The dr found a large cyst on my kidney and he casually told me about sticking a very long needle in my kidney and taking the fluid out. I was freaking out. I have to have this done in a week and I keep having to talk myself into it. Has anyone ever had this done? Did it hurt? what exactly happened?
Looking up some info on the wonderful world of the internet suezeekay from these sites:
http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/cysts/
and
http://familydoctor.org/handouts/653.html
From the very little info you’ve told me and from the info I’ve gleened above, chances are the cyst you have is being drained because the cyst can push against other internal organs.
I don’t know anyone who has had this done, but according to the second sight up a good number of people over 50 have these.
Have you talked to your doctor at all? I really doubt you have anything to ‘freak out’ over. Buuut I’m also NOT a doctor, just the son of a nurse. Anyway talk to your doctor if you’re having concerns, check out the info above and look elsewhere if that either doesn’t fit your concerns or isn’t enough info for you. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine 
Sanscour
Sanscour, thanks for taking the time to post the links. Actually, I’ve googled this for hours, but no where is there a description of the actual procedure from the needlees point of view. Doctors just tend to be clinical about the whole thing. Its like an endoscopy: you really don’t know what it’s like until you’ve had one or someone who’s had one tells you. It’s like, okay, do they just use a local anesthetic and you don’t feel a thing and it just takes a few minutes; or is it, it hurts, but not too bad, and you have to lay perfectly still for an hour. God, I hate this.
A snip from http://www.qdixray.com.au/Procedures.htm on various procedures. This is on Drainage:
Again, I stress again the need to speak to your doctor. Ask him if it’s a local or they’ll put you under, or if you know someone who’s a nurse and has been around for a while, they could probably tell you more.
Having had a local for the time I severed all of the nerves in my left thumb with a hand saw, it hurts some when they poke you with the needle, but after that it feels like someone is pressing onto your skin with a ballpoint pen. Chances are you’ll be awake throughout the procedure. With any luck you’ll have an aide nearby you can talk to while the procedure is being done and you’ll be done before you know it.
Talk. To. Your. Doctor. You stubborn Maine Yankee! 
(I’m from Vermont originally so I speak in the fondest manner when I say ‘Yankee’).
Sanscour
I didn’t have a cyst but I did have my kidney biopsied before. They gave me valium and novocaine because you need to be awake for this procedure to hold your breath. (Kidney pulses with every breath you take and it needed to be still when they put the needle in)
The whole thing didn’t take very long and I had a reaction to the anesthetic so I had to do the whole thing with no pain meds at all. The most annoying part was spending the next 24 hours on my back to keep pressure on the kidney so it wouldn’t bleed and then no lifting for a few weeks afterwards (which no one let me obey - my parents sucked)
Talk to your doctor and ask lots of questions. Good luck.
Gack! I didn’t need to know that.
I am thinking that those of you who are advising that I talk to my doctor mean well, and I hate to tell you, but doctors no longer talk to patients on the phone; you have to schedule an appointment (which takes a couple of weeks and you pay for it) if you want to talk to them. Otherwise, you leave a message and someone will relay the answer back (if you are lucky). So, if you go in and are taken by surprise, like I was, of course you are not prepared to even think of questions to ask at the time. My doctor won’t even be at the procedure; I have to drive 125 miles to a hospital where I have never been and don’t know anyone, to have this done. Not that I’m usually a fradie cat about things, it’s just that when they are sticking a long needle in you you want to know exactly what is going to happen esp. since no one is there for moral support. I did a little more scouting around on the net and found a couple of doctors offices that had posted instructions to their patients that are undergoing a needle aspiration, so that gave me a little more information. I only have to wait 24 hours to resume physical activity, so mine isn’t as serious as yours Tanookie; you had a biopsy and they probably had to do at least 3 punctures and take samples from several locations, hence the risk of bleeding. With mine, they just have to withdraw water. Thanks for you all trying to help me. I feel a little calmer now so I’ll just get through it. :eek:
suezeekay, I have had needle aspirations done, not on my kidneys, but on my throat and eyelid. Neither was particularly pleasant, but they were not nearly as horrifying as they sound. In both cases, it was a long THIN needle, and it pinched, but didn’t feel like a stabbing pain or anything. The procedure didn’t take long (and the dealie in my throat was the size of a golfball!) Afterward I was achey in general, but not particularly tender.
Good luck, and I would double-check to make sure the hospital or clinic doesn’t require you to have someone else drive. That’s SOP for some hospitals, even if the procedure itself wouldn’t interfere with driving.
I have no one to take me there or drive me home so what will they do? I just figured I would go out to my car and rest, once they released me, and see how I felt. I could even take a nap. They said I would need someone to drive but I don’t, so what can I do?
As awful as this sounds, I’m sure it can’t possibly be as bad as a spinal tap. Then again, after having HAD a spinal tap, I can’t think of ANY med procedure which could be as bad as a spinal tap. You wanna talk about a big needle, do you? And, no anesthesia, local or otherwise.
:eek:
Take a cab back and forth to the hospital. Or tell the hospital you have no one to drive you. Their might be a service - like the Red Cross - to tote you to and fro.
Also…
Is there a difference between a spinal tap and spinal anesthesia?
I had the latter and it was a piece of cake. No lie.
Without the Anesthesiologist’s asking, I curled up into a tight fetal position and the anesthetic procedure was utterly uneventful. I felt absolutely nothing.
As a night call lab tech (and before that a navy corpsman), I’d seen a lot of surgical procedures, and a spinal always seemed ghastly, obscenely painful. Idiot that I am, I never asked a patient afterwards, how it felt.
Take a cab back and forth to the hospital. Or tell the hospital you have no one to drive you. There might be a service - like the Red Cross - to tote you to and fro.
They ask you NOT to drive for good reasons. Don’t be a simpleton.
Also…
Is there a difference between a spinal tap and spinal anesthesia?
I had the latter and it was a piece of cake. No lie.
Without the Anesthesiologist’s asking, I curled up into a tight fetal position and the anesthetic procedure was utterly uneventful. I felt absolutely nothing.
As a night call lab tech (and before that a navy corpsman), I’d seen a lot of surgical procedures, and a spinal always seemed ghastly, obscenely painful. Idiot that I am, I never asked a patient afterwards, how it felt.
suziekay, call your doctor’s office and talk to the staff RN. You’re right in that you can’t talk to your doc without an appointment, but one of the things the staff nurse is there for is to communicate with and educate patients. She will be able to explain the procedure and answer your questions concerning it, as well as assure you on your fears.
Doctors vary on this. Last week, I had a problem with two drugs interacting.* I called the Infectious Diseases doctor’s office, explained my problem, and the doctor called me back in an hour and a half. She urged me to call her back if I had any problems. Generally, a nurse will call me back if I’ve called in my questions, but still, I’m getting answers. No fee, either.
*I’d been stupid and HADN’T taken all my prescriptions to the doctor’s office, fortunately the pharmacy caught the interaction.
I guess I’m going to have to get a motel for two nights and I can take a cab to and from the hospital. I did this when I had to go see a Retinologist in Bangor. The hospital is 125 miles. There are good things and bad things about living on an island on the Canadian border and medical care is one of the bad things e.g having to travel so far for any kind of medical procedure or treatment. All we have is this small clinic. We happen to have this specialist here because as I mentioned he is paying off student loans. Thanks everyone for your input.