Hello All - Please share your litho experiences with me - good and bad!

Having had a staghorn stone surgically removed 12 months ago my follow up has shown another stone forming.

Thankfully no surgury needed and I am scheduled for Litho on 6th Jan.

Can anyone give any advice please? I've read lots about the procedure on the web and it all seems pretty straightforward but I'm scared stiff about having to pass the fragments! Thankfully I've never experienced any type of pain relating to stones but I've heard it compared to childbirth! :eek:

I'm hoping that these little suckers will be blasted into non-exisitence and all will pass without a hint of a problem (which I think is the idea) but does anyone know how likely this is?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Girlie
xxxx

Well the first advice i can offer you is not to worry. depending on the place they do it, it means they do two to three time a day five days a week. I just had a combination cystoscopy/lithoptripsy done and it scared the hell out of me. The first few days it was very bad, and the stent they inserted is uncomfortable but you get used to it quickly. I just passed my first noticable stone fragment tonight and it was completely painless. The pain i've felt was from the bruising of the kidney from the lithotripsy.

Be sure to do a follow up seven to ten days after the litho, try not to worry and drink a ton of water. A medication called Flexeril sometimes helps as well. If you develop a fever or don't stop bleeding after a reasonable time then call your doctor immediately.

you can read my story on another post, and best of luck to you and a happy new year.

Thanks a million for taking the time to reply! - much appreciated

I'm off for the litho tomorrow evening and I'm a little calmer now than I was before. Thanks for the tips also - I'll see if I can get some of the meds you mentioned. I'm supposed to be flying to the USA with my job on Jan 17th so they're going to put a stent in for me too. I had one of these last year when I had the surgery to remove the larger one so I'm pretty ok with what to expect in that respect. I think being a girl helps here too - it's a little easier on us that it is on the men :)

Anyway, thanks again for your help. I'll post back when I'm done! :)




GG

Thanks a million for taking the time to reply! - much appreciated so they're going to put a stent in for me too. I think being a girl helps here too - it's a little easier on us that it is on the men :)

Your very welcome ! try to make sure you get a Double J Stent with a String for easier removal. I've still got mine in and i'm dreading it being removed. Your right it's probably much easier for women with stents than men. I'm going nuts with mine :eek:

I wish you the very best in your surgery and hope everything goes smooth and well. I'll look forward to hearing about your experiences.

Also ask about a follow up appointment to check what the stone is and why your getting stones to see if thiers any changes to your diet you can make so you don't need any more surgeries. I read something about citrus being good because it washes the crystals from your kidneys before they have time to make a stone. I think my stones were mainly caused by Excessive TEA and no water. The Urologist at the Stone center told me in no uncertain terms drink as much water as you need, if your urine isn't the same color as what your drinking then your not drinking enough.

Have a safe and happy flight as well.