Revenge of the Kidney Stones

Jonathon has had a kidney stone previously, so at the beginning of July when he started getting the familiar pain in his back, he was fairly confident about what it was. It has been several years since his last one though, so all of his medication was expired. After he couldn't handle the pain any more, we made the drive to emergency room and got him checked out. Sure enough, it was another kidney stone. Unfortunately, this time the stone was so large that it was completely blocking the ureter and causing loads of swelling, which was the main cause of the pain.

While it may not sound that impressive, a 17 mm kidney stone is a giant! The doctor said that it would not be able to pass on its own, so we scheduled an appointment for lithotripsy. During lithotripsy, they hit the stone with ultrasound waves until it breaks apart into many tiny, tiny pieces. They then insert a stent so that the dust and tiny stones can pass more easily. The main benefit of lithotripsy is that it is fairly non-invasive, so healing is faster. The disadvantage is that you have to wait for the stones to pass naturally.

Getting ready for surgery... we had to laugh at the gigantic shorts he had to wear.

Jonathon's procedure went pretty smoothly. Apparently, his abdomen was so full of air that they weren't able to get a great look at where the stone was, but they felt like they got the job done. He came out of the anesthesia wonderfully. He was sitting up and chatting with me just a few minutes after he was done. I found it amusing because I wake up from anesthesia so groggy that I can hardly function.

We went home about an hour later, and he was feeling pretty good already. He passed many, many little stones just fine, but occasionally he would feel quite a bit of pain from the bigger ones. He had to cancel a trip to one of his scientific conferences because he knew he just wouldn't be up for driving 10 hours right after surgery. That was a bummer, but at least it was an option. This "on and off again" pain lasted for a couple of weeks. He tried to work normally, but he was very lethargic and just not feeling great for a lot of the time.

About 3 weeks after the procedure, he went back to the doctor. They did an x-ray and found that he still had several stones left, so they asked him to keep the stent in longer. He handled the stent fairly well, but it wasn't something that he was excited about. During the next few weeks he passed a whole bunch more. He was supposed to collect them so that they could run tests on them to determine what kind of stones they were. He didn't collect all of them, but he probably had at least 50 in various sizes. Poor guy!

Another month passed, and he was still not feeling great, but the pain was mostly gone. Instead it was mostly just tired and achy. Finally, it was time to retrieve the stent and be done. It was supposed to be an in-office procedure, but he came home feeling very discouraged because they had gone in and couldn't find the stent. What!?!

Apparently, sometimes the stent gets bumped or jostled and moves up a bit. When this happens, they have to schedule another procedure at the hospital to put him under to go retrieve it. Not only would it cost us a boatload more money, but he would have to take even more time off work. We were so upset, and Jonathon was beyond frustrated. This kidney issue just seemed to go on and on. He had endured this for months, and just wanted to feel normal again. We were feeling very sympathetic for people who have long-term health problems.

The procedure worked, and they were able to get the stent out. He got to come home quickly to rest. It took a few more weeks, but he finally started feeling better. Having the stent out was very helpful in getting rid of the constant fatigue he had been experiencing.

When he had his final doctor's appointment, they told him that his stones were calcium-oxalate stones. That is the most common type of stone, and they typically occur when you don't have enough calcium to bind with the oxalate in your system. There are some things that can be done to help prevent stones, though genetics plays a big role. The doctor advised him of some things he can do:

• Drink plenty of water
• Eat less foods that are rich in oxalate (spinach, peanuts, almonds, potato chips, chocolate, etc.)
• Get enough calcium
• Lose weight
• Eat less protein (red meats esp.) 
• Eat a low-sodium diet

Jonathon doesn't think that all the stones passed, but so far they haven't caused any more problems. We have been trying hard to stick to the guidelines to help prevent the kidney stones, but it is hard when he loves so many of those foods. I think he would give them up though if it meant not going through that again!