I Am Living with the Kidney Stone Disease

I am A healthy 33 Year old mother of three. Well, The healthy part is kind of sticky. I have a kidney disease.

10 Years ago I got sick during a very hectic day at work. I called my step mom and she agreed to pick up my kids from school. I went home to lay down. When I reached my king size custom made bed I laid belly down on the bottom corner and stayed right in that same spot for three days. My Dad and step mom lived more than an hours drive away. I was alone, sweating, shaking and scared. I was unable even to remove my black dress shoes. My $70.00 gold plated watched fogged up and peeled as I drifted from a state of fear to a state of unconsciousness.

My family took me to the minor emergency clinic. I was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection. Armed with antibiotics my body attempted to recover. Two weeks later the pain and bloody urine arrived in and the same physician began a cycle of ignoring. More antibiotics and cultures were perfectible. Six weeks of pain, pain medication and being ignored by medical professionals passed by and I began to drag like a wet rag.

I do admit it took me a while to see a urologist. But, as of now I do not remember much of this six week time period. I was taking enormous amounts pain medication. The mediation helped to ease the pain. Yet, it also seems to have dulled my thinking process.

21 Percent blood in my urine led this urologist to belive that I had a strong possibility of cancer. My mom and step father drove 250 miles to be by my side. The test results were better than cancer. I had kidney stones.

I was wheeled From the ex-ray room to the emergency room. Being so drugged, I do not remember why. But, I remember when this big man Held the x- ray Before a light and he said, "See this kidney it is not working - - and this one is barely working". A calcium based stone had formed in each of my kidneys and took a little ride simultaneously through both sides of my Urinary tract. There they stayed stuck, stopping any urine from leaving my body. Within this six weeks my kidneys had swollen and then when about to burst they stopped.

It dawned on me that my recent weight gain had nothing to do with my love for star crunches as I had earlier been told. I was swelling. 23 pound of poisoning fluid was finding somewhere to stay. The out break of zits along my cheek line also had nothing to do the my star crunch consumption. My own urine was poisoning me.

The procedure commonly used to treat kidney stones is called Lithotripsy. This procedure can be done by sending sound waves through your body to the stone and crushing the kidney stone. Yet, if the kidney stone is in your urinary tract, and you have ovaries a scope is inserted in your urethra and threaded to the kidney stone where it can be " blown up" locally. Most physicians feel that it is possible for the lithotropsy to damage a woman's ovaries( or cause them to explode). So they isolate the sound waves locally and do not send them throughout the entire body cavity.

In my experience the Lithotripsy ("Litho" as I call it) is pretty neat. It is reasonably un invasive and it is quite effective. Some bruising does occur but I have not had a bad experience with this. As the crushed stones move to the bladder pain and fresh blood come with it. It hurts, but after having you urinary tract stopped up, this is a release.
The next step of kidney stone recovery is the bad part. A double J urinary stent is threaded through the urethra, then the bladder and is pushed through the urinary tract to the kidney.

Let me describe the evils of the urinary stent. We have all have seen speaker wire. (look at the back of your stereo) Well, That is what a urinary stent looks like. A 14 inch piece of speaker wire that forms sturdy loop on each end. It is hollow and has small pin size holes about every quarter inch through out its length. One end of the stent loops in your kidney and the other in you bladder. This is left in place to keep the aggrivated urinary tract from swelling shut. The period of time that It is left in place depends on how much damage was done to the Urinary Tract ( 3 to 7 Days Average). Sounds like a smart idea. It is. But, While the stent is inside the bladder the bladder objects. A bladder needs to be emptied when full. The presence of plastic inside the bladder causes quite the disturbance. The bladder contracts like 10 thousand Leg cramps.

My kidneys work now. They filter my blood and take their vital part in my living. Yet, since my battle with kidney(renal)false. I have formed and fought 9 more stones. Every few weeks or so I have pressure as a small stone forces it way out. 11 stones have demanded large amounts of attention.

I have Nephrocalcinosis. Simply stated, My kidney misplace calcium. They hold onto calcium and eventually stones occur. The occurrence of Kidney stones can be a side affect of Gout or Thyroid Disorders. But I have none of these disorders. I have been treated by diet change and by ingesting a massive amount potassium tablets. But nothing has worked so far. This Disease is debilitating but, only for a week or two each year. I can not deny wishing this disease would go away. Yet, I see the brighter side.

I Live more now. I appreciate the gift of my life. I have become more, Living with certain spiritual realities always in my mind and in my healthy heart. Things that teach me continually about the big picture of life and what my place in the big picture is . While I go through my days on earth these concepts go with me. I have learned to listen more to my body. I am not completely made of stone. I am also flesh and flesh must be cared for. While, The big picture does stay with me. The words of my ( Teddy Bear) Urologist stays with me too . He keeps saying Water Water Water , - Wa