Kidney Stones

Stephen had his very first kidney stone attack on Sydney's birthday, Sunday, April 11th. We were eating lunch at Boston Pizzeria and he went to the bathroom and never came out. We weren't sure what was happening at first but ended up at an emergency clinic and the doctor said, based on the symptoms Stephen was describing, that Stephen may have a large stone that was not able to pass. He recommended a CT Scan, but we chose not to do that, thinking we'd give it time to pass before we paid for an expensive test. We left the emergency clinic armed with a nausea and pain medication, which Stephen carried in his pocket at all times.

Several days later, Stephen had his second attack but the medicine seemed to kick in after about an hour. Two-and-a-half weeks passed with no pain or discomfort, so we assumed he'd passed it.

The next attack hit on his flight home from a business trip. The pain meds were locked in the overhead bins. He suffered terrible pain and when he got home he was out-for-the-count. He had another attack from about midnight until about 6 am, and this time the pain medicine was not cutting it.

We called our primary care doctor and she recommended a CT scan. The scan revealed he has large stones that are lodged in his urinary tract. He was given a prescription for Flomax, a medication that would open up his ureter and make the stones more likely to pass. He was also given another pain medication that is apparently very potent and can only be taken for about 5 days before it causes internal bleeding. We hoped, of course, the stones would pass during that time period, but they have not.

Stephen saw a urologist last week and had another x-ray. Stephen's stones are large and stones this size only pass 20% of the time. The urologist ordered an Intravenous Pyleogram (IVP), which is an X-ray they'll do after injecting a dye into Stephen's kidney. Once they have verified the exact location of the stones then they will schedule him for a stone-removal procedure.

The procedure will require general anesthesia because they will go through his urinary tract to blast the stones with a laser. The kidney may swell so they will then put in a urinary stent to help urine drain from the kidney to the bladder. Five days later he will have the stent removed.

Stephen's IVP is at 9:00 tomorrow morning. He will then see the urologist again to schedule the procedure. I'll keep you updated as we learn more. We are praying that the stones would pass before then but are trusting God to do whatever is best. Your prayers are coveted.