This too shall pass

[Vito]

Finally got rid of the doggone stone. It passed on its own...no need for surgical intervention, thankfully. :cheers:

 

[Jers]

Very pleased for you brother! :cheers:

A truly horrible experience - I'm glad it's at an end for you.

Fraternally

Jers

 

[puros_bran]

Your such a puss. Like a tiny rock in the dick warrants three pages ...





But you got to admit it's funny afterward. You expect Omak Lakes balancing rock.. or at least a Moeraki Boulder and out comes this BB.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

So glad that you are rid of this!

 

[DrT999]

I'm sure you're glad this is over! May there be no complications

 

[Briar Spirit]

Thank the heavens I have managed to only ever have very small stones passing myself with little more than moderately painful discomfort, yeah okay, it hurts and there was some stomach curling and floor hugging, but nothing as painful as yours was, very pleased for you that it's out, odd isn't it, you look back over the time it took to come out and you feel a bit of a wally for all the fuss ya made, wasn't so irrational whilst it was passing though huh. Very pleased for you that the pain is over, heal well, hope that baccy was good and powerful.

 

[Vito]

Yeah, pain is a strange thing. It's not like smells, sounds, tastes, or sights. When we recall pain, we can only recall the fact THAT it hurt, but not how it hurt. Good thing, too.

I think the pain was actually most intense in the second BigPain event. The first one was spookier because I had no idea what was happening. But by the second attack at least it didn't carry the added freak-out of not knowing what was causing it, and it was just a matter of toughing it out...er, if you call screaming your way through a two-hour worm dance "toughing it out".

But nope—I don't feel the least bit wussy about it. At least no more so than I do about any involuntary reaction. In fact, there was a part of my conscious mind that observed the whole thing without judgment and knows that the pain was in charge, not me.

Anyhow, thanks, brethren, for all your kind words. Even you, pb. :mrgreen:

 

[the rev]

well...

its not over. The stone is now sitting in your bladder. It is going to be uncomfortable til it comes out. You will feel like you need to pee all the time. My advice, drink lots and lots and lots of water, you want to give this thing every opportunity to come out. And you will actually feel the need to pee worse when you bladder is empty as the jagged edges of the stone press against the walls of your bladder. Strain your urine if you can, then when it comes out you will have something for the doctors to examine and see if its a "normal" stone or a less common one. Some of the less common ones respond well to medication.

glad you got this far, the next bit isn't anywhere near as traumatic

rev

 

[Vito]

rev:

No...it's gone, bro'. Outa there. I don't know when or how, but the urologist took X-rays to confirm it. No more symptoms, and no more stone. I don't know how or when it got out without my knowing it, but the films don't lie. I was sure I'd know when that bad boy squeezed itself through the dickular tube, but maybe it happened while I was oxycodonized. I wasn't feeling much of anything on that stuff.

The dick doc also showed me the CT scan they took when I first went to the hospital ER, moving through the cross-sections from top to bottom, starting above the kidney and moving downward step by step through the bladder. There was no question where the 5.07mm stone was. (Size "T" shot is 5.08mm, or 0.20 inches. A BB is 4.57mm, or 0.18 inches.)

I asked the doc whether it was likely that I could piss out the stone without knowing it. He said, "Yes...it does happen." A friend of mine who had a stone 25 years ago said he didn't feel anything when he pissed out the stone. Go figure.

Too bad there's no way to know when the stone began to form, or how long it took to accrete. In any case, it's noteworthy that at no time during my interaction with any of the "health care professionals" I saw since the dickstone first made its presence known did any of them discuss prevention. Perhaps they're interested only in treating it once it shows up, but for my part I'd prefer not to go through that ordeal again.

So, I'm eliminating all high oxalate foods from my regular diet—principally spinach, certain raw nuts (almonds are very high in oxalates...and were a favorite Vitonian snack), and various other kinds of chomp compounds. Anyone who is prone to getting kidney stones (especially calcium oxalate stones, which are the most common) can find some resources at http://www.ohf.org/diet.html; but there are many others.

And no more taking vitamins/food supplements with tea...at least not the calcium supplement. Turns out, calcium supplements should only be taken with meals, so the calcium will bind with stuff that comes out in the intestines. Taking calcium between meals increases the chance that it will bind with stuff that comes out in the kidneys. And taking calcium with black tea (which is relatively high in oxalates) is...er, unwise. :roll:

 

[the rev]

a 5 mil stone would be really hard to pass through the urethra without knowing, you must have a huge urethra



the 5 mil stone I had (most of the others had been around 2 or 3) was definitely felt coming out. In fact the chunks from the 10 mil stone that they exploded were all all very noticeable as well. I am happy for you brother. I hope your diet thing works for you, didn't work at all for me. My current urologist said... best thing you could do is drink lots of water, all of our other theories just don't seem to be right.

rev

 

[Slide]

Now that you're past it I'll say my brother in law had some come up last year. He has been off work every since. Turns out his urethra was kined so they did surgery for that. He kept having problems and they ended up having to do a second surgery. Turns out he had a keloid scar form on the urethra and closed of the drainage from that kidney. SO they are trying to deal with that also.

Bad deal. I'm very glad your situation went so much better!

 

[the rev]

I am guessing you mean the ureter?

rev

 

[Vito]

a 5 mil stone would be really hard to pass through the urethra without knowing, you must have a huge urethra...

Well, I assumed I'd have known it too. I passed some tiny blood clots and I felt those...and they were much smaller (and softer) than a 5mm rock.

I suppose the doc could be mistaken, and that the stone is still in the bladder. There's an awful lot of bone in that area, and I guess it's possible that interference from the spine could have hidden the stone. If that's the case, then I still have that to look forward to. :x

I'm showing no symptoms though. Urination is normal, and I'm not feeling any abnormal urge "to pee all the time". If it's still in there, it's not causing any problems...at least so far. It has been almost two weeks since I showed any symptoms. I'll just continue to drink lots of fluids and see what happens.

There are a couple of ways to tell for sure, of course. One of them is ureteroscopy. The two doctors I've consulted aren't inclined to go there in the absence of any symptoms and based on the results of the X-ray. The other way is another CT scan. I'm not big on that option because of the high amount of ionizing radiation involved. I'm already enough of a mutant. :mrgreen:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Glad you're feelin' better, Veet (or I at least assume so).. ...pain is a wonderful (terrible) motivator to listening to a body insisting on a change of pace for the better. Mine came in the form of IBS, peptic ulcers and certain food allergies. Hopefully the worst is over (for both our sakes).

8)

 

[the rev]

nah dude, that is an exit only

believe me, transgressing that is horrid

rev

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Vito, Good to here you're on the mend. It's amazing that it's just gone.

Huge urethra's, good for passing stones and fighting fires.

 

[Vito]

BTW, can somebody explain to me what all the bomb and spiky-thing icons are about underneath the signatures? I wasn't around when all that stuff started happening.

Thanks!

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

BTW, can somebody explain to me what all the bomb and spiky-thing icons are about underneath the signatures? I wasn't around when all that stuff started happening.

Thanks!

They're related to the monthly bombing missions posted as Stickies in the Community in Action portion of the forum. Bombs are related to the number of missions flown - Red bombs=5, Black Bombs=1, Stars are awards for accuracy, or other special achievements.

It's good fun.

 

[Slide]

I am guessing you mean the ureter?

rev

yes :lol:

 

[Vito]

They're related to the monthly bombing missions posted as Stickies in the Community in Action portion of the forum. Bombs are related to the number of missions flown - Red bombs=5, Black Bombs=1, Stars are awards for accuracy, or other special achievements.

It's good fun.

Slide:

Thanks for that.