XP.... my day and night in Vandy's ER!

I woke up yesterday and did my morning thing.  My urine was a way-dark color, which alarmed me.   I wasn't feeling very well so I went back to bed.  About 15 mins after I woke up, I started feeling horrible!  At first, I thought I was just having "poop cramps" like I used to when I ate something really fatty and my gall bladder got angry with me then the pain was up around my right side.  OHHH SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT!  

I ended up going to the emergency room yesterday around 11am.  It took them a long time to get my pain managed.  The morphine helped but the effects from that were gone within about 30 mins and I was writhing in pain again.  I swear this hurt more than the surgery did!    Finally they gave me DILAUDID to which my mom, the nurse said  "whoa, you musta been baaad!"    After that, everything felt just fine.

I ended up passing the stone around 4am.  All of that pain for just that little bitty stone.  wow.

Now that I am home, I am finding lots of articles about increased risk of kidney stones with RNY.  Ouch.  Has anyone else here had any problems with this  that you didn't have before surgery?

www.asn-online.org/press/Renal%20Week-06/4-Kumar%20release-w.pdf

http://www.facs.org/news/jacs/kidneystones0608.html

Bless your heart, hope that your are do'n better now!
Get Well Myspace Graphics


 Hugs Barb

Congratulations, you are now a card carrying member of the Kidney Stone Club. Bless your heart!

I'm glad you were able to pass it with just some help from the "good drugs". Dilaudid is the only way to go with a stone on the move. When I've had to go to the ER with a stone, the nurse with the IV and the syringe of Dilaudid has been my best friend!

I joined this club prior to surgery and have just had a couple of minor issues since surgery. I say minor because I have been able to pass the stones without going to the ER or my urologists clinic.

Be aware that most stones post-op are caused by inadequate fluid intake coupled with our need for a high protein diet. You MUST be diligent in getting in your water EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!

I'm talking water. Plain old water. Crystal Lite is okay, as are other fluids but part of your fluid each day needs to be just plain water. Putting a little fresh lemon juice in it will help it go down more easily and also help prevent the formation of stones.

You also want to avoid calcium carbonate - this includes Tums and Rolaids. Not only because our bodies don't properly absorb this type of calcium but also because it contributes to the formation of stones. Make sure all of your calcium supplements are calcium citrate.

 

 man... that dilaudid was the only thing that  helped me function.

funny thing is.... I only drink water.  and lots of it.  I'm talkin' no tea, coffee, crystal light, juice, none of that.  Even pre-op, I wasn't  a big drinker of other things.   Now that I am post op, I try to make sure that I at least get in 2 of my 32oz water jugs a day.  Also, all of my calcium is citrate.  crazy, I tell ya. 

I just went and bought a few new water bottles  to take to work.  Hopefully this will help me be more regular with my water when I am not in the comfort of my own home.  Lord knows I don't want to go through that again!

I don't know where Trina and Barb and Marilyn find all of those crazy graphics... I would put one up of Ms. Pacman chomping at my butt and me running approx 100 mi per hour away from her!  YIKES!  Kidney stones!  I have had 3 now...  and they are terrible.  Makes me cringe just to read those words...  Gotta go now.  I have to get a cranberry pill... LOL, which by the way, I do take.

My doc said that cranberry juice is great, but lord it has so much sugar!  I do drink the Diet Oceanspray which is really lots less but do take the cranberry pills every single day!!!  I work hard on getting liquids in , I surely don't want another kidney stone.

 Glad you passed that sucker!

I'm newly postop so I haven't had a problem with stones since then but I have a lot of previous experience with them. My question to you would be did they test the stone to see what kind it was? I have a naturally high uric acid level so I form uric acid stones. High protein diets can make these worse so I know I will be at risk in the future. There are things you can do to prevent them if this is the type of stone you have. First, there is Allopurinol, a drug that lowers uric acid levels and also is for gout, which is caused by high uric acid. There is also a prescription product called Urocit-K out there that will helpl prevent uric acid stones and also calcium stones. I take Allopurinol every day and the only problem I had was when I ran out for a couple of weeks. I developed a stone almost right away. Thankfully, I passed it. I wasn't always so lucky as to pass them though.
Anyway, I wish you the best. Drinking a lot of water every day will also help.
Karen