Re: I gave at the orifice, or Steve's wonderful day at the ER

[Guest guest]

Steve,

I have been through the kidney stone nightmare. My stones

would not pass so they had to use ultrasound waves to break them

up. The pain was incredible. The surgeon said that the pain is

like childbirth pain but you don't get a baby to show for it when

it is all over! This happened in '93 so the stones were never

analyzed. I am still not sure what type they were. What I am sure of

is that every day of my life I will always drink atleast 48 ounces of

water but on average I drink about 76 ounces of liquid. I have only

broken this rule of thumb once which was my first post-op week. As a

result I have not had a kidney stone in 8 years. I have friends who

get a few stones a year and most of them pass them on their own. What

they all have in common is that most of them drink less than 36 ounces

of liquid a day. I am not a doctor but I have to believe that the

difference between them and myself is the amount of liquid I take in.

I should also add that I have suffered from mild lactose intolerance

since '91 so there is a good chance that my stones are calcium

related. I believe that if you take in enough fluids the stones will

not have a chance to grow because they are being washed out before

they have a chance to really form.

Tina(plateau finally broken!~!)

Lap DS, Dr. Gagner, 07/03/2001

Goal: Lose 90% of Excess Weight

*******************************

* Starting Weight = 267 *

* " Ideal " Weight = 135 *

* =========================== *

* Total Excess Weight = 132 *

* 90% x Excess Weight = 118 *

* Goal Weight = 265-118 = 145 *

* =========================== *

* Total Needed to Lose = 118 *

* Loss To Date = 46 *

* =========================== *

* Remainder to Goal = 72 *

*******************************

> Hi, y'all,

>

> Just a quickie to let you know that I awoke at 5:00 AM to terrible

> pain in the front, lower right quadrant of my torso. That's where

> the biliary limb is surgically connected to the common channel. I

> guessed that it was yet another kidney stone, but was also concerned

> that it could be twisted intestine--which, as most of you know can

> spoil your whole day if not resolved quickly. So, I had Dr. Elariny

> paged. He called me back within five minutes!!! I figured that he

> would already have awakened to get ready for surgery, but he sounded

> as though I had actually rousted him from sleep. He agreed that my

> self-diagnosis of a kidney stone was probably correct, but he asked

> me to go to the emergency room to have some pictures taken just to

> rule out intestinal kinking.

>

> I took Percoset (oxycodone) at home (left over from my DS pain

meds).

> It helped the pain considerably, but it was still quite pronounced.

> I hit the ER just at the right moment--close to 6:00 AM. The place

> was deserted, and I was taken right away with zero delay--an hour

> later, and the place was crawling with sick people. I got super

> care, and I knew that I had passed the stone into my bladder while

> waiting to be wheeled in for an X-ray, as the pain eased up 95%. I

> used a urinal, the the nurse filtered the urine and said " Bingo! "

> Three tiny stones. My urine had ben sparse, despite my having

forced

> lots of liquids, and it was almost brown (blood from the stones'

> having torn their way through the ureter on the way to the bladder.

> I was discharged by 10:00 AM, and my son and I went to IHOP to

> celebrate with their $2.99 special (2 eggs 2 sausage or bacon, and 2

> pancakes--more than i could finish). Later in the afternoon, I had

> to take another Percoset, as the pain had returned, though not at

all

> as intense as at 5:00 AM. So, I had a great snooze in la-la land.

> Oh, the wonders of good drugs! Well, it's off to bed now.

>

> Bottom line concern: I have a urologist appointment on Monday (it

had

> already been scheduled); if analysis of the stones points to a

> calcium base, what, if any influence might the dietary calcium

> supplementation have on this? Anybody have any ideas here? Similar

> question about all the animal protein that I have been ingesting

> post-op.

>

> --Steve

> --

> Steve Goldstein, age 61

> Lap BPD/DS on May 2, 2001

> Dr. Elariny, INOVA Fairfax Hospital, Virginia

> Starting (05/02/01) BMI = 51

> BMI on 09/12 = 41 (-63 lb.)