Urologist update

Well, in the words of my urologist .... I have a couple of 'keepers'. There are large stones in EACH kidney. The good news is that they are large enough that they are not going to pass, so therefore no pain!!! The bad news is .. we need to do something to manage them. Sooooooooo, I'm going to be scheduled for the OR to have a stent (from my kidney to my bladder) and then I'll be scheduled for lithroscopy to break them up. I'm not sure if he said he will do both sides at one time or do them separately. Anyway, I can schedule this on my time .. so it won't be until after June 5 .. but I do have to have it done! And, in case you are wondering .. he said kidney stones are not uncommon in WLS/Gastric Bypass patients. The cause may very well be the calcium I take, but since I need the calcium, we are going to be managing the stones going forward rather than preventing them. The goal is to at least prevent me from having the crippling pain that ripped through me two weeks ago. I'm off to bed .. Hugs, Mo

Mo, I feel for you... really. One of my co-morbidities that qualified me for wls insurance coverage was kidney disease. My particular disease causes my kidneys to leach the calcium from my bones and teeth to form stones. I've woken up on the bathroom floor more than once after passing out while passing a stone. I'm not supposed to take calcium because it would most likely go directly to the kidneys. Greeeeaaat. My pcp, nephrologist and I have decided that the plan is to not take calcium, do a lot of weight bearing exercise and get a bone density scan at least once a year. So far, so good. My calcium levels and bone density are within the normal range. Maybe you might want to talk to your doc about cutting back on the calcium and carefully monitoring your bone density. Especially since you've become such a gym rat. Hugs, Connie

Thanks Connie. Once I get past this episode with the stones I will talk to the doctors about it. The urologist was very understanding about my need for the calcium as a WLS patient and said that we will be 'managing' my stones. I have a real concern about not takiing the calcium because of my age but I also don't want to be going through these issues on a regular basis either! Hugs, Mo

sounds do able hugs back

thanks Margo! Right now I'm wondering if there is any chance that these stones weigh 20 pounds?? Hugs, Mo

Hi Mo, Sorry you are going through this. Been through it too. I ended up in the ER in sooooooooOOOO much pain! Bleeding and everything. I actually thought I was having a miscarrage (this stone incident happened last year) thats how bad it was. I thought...man maybe I'm pregnant and miscarrying becuase it was like labor pains...and then the blood... sheesh. I was in the ER waiting room for EIGHT HOURS! A few times I thought I was literally going to pass out. I SHOULD have because by the time they took me back I had a HUGE infection. So bad they were pumping me with antibiotics and kept me for like 3 days. Needless to say they came out, nasty things But yeah...the doc warned me that he was 90% sure it was due to wls. I was taking liquid calcium and also the protein drinks I drank once in awhile contributed to it as well as protein is also hard on the kidneys. SO now I do very little protein drinks and just get the protein naturally and the liquid calcium is out the door and I just try to get that in with my vitamins and naturally as well. I haven't had a bone density test. I need to do that just to ease my mind. The rest of my levels have been normal. I also try to drink lots of water which is a big key. I knew I hadn't been drinking enough. Best wishes! Hang in there. Elizabeth M