# How Was Your Morning? I Got to Pass a Kidney Stone **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 19, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669 "2016-04-19T19:50:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/1 "2016-04-19T19:50:18Z")
When I went to the hospital a week ago Saturday with stomach pain they did a CAT scan and diagnosed me with gastritis. What they DIDN’T tell me was on the CAT scan, where they saw my inflamed stomach lining, they also saw a stone in my kidney. :eek: Fast forward to this morning. My gastritis is better, I stopped taking the carafate because it left me painfully constipated, and I’m getting ready to go to work for my last day before my hysterectomy. Hmm. Stomach pain again, but this time it’s lower and worse. I decide to swing by the convenience store on my way to work and pick up some cranberry juice, thinking it’s the beginning of a bladder infection. Sitting behind the wheel was much more painful, and after I picked up the cranberry juice I paced back and forth on the sidewalk by the store, trying to ease the pain. My boss was out, one of my staff was out, and if I didn’t come in that was almost half the department out. I didn’t go to work. I got myself to the ER. I threw up in the ER parking lot from the pain, stumbled in, and bless them, they took my vitals and got me back right away. Two shots of morphine and a shot of Toradol and the pain finally eased. The nurse said based on how I was acting when I got in she thought it was a kidney stone. The doctor at agreed and I got a pee strainer to take home. THEN I went to work. Yes, my husband yelled at me and so did everyone else when I showed up. But I had a couple of things to take care of and I didn’t want to leave everyone stranded with two other people also out, because when my boss is out I’m in charge. I was there less than an hour, picked up the meds, and came home. Where I peed into the strainer and caught the damn stone. 🙂 My gyno says I’m all set for my hysterectomy tomorrow, so now I get to prep like I’m having a colonoscopy. I had kidney stones about 15-20 years ago. I’m quite willing not to have another for about fifty more years. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/2 "2016-04-19T19:53:05Z")
Glad everything came out OK! To be totally honest, a kidney stone is one of my worst fears. I have heard from literally everyone who has ever had one just how super-painful it is and I’m so scared that one day I’m going to feel a horrible pain and know what’s coming, and that I can’t even stop it… _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/3 "2016-04-19T19:55:20Z")
I had one and I prayed for death. Apparently the IVP flushed it out because nothing ever showed up in the strainer. Take care of yourself with your upcoming surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/4 "2016-04-19T19:55:43Z")
Good luck with the surgery! ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/5 "2016-04-19T19:55:50Z")
This thread is worthless without pictures. In all serious, I’m glad you’re ok. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/6 "2016-04-19T20:01:57Z")
I’ve heard gallstones are just as bad. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/7 "2016-04-19T21:34:00Z")
My sympaties. The stones I had were the worst pain I’ve ever had, beating even the pain from endometriosis in 1981. The stones eventually won, and I lost the kidney. Get thee to a urologist and get their take on the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/8 "2016-04-19T21:46:21Z")
Suddenly, meeting and bureaucracy sound like a lovely way to spend the day! Best wishes on the surgery and recuperation, and may your kidney stones be a centennial event! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/9 "2016-04-19T22:51:53Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > To be totally honest, a kidney stone is one of my worst fears. I have heard from literally everyone who has ever had one just how super-painful it is and I’m so scared that one day I’m going to feel a horrible pain and know what’s coming, and that I can’t even stop it… This post will probably make a lot of people hate me. I had a kidney stone last week. And I passed it so easily I didn’t even notice it. So I can confirm that it is possible to have a non-painful kidney stone if you’re lucky. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/10 "2016-04-19T22:59:37Z")
Yes, I hate you. 😃 I’m sure the teeny tiny ones can pass unnoticed. Mine was not teeny tiny. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/11 "2016-04-19T23:15:22Z")
Maybe everything in your pelvis is just, you know, getting everything OVER all at once? Use your uterus as an example to the rest of it: behave OR ELSE. Good luck tomorrow! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/12 "2016-04-19T23:27:40Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Yes, I hate you. 😃 > > I’m sure the teeny tiny ones can pass unnoticed. Mine was not teeny tiny. No, this was not a abnormally small stone. It was the size of a grape seed. Apparently the critical factor is whether the stone is smooth or has edges. It it makes you feel better, I was hospitalized for over a month when I had gall stones. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/13 "2016-04-19T23:31:12Z")
Yeah, mine is jagged and looks like it has a hook on one end. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/14 "2016-04-19T23:35:44Z")
I thought they could break these things up beforehand with ultrasound now? No? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/15 "2016-04-19T23:38:52Z")
I think they do that if there’s a lot of stones to pass or if the situation is chronic. This is my first one in 15-20 years, so I got pain meds and told to drink lots of fluids. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/16 "2016-04-20T00:10:06Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I thought they could break these things up beforehand with ultrasound now? No? It’s called a lithotripsy, and I went through four of them. Much easier on the body than cutting it open the old fashioned way, one goes back to work in a couple ofweeks at the outside, often less. ---
**Author:** ![Oglomott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oglomott/32/3543_2.png) [@Oglomott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oglomott)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/17 "2016-04-20T00:23:55Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I thought they could break these things up beforehand with ultrasound now? No? Yes, I had that procedure once. It’s called Lithotripsy. But what it did for me is break up one giant stone into a whole bunch of little jagged stones with razor sharp edges. :eek: Then they will pass, one or two at a time, along with much blood and gripping of the towel rack. 😃 I thought it was supposed to pulverize them into a fine powder, but alas, no. Fortunately I have been able to pass all my other stones without medical intervention. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/18 "2016-04-20T01:15:01Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Where I peed into the strainer and caught the damn stone. 🙂 Bet you’re glad THAT is over! Good luck with the upcoming surgery, I wish you a completely uneventful and unexciting rapid recovery. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/19 "2016-04-20T02:03:18Z")
Girl, you just can’t catch a break!! Glad you are well enough after being unwell and well and unwell again to be ready to be unwell for a while. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-your-morning-i-got-to-pass-a-kidney-stone/752669/20 "2016-04-20T02:50:54Z")
Just passed one a month or so ago. My sympathies. May the next one be, well, never. The only thing worse than passing a kidney stone is passing a bunch of kidney stones. IMHO.