Kidney Stones

[cathrine001]

I was diagnosed with a 7mm stone lodged in the upper one-third of the L ureter; the stone was there more than a month while I was trying to get assistance. During this time, the L kidney enlarged and I ran fever off an on.

I had a ureteroscopy with a basket removal. After surgery, a stent was placed in the L kidney, ureter and bladder. After going home the next afternoon (Friday, July 3), I was in severe pain which was non-stop and agonizing, screaming in pain during urination, and fever of anywhere from 99-101 degrees.

On Tuesday, July 7, I called the surgeon's office; I was told that my symptoms were normal and my concerns were invalidated. I was angry and felt abandoned by my doctor. Two days later, on Thursday, July 9, I finally went to the emergency room where I was diagnosed with a massive urinary tract infection; the suspected source was bacteria in the swollen kidney that was released after removal of the kidney stone. I was placed on Macrodantin, because I cannot tolerate most other antibiotics. A CT was done to rule out damage to the urinary tract and to confirm proper placement of the stent.

On Sunday, July 12, I was no better, and returned to the emergency room where I was given Rocephin and three bags of IV fluids. I was told to finish the Macrodantin and to see my doctor on Tuesday, July 14 to check with him and to have the stent removed. I was also told that the urinary tract was very irritated, which was causing the pain with urination. I have had many, many UTI but never anything painful like this.

The doctor told me I have "no UTI infection," which was in direct conflict with lab tests at the hospital and the opinion of the physicians who treated me. When I questioned the fever and night sweats every evening, he basically shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't have an answer for me.

I was very anxious about having the stent removed because of the pain I was having, and during the stent removal, I cried out in pain, and was basically told it shouldn't hurt, and that I was overreacting.

Ten minutes after leaving the surgeon's office, I was still crying and began cramping for the next 24 hours. I also continued to have fever until I took my last two Macrodantin yesterday, July 17.

Fever is gone now, and I am feeling better, but am plagued by a lot of fatigue. Blood tests were normal in the ER, but I had a white count of 18 (normal is 4.5 - 10). I have no energy, and just going to the grocery store is exhausting. I am too tired to eat at times.

If anyone has any insight to why I am having fatigue after this procedure, I would appreciate any information you may have. Research online has not produced any information whatsoever.

Thank you,

Catherine

[Jor-el]

Catherine,

Having had a doctor ignore my symptoms while I was runing up to full blown systemic Staph I can tell you that you are your own best health care advocate. But I think you already know that. The word that comes to mind in your case is "Lawyer." The other words are "new doctors" till you get one that knows what they are doing.

Question: What do they call the person who graduates at the bottom of their class in medical school?
Answer: Doctor.

Joel

[cathrine001]

I do know this -- thanks for the friendly reminder of how to deal with a moron. Update: blood tests show I am anemic with elevated white count.

Thanks,

~C

[sessy1979]

I was reading your post and my husband had the ureteroscopy in November. Your story sounds identical to what happened to him. For months he suffered with pains and was in an out of the ER for 4 - 5 months. He had been to several urologist before and it had been a total waste of time so he was reluctant to see another one. But finially he made an appointment to see one after months of pain.
They did a CT scan and said the stone was about 5mm and put him on Flomax for 2 weeks. Needless to say the Flomax didn't work so they scheduled him for a ureteroscopy the following week. He was told it was a "basic" procedure and he'd be out of work for 3 days tops. The surgery was successful and while my husband ws in recovery the urologist came in to talk with us. My husband's 5mm stone turned out to be a 9mm stone that was enbedded into the ureter....which had probably been there for the 4-5 months he'd been in pain. They sent him home with a stent and he was in alot of pain. This was on a Friday. Saturday and laid around all day (sitting up because it was to painful to lay flat) but looked to be getting around well by himself. Saturday and started getting horrible pains and was reduced to tears. So Sunday morning around 5am we took him to the ER. The ER doctor checked him out and my husband kept asking them to call his urologist but they told him that they could only contact the "on-call" urologist, which the ER doctor did, and he was instructed to remove the stent. My husband felt a little better and they released him. No more than 15 mins after we left the ER he started feeling severe pain that had him on his knees screaming and crying out. Within 30 mins we were back in the ER. They started giving him pain meds through an IV. The "on-call" urologist was ordering nurses to do tests over the phone all day. He never came in to see my husband all day. At around 6pm the night ... an ER doctor decided to admit him because the "on-call" urologist said he didn't feel right about admitting a patient for "pain control". We were all very upset and frustrated because this doctor never came in to examine him and basically wanted to send him home in pain.
That following day which was Monday we kept being told my husband's urologist would come by and see him. He didn't even show up at the hospital room until 6pm that evening. He didn't even examine him just basically stood there shrugging his shoulders on the reason why my husband was in so much pain. My husband's urine would go from clear to green to yellow. But the urologist had no explanation for that either. Basically we were told the urinary tract was very irritated from removing the stent. My husband spent 4 days in the hospital being pumped if pain meds and really no explanation. When he got home he was still in some pain but it had eased up a great deal. It probably took about 2-3 weeks before he started feeling like himself again. He swore he'd never get another ureteroscopy no matter how big the stone. He said it was worse then actually passing a stone. My husband was so upset with the "on-call" urologist we filed a complaint with the hospital.

[cathrine001]

Reading aboout your husband's experience made my heart ache. I am so sorry. I would seriously consider filing a formal complaint with the medical society in your state about this. There is no excuse for what happened. You may want to consider another doctor at a teaching hospital. I found the best doctor, Dr. Brian Matlaga, Professor of Stone Diseases at Johns Hopkins University Urology Clinic, in Baltimore, Maryland. I didn't have insurance, and so I couldn't have my surgery there, but he is the best urologist I have found anywhere. If you need a phone number for him, let me know.

Your family is in my prayers.

Catherine

[sessy1979]

Thanks for your prayers. Since his ureteroscopy in November he hadn't had any issues with kidney stones til about 2 weeks ago. He got up to go to work and was having really bad pains in abdomen....not the usual pains in his lower back when he's had kidney stones before. He's really unsure what was going on but after about 45 mins he started getting sick and knew that it was kidney stones. We drove to the hospital and they literally let him sit in the waiting room for 3 hrs before getting him back into a room.....despite him getting sick outside or being doubled over in pain. After 6 hrs at the ER they sent him home with pain meds and a referral to see a urologist. The CT scans showed kidney stones in both kidney's and one in the ureter. His instructions were to drink plenty of liquids so he could pass it. Four days later he was still in pain and decided to go to an URGENT care because he couldn't stand the thought of having to wait in the ER for hours. They did a CT scan the stone was still in the ureter and again they prescribed him pain meds and sent him home. We called to get him an appointment at the urologist and luckily they set him up an appointment this past Tuesday. Early Tuesday morning he was at work still taking his pain meds and ended up having to go to the ER again because he was doubled over in pain. The ER doctor told him he had an infection. Prescribed him antibotics and pain meds once again. He went to his scheduled appt. at the urologist and they looked at the CT scans and the 3mm kidney stone was still in the ureter but the urologist said he didn't have an infection. The urologist's instructions were to go home, take pain meds, drink liquids, take Flomax and he "should" be able to pass it but they'd follow up in a week. We get this same song and dance everytime he gets a kidney stone. They have told us their is no medication you can take to keep from getting stones but there's a medication that can be prescribed to keep the stones from getting to big but none of the urologist have yet to prescribe him anything expect pain meds and antibotics. My husband has been dealing with kidney stones for the past 8 yrs and all these urologist do is prescribe him pain meds to the point where his tolerance for pain medication is so high the meds don't even work half the time unless he doubles the dosage.
I read about Renavive while researching herbal remedies for kidney stones because let's face it nothing else is helping. And at this point he'll try anything.

[cathrine001]

Where are you located? You may need to travel outside your immediate area to get some answers.

What kind of stones is your husband making? If they are calcium stones, sugars and salts may add to the problem. One thing that kidney patients seem to have in common is a history of not drinking enough fluids. Drinking Coke, Pepsi and other carbonated drinks aggravates urinary tract issues. Orange juice is also a no-no, so I have read.

I personally detest water, and I am hardly ever thirsty. I will sometimes go the entire day without drinking anything, because I am not thirsty. Yesterday it was hot and I became overheated easily when I was shopping for groceries. I drank an entire quart of grapefruit juice, but it was odd that I never realized I was thirsty until after the first sip, and then my brain told me to drink more, and I downed a quart in just a few seconds. I don't know about anyone else, but I have kidney pain when I drink nothing, and when I drink a lot, the pain eases. The point of this is to encourage your husband to be drinking 8 oz of water (or even Crystal Light) every hour. The drinking of fluids dilutes the crystals which create the kidney stones. A cup of liquid ever hour equals 96 ounces consumed every day; the standard is 8-10 glasses.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

I have included a link to some interesting information from WebMD on kidney stone prevention:

http://www.webmd.com/kidney-stones/kidney-stones-prevention

At the bottom of this page, the following is noted (read this carefully):

Medicine to prevent calcium stones
About 80% of kidney stones are calcium stones. Calcium stones cannot be dissolved by changing your diet or taking medicines. There are medicines that may keep calcium stones from getting bigger or may prevent new calcium stones from forming:

Thiazides (such as hydrochlorothiazide, chlorthalidone)
Potassium citrate (Urocit-K)
Orthophosphate (Neutra-Phos)
Cholestyramine (Questran)

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Read as much as you can on the subject, which helps to make us all more informed consumers.

Best regards,

Catherine

[sessy1979]

They have told him he has calicum stones.

[cathrine001]

>>Medicine to prevent calcium stones:
About 80% of kidney stones are calcium stones. Calcium stones cannot be dissolved by changing your diet or taking medicines. There are medicines that may keep calcium stones from getting bigger or may prevent new calcium stones from forming:

Thiazides (such as hydrochlorothiazide, chlorthalidone)
Potassium citrate (Urocit-K)
Orthophosphate (Neutra-Phos)
Cholestyramine (Questran)<<

Potassium citrate is non-prescription, so that will help to keep the stones he has from getting larger. HCT (hydrochlorothiazide) is an inexpensive diuretic/blood pressure medication (by prescription).
You may be able to find more information on the Web.

[Courtneyfshane]

Oh my God, the same thing happened to me, did we have the same urologist? No lie, your story is so much like mine. Now The stints they put in and took out, have left me in a PERMINATE state of pain