing problems, they may give you to option to wait. My urologist was willing to do that with the 9mm, but it had grown over the year, so I wanted it out.

Any questions, just ask away. This current bout is my 7th rodeo.

Best of luck and hope you're feeling better soon!

Oh, and drink your water. If you like having tea, try to stay away from green tea. Apparently if your stone is made up of calcium oxalate, green tea is worse for you than black tea because of the components.

[mitch96]

9. Did they knock you out for the procedure??

Years ago a friend ran a lithotripsy department. I was asking about the procedure and he said (and this was 20 years ago) that they used general anesthesia because of the pain. He asked me if I want to feel what it was like. I said ok and I put my arm in the unit and he hit it only once. Felt like I got hit with a baseball bat!! Ouch!! On the other hand it's better than the alternative which was surgery... I've seen big strong strapping men go down like a ton of bricks with kidney stones.
The only recourse was heavy doses of opiates...
m

[woodsprite]

10. Yes, they knocked me out for both lithos I've been through.

Not sure what they used last time, but this time they used a combo of Propofol and Zofran. Other than some slight bleeding from the kidney for a day, no other side effects from the procedure. They said I may feel like I had gotten "kidney punched" and have some bruising, but I felt great afterwards. I did stay home 3 days, but that 2nd night was when I took the 1/2 hydrocodone because things started to go on the move from the kidney to the bladder. Haven't needed one since. If there is minor pain in the kidney area (not enough for the heavy duty painkillers), 2 tylenol and some heat applied really helped get through some "pinchy" bouts.

[mitch96]

11. "used a combo of Propofol and Zofran"

Ahhh propofol..... we use to call it "milk of amnesia" Makes you forget you were in so much pain. So did it really happen?
Post litho CT scans are really ugly... Blood all over the retroperitoneal cavity is common.. Lookslike a bad gun shot wound... In the end all is well though. As one doctor once said
What did we do before these wonderful machines?...
m

[woodsprite]

14. Yeah, My dr. said he really didn't need to be there to push the button, so I could schedule

the procedure at any time. I guess they have specific kidney team from Johns Hopkins that comes down on a schedule to do the litho procedures. I told him if he was billing me for the procedure, I would schedule when he would be there. Good doc, but I didn't want to be totally farmed out to a traveling team and interns.

[dweller]

4. Morphine 1st

then follow through with poster #1
😳
good luck

✌🏼

[Kali]

19. and water

morphine and LOTS of water

[MosheFeingold]

5. All things will pass. n/t

[safeinOhio]

6. Juice of one lemon straight until it passes.

Be sure to rinse mouth, I drink it thru a straw, rinse and then brush. Can't hurt and I saw it on the internet.

[rzemanfl]

8. I was the victim of a bad stone measurement. They said 8 mm.

When the doctor broke it up he said it was the size of his little fingernail. Good luck.

[Totally Tunsie]

12. I've been fighting a couple of stones for the past week,

and bought some OTC Potassium Citrate after reading about it online. It's not an insta-cure, but it IS helping, apparently dissolving the stones. It's easy to take in capsule form, and is inexpensive.

I haven't been to a doctor b/c I thought I'd try flushing them out first. Seems to be working. So far, so good.

Good luck with yours!

https://www.cardiosmart.org/healthwise/hw20/4323/hw204323

[NurseJackie]

13. Good luck.

[Cary]

15. Yes, but kidney stones aren't smoothe

At the urologist now.

[NurseJackie]

16. Yep... most often crystalline.

I feel your pain. Sorry.

[Cary]

17. It turns out that it is 9 mm

There was no talk of passing it. I have a date with the lithotriptor on March 6.

Breaking up is so hard to.do.

[NurseJackie]

18. Smart decision.

👍