The pain gets worse and you can't get any relief. On a scale of 1 to 10 for pain, you have a 14! Most likely you are the owner of a dreaded kidney stone. Been there, done that, too many times.
Probably you will go to the ER where they will most likely do a CT scan to verify that there is a stone and where it is located. If you are fortunate it may already be on its way out or it is a small smooth stone. But maybe you won't be that fortunate and you are destined to endure the pain every time the stone moves for days or maybe even weeks. Been there, done that too.
The ER might give you pain meds by IV and eventually decide to send you home with pain pills and pills for nausea. That is something you don't want to do, but you may not have any choice unless they decide to admit you. You will spend your days at home collecting and sifting your urine hoping to find that the stone has passed. You will pace and try other things to bear the pain.
The pain can be horrendous - actually much worse than labor. My wife has experienced both and will testify to that. With labor the pain comes and goes. With a kidney stone it is continuous. If the stone is large or jagged it is worse. Pray that it is small and smooth.
Should you not pass it naturally, there is a process called lithotripsy where they try to break it into pieces with sound waves. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. There are also some surgical procedures that they can use if nothing else works. But surgery does have risks.
I have had a history of stones dating back about 50 years. Some passed quickly, others lasted for weeks. They do run in families. Both my father and son suffered with them.
Several years ago I had my regular checkup with my urologist and had an x-ray before my appointment just to check on any possible stones which might be developing. I met a gentleman there from Manheim who was scheduled for an x-ray following mine and he also had an appointment with the same doctor following my appointment. He was there because he was having real problems with a stone. His name was also Kauffman.
At my appointment the doctor shocked me by telling me that my stone was so large that it would need to be smashed. I was stunned. I didn't have any pain or symptoms. I knew what it felt like to have stones. I asked the doctor if he was sure that he had my x-rays and not his following patient also named Kauffman. He was upset that I would ask such a question and said that I needed to schedule lithotripsy. So I did.
The procedure was not that difficult. I was put to sleep and the procedure used the properties of an ellipse, an application of which I had often shared in my advanced math classes. When it was done I was told that it was successful and that I would have some difficulty and blood when I passed the pieces. I was also told that I would possibly be black and blue. Days passed and none of these things happened. To this day I still wonder if they had the correct Kauffman.
They were able to analyze some of my previous stones and placed me on a medicine, Urocit-K to try to eliminate future stones. While I have been carrying a large one which they think will never move, I have been free of stones for the past 20 years. But two years ago a specialist took me off of that med because of my low magnesium levels. And after my heart surgery they added to my meds 3,000 units daily of Vitamin D. I just read that Vitamin D can cause stones.
And guess what? On a recent Thursday afternoon the familiar pain began once again. Some recent x-rays of my back had shown that some new stones had formed, so I shouldn't have been surprised. So off to the ER once again. The CT scan showed a 3 mm stone which was beginning to move. They gave me an IV which helped with the pain and after about five hours they sent me home with more pain meds to fight with it there.
Finally on Saturday my pain began to lessen. The stone probably had moved to my bladder. And then, on Sunday evening, I found the stone in my urine. What a relief! And, PTL, it was a smooth black one which apparently didn't cause any bleeding or damage on its way out.
For your information, a 4 mm stone has an 80% chance of passage while a 5 mm stone has a 20% chance. Stones larger than 9 mm to 10 mm rarely pass without specific treatment. Most smaller stones will typically pass within a few days to a few weeks. Provided you are in good health, you can try for up to 6 weeks to pass a stone, although most patients elect for earlier intervention. But I hope that you never have to worry about this.
And so life goes on. The one good thing about stones is that the experience gives you a model to compare when in the future you are asked to give a number from 1 to 10 for your current pain. Kidney pain certainly is the top of the scale. Other than that, I can't think of any additional benefit of the experience - unless maybe you save your stones and make a necklace out of them.
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