We know that the prospect of needing to have a stent removed is a big source of anxiety for patients. While almost everyone can’t wait to have his or her stent out, not knowing what to expect during the removal procedure can be just as bad. To better prepare you for your procedure and perhaps relieve some of your concerns, we asked visitors to the website who have already gone through the process to share their experiences with you. The results of our stent removal survey follows. Thanks to everyone who replied and let us know what you think in the comments below.
How are people having their stents removed?
575 of you have responded to the survey over the last 3 months that it has been up. The most common method of stent removal was through the use of a flexible camera placed in the urethra (cystoscopy) in the doctor’s office, with almost half of respondents reporting this approach (45%). 17% instead had their stents removed using cystoscopy in the operating room. 12% removed their stents themselves by pulling on a stent string while the last remaining 26% had their stents removed by having their doctor’s office pull on the string. Our post on stent removal describes these techniques in more detail.
How much pain should I expect?
Out of a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst pain ever and 1 being no pain at all, the overall average amount of pain reported was 4.8 or a moderate amount of discomfort. However, it may surprise you to hear that the most common rating given was 1, or no pain at all, chosen by 18%. So while some patients do report a high amount of pain with their stent removal, many had no pain or only mild pain. If we look at pain by method of stent removal, average pain was relatively higher for those who had their stent removed by office cystoscopy (5.4 out of a scale of 1 to 10) followed by doctor’s office string removal (4.9), operating room cystoscopy (3.9), and self string removal which had the lowest reported amount of pain (3.8). However, these differences between method of removal are not dramatic given that the scale goes from 1 to 10.
Will I experience pain afterwards?
Most patients had no pain or only mild pain after their stent removal. Unfortunately, a third of patients (33%) did experience a severe attack of pain after their stent removal, including an unfortunate 9% who required a return trip to the emergency room for their pain. When comparing recurrent pain by method of stent removal, severe pain occurring after stent removal was more common in the self string removal group (43%) and less likely in the doctor’s office string removal group, office cystoscopy, and operating room cystoscopy groups (26%, 33%, and 33%, respectively). It’s not clear why those who pulled out their own stents were more likely to report a severe episode of pain afterwards. There is some evidence that taking a tablet of an NSAID medication (naproxen) before removing your stent can help reduce the chance of experiencing a severe episode of pain.
How did the experience compare to what you expected?
Overall, 35% felt the actual stent removal experience was not as bad or not nearly as bad as they expected. 27% reported that their experience was about what they expected. 15% felt it was a bit worse and 23% felt it was a much worse. Reporting the pain as much worse than expected occurred in 27% of those who underwent office cystoscopy, 24% of those who had their stents pulled out by the clinic, 20% of those who pulled out the stent themselves, and 15% of those who had a cystoscopy in the operating room.
If you had a choice, would you choose this option again?
Those who underwent operating room cystoscopy to remove their stents were most likely to choose the same technique again (65% replying probably or definitely would choose this method again) followed by self string removal (59%), doctor’s office string removal (55%), and office cystoscopy (50%).
While we asked respondents whether they would choose the same method for stent removal the next time, not all options for stent removal may always be available to you. For example, your doctor may choose not to use a string if he or she feels that your stent needs to remain in longer than a few days because the string can easily get snagged and the stent might accidentally be removed too early. Secondly, stent removal in the operating room is not always an option because: time in the operating room may not be available, the risk to you of undergoing anesthesia again may outweigh the benefit of having the procedure done in this fashion, the costs to you in terms of time and money involved in scheduling and preparing for an operating room procedure may not be worth it. We recommend that you talk to your doctor to go over the best option for stent removal in your particular case.
Priorities as a patient:
We asked respondents how much of a priority certain things were to them as a patient with a stent. Being informed why a stent was placed was the biggest priority for respondents (4.7 on an importance scale of 1-5). Being informed about what was actually involved in the stent removal procedure was also a high priority (4.5). Being able to have general anesthesia was a moderate priority (3.1) while being able to see a video/diagram of the process was a lower priority (2.9).
Okay, what’s the bottom line?
Most patients reported an average amount of discomfort with stent removal by any technique. Many patients actually reported no or minimal pain but about a third reported significant pain. Removal by office cystoscopy was associated with more pain on average and removing a stent yourself by pulling on the stent string was associated with less pain on average. A third of patients may experience a delayed attack of severe pain after their stent removal. Overall, about 62% reported that the experience was not as bad or about what they expected but 38% said it was a bit worse or much worse than they expected.
Editors note: Post updated on August 29th with additional survey results.
I’ve been dealing with a stent for the past 7 weeks and am scheduled to have mine removed under local anesthetic this coming Friday.
At 22 weeks pregnant I woke up with severe right flank and abdominal pain, after 3 trips to the ER, 2 rounds of antibiotics for UTI’s that didn’t exist and passing a 5mm stone I was finally ultrasounded and diagnosed with a blocked ureter, hydronephrosis and a 7mm stone that wouldn’t pass. I was operated on, had the stones zapped and stent placed.
What follows have been the most miserable 7 weeks of my life. The position of the baby (transverse) has meant that every time she kicks or moves, she kicks the stent, causing severe cramping, kidney and bladder spasms. Removal can’t come fast enough.
There’s a chance due to the pressure of my uterus and the narrowing of the ureter, I’ll need to have another placed. Absolutely miserable experience.
I’m hoping you all find some pain relief, this is something I wouldn’t wish on absolutely anyone.
I’m sitting here a day after my 9th-yes, NINTH kidney stone surgery in 7 years. I’ve passed hundreds of stones during this time, ranging from 1mm to 8mm without surgery (it can be done) besides the ones removed via surgical procedures. I have now had shock wave, internal “face to face” laser (this last one) along with 2 PCNL’s to chisel out the 70mm monstrosity in my left kidney. (That was NOT a typo! Yes, 70 mm, as in just under 3 inches!) If you want proof I’ve got about 30 stones in a little container here; passed a 6mm the other day just before they were going to laser it, along with the 13mm they did do. Hundreds of others just went straight to the trash.
For the first time I’ve got a stent-on-a-string, so this should be interesting. There’s no way in hell it can be as bad as the first one, which was viciously ripped out via the scope while laying helplessly naked and afraid of the nurse who thoroughly enjoyed my screams of pain. When reading the other posts and seeing how a few others know exactly what I’m talking about, it occurred to me that some of you might not be aware of what was going on, so here it is: After they rub that little bit of lydacain or whatever solution to your penis tip then injecting it with novacain (sp?) the scope is inserted up into the ureter to search for the end of the stent. All the while they’re pumping water into you to help the camera slide easier. Personally I think WD-40 would have been a bit more effective. That few seconds of feeling like you’ve been skinned alive and set on fire is the part when the scope is being forced through the sphincter muscle that allows you to hold your bladder. In my case on a scale of 1 to 10 that part rated about a 77, and I still get the willies just thinking back on it!
I have been burned to the 3rd and 4th degree 70% of my body; I’ve broken enough bones that I have actually laughed at snapping a toe in half, and I’ve dealt with spinal injuries that bring about a level of pain you could never begin to imagine your mind can create. So it’s not like I’m a wus, but that pain was second only to having my entire back burnt to a literal crisp, exposing all the raw nerves.
Lucky it was only about 3 seconds, then began the removal but that’s 3 seconds I will NEVER forget! What really got me was when the doc says “Ok, you’re not gonna like this part, but I’ll try to get it over as quickly as I can. Relax, or we’ll have to start over!”
Since then I have tried to bribe every doc involved not to put a stent in me again, but of course they always did. My current doc said it would be basically malpractice not had them put me under to avoid reliving that night mare, but this time I got the string.
This last surgery went well, but the wakeup was one of the nastier ones- about 10 minutes into recovery the pain really kicked in, to the point I had tears coming out of my eyes. Again, not because I’m a wus- it’s because ever since the 7 hours of chiseling that 3 incher out of me which required 2 major surgeries, my left kidney was left with so much damage it feels like I’m passing a stone nearly every minute of every day ever since, along with nausea and the distinct feeling someone left a bicycle parked between my kidney and lung. Sticking a stent in there makes it a whole lot worse.
This particular stent is not nearly as bothersome as some of the others, but it’s still annoying. The string is actually more like mono fishing line, complete with lazy knot. It catches on my skivvies sometimes, but fortunately it hasn’t caught enough to pull out like they do sometimes. I had thought about ripping it out the minute I got home, but its not that bothersome so I’ll leave it in these next 5 days like I’m supposed to. WAY easier than the 4 months I endured with one years ago, that was pure torture.
When the time comes I’ve got plenty of percs and some anti-flammatory pills left, I’ll take them about an hour before the Yank. The hot shower sounds good too, less blood to vacuum out of the living room carpet. Heck, I just learned to stab myself with needles up to 5 times a day (insulin shots), which I swore I’d never do, so pulling this piece of pasta out of my groin should prove pretty interesting!
In all seriousness: to all you fellow stoners, I feel your pain, and wish it away for all of us! For me there’s no hope as my PH is stuck at 5.0, but for those who can avoid this crap through diet and /or meds, I wish you all the best and hope you find a cure.
Good luck!
Thank you so much for detailing your stent removal procedure. My boyfriend is having the stent removed this Friday and he wants to go alone. I hope he can cope a little better knowing your story and what to expect. You are in my prayers.
Hey everyone,
I was diagnosed with kidney stones a month back when i suddenly started to have pain in my lower abdomen and was rushed to the emergency room they gave me some pain killers and then the ultra sound showed that i have a kidney stone stuck in my left ureter and causing the pain because the left kidney could not drain properly, left kidney had mild hydroneprosis (swelling) and that was causing pain, my urologist suggested RIRS for the stone removal, i even had stones in my right kideny (5mm,6mm,3mm) after the first surgery on my left kidney was given discharge the day after removal of foley catheter was a little painful(i sugest taking a pain killer before removal ) and then i used to have pain in my back left side whenever i went to urinate thank God the pain was only for a couple of days and then it disappeared slowly pain meds helped during this pain and after 21days i got my ultra sound and confirmed that left kidney is normal in size and there are no stones in the kidney (i had 3stones in my left kidney 2mm 2mm and 5mm) so 5mm and stones in the ureter were removed but the dr said nothing can be done to the 2mm stones and now was the time for stent removal my urologist suggested me to get RIRS done again for right kidney when the left stent was removed so both can be done under same anesthesia and i got the procedure done under GA, the pain because of stent on the right side was a little more compared to the one on left side (the pain while urinating for a couple of days) so i was under pain meds and hence had no pain for removal of left stent i have to go for the scaning and stent removal mostly after 15days and i hope that stent removal of the right is not as painful but happy because my dr is going to do it under GA, This was my experience with kidney stones i just hope and pray that nobody gets this stones ever and the pain because of it, iam a male 23yr old from india, discharge advise for me is lots of fluid i still need to pass 2 2mm stones according to me the best way to avoid kidney stones is drinking a lot of water and staying hydrated, passing atleast 3litres of urine everyday is required to keep your kidneys clean and healthy my stones were calcium oxlyate monohydrate in nature so in future got to put some restrictions on diet
all the best everyone
and i pray your pain comes down
and take care
Drink good amount of water
bye
i had kidney stones removed on Friday n they put the stent in with the string , called to see when they would remove it , the doc said go ahead n pull the string out myself , I thought this is crazy , but I did it n it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be to do , my question is I pulled it out bout 230 this afternoon n I tried to piss n a very lil bloody urine come out . Now 6 1/2 hours later I have sum mild pain but haven’t really pissed at all , how long before I get a good urine passing ???anybody have any idea ..
Just had my stent removed and let me tell you, deep breaths and completely relaxing your pelvic muscles really did the trick for me. I also took aleeve prior. Not only that, I have the ABSOLUTE BEST urologist EVER. Pain level would probably be about a 2 or 3. I’m actually in more discomfort after the removal. Feels like stone pain only less.
My doc also used the numbing gel so I think that helped with the removal.
Yesterday on april 16,2015 I had my stent removed. I had it in for a week. Though some minor discomfort it was not bad at all. They put lidocane and saline solution for the camera to go up the ureter smoothly and I got to witness the dr grab the end of the stent on camera and pull it right out. I hope this helps others out there, I am such a pain freak so I really didn’t know what to expect. Good luck and good health to everyone. I give it a 3 on the discomfort level. : )
Well… I’m in that category of server pain attack. Had my stent out today. String pulled by a doctor in a hospital. Went home and fell into the worst pain I’ve had in YEARS. Do not leave the docs without a script for some serious pain meds. Learn from my fail.
I had a ureteral stent in about a week ago, after a 5mm stone in the right kidney, and a 3.5mm in the left. Luckily the one on the left came out just before the surgery, otherwise I would have had two 🙁 I had the one with the string coming out, and it bothered me enough to lose hours of sleep every night. Have to say though, the worst thing was having it removed. I got no numbing gel or meds prior to the procedure, and it was the most uncomfortable pain ever. No way I could have handled that for the amount of time that stones hurt for. No way! Luckily it was only a few seconds. Felt like burning and ripping all the way from my kidney through my male anatomy. Anyways, I ended up passing out when I tried to leave the office, I think because of nerves and the oxycodone I took before I left to go to the urologist. Yeah, anyways, bad experience. Hope you all have a better one than me! Pain scale- between 8 and 10, but only for a few seconds.
I had laser surgery a few weeks ago to remove a kidney stone and it was unsuccessful. I had Lithotripsy the week after and they only got a small amount of the stone because it’s hard to see where it’s located and its small. Also it’s a Uric acid stone so they said it’s flat making it hard to see. I had a stent in for 2 weeks. After removal I was told there would be no pain. I was having really bad pain still for 5 days after and constantly felt like I had to urinate. I called the doctors office several days in a row and they finally had me come in for urine sample. I still have blood in my urine and my white blood cell count was high. They said since its a Friday, they won’t get culture results back until Monday. In the meantime, they gave me Uribel which is a spasm medication. It helped the pain so much. They will let me know Monday if I have an infection, then treat accordingly. I’m glad they finally gave me something to help with the pain and frequent urination feeling. Also, others suggestions of using the heating pad after surgery really saved me. Thanks! I highly recommend Uribel after stent removal. Pyridium is similar, but didn’t work nearly as well.
Question for females who has had a Stent removed in the office!!!… If your doctor didn’t leave the string to pull it out..how is it removed in the office and what do they use before they take it out so that you don’t feel it coming out??
For me they used the cystoscope and used some numbing gel. When the doc inserted the scope there was some minor pain but I was just so relieved to have the stent out! I honestly didn’t even notice when the stent was being removed. I also took a norco about 1.5 hours before the removal.
I also had pain with the iv placement and the nurse was twisting it and pulling it in and out. And then she tried it at a different site which worked. The nurse said to concentrate on breathing in and out and this oddly seemed to help.
I thought that i’d add that on my surgery report that it was a 24 cm 6-french double J stent that they had put in. (I’m not really sure about the various stents out there). They warned me about possible pain with the stent a couple times, but not that it was easily removable. So far it feels pretty good, however I have chest pain/cough/sore throat perhaps from the anesthia tube so I’ve still been on the pain pills and now on prednisone and an antibiotic as well.
I just had surgery and the stent had thread on it. I accidently pulled it out during one of my frequent bathroom trips. Opps. However i called and they didnt seem too concerned because they had pulled the stone out in one piece. Since i had taken two hydrocodone/apap tablets and Meloxicam i didnt really feel it.
II had pyonephritis, PCNL and again a pyelonephrotis..God..Save me##..I just had dj stent removed yesterday after 6 weeks of placement and during the procedure i felt severe pain. However i didnt feel that much pain when i did the same before 6 months which was inside my ureter for a period of 3 and half weeks. I guess the pain depends upon the period of the stent inside ur body.
I could see some blood in my urine till night. It was not fully bloody urine but when i was about to finish my micturation, i could see drops of blood. After 8 hours, there was no blood but i m feeling difficult to urinate, i mean the flow through the urethra has reduced. I hope it isnot a serious problem and my guess is there may be some corrosion of my urethra during the removal..
If somebody has similar experience, please share..i m worried!!!
Had kidney stone remove on 2-3-15 ,Dr. Flatt put in stent and told me to take it out on 2-7-15, so on 2-6-15, at 10:30p.m. Hour an half before midnight and decided to go ahead and pull it out what could 90 minute hurt so I pull it out sitting up in bed and no pain went to pee no pain later a slight pain in lower stomach but bearable. Hope ya’ll are getting better. Will let you know if any thing happens cause I remove the stent early….God Bless
Had first kidney stone surgery Dec 12 and had a stent put in at that time.
Has a second surgery, this time the shock wave litho, on Jan 9.
Three days later went to the doctor’s to have the stent removed.
I had already asked the Dr and the nurse on previously what to expect during the stent removal and both stated it was pretty simple and painless, they do them all the time.
Boy were they wrong, either that or they just don’t like to scare you.
It was extremely painful. 8 or 9 on a scale of 10. I never yelled so loud. I almost passed out. Fortunately it was over in about 5-10 seconds.
My wife has has stents in the past and said she never had any pain when they took hers out. Go figure. Anyway, I’ve been drinking lots and lots of water since then and I am just hoping that myself nor anyone else for that matter needs to go thru any of the pains associated with kidney stones, surgeries or stents.
I had my kidney stone that was between 7mm and 8mm large. Stone was removed while i was under anesthesia, and after that Dr, placed just one stent on my left side, and he removed it today, only what they did is nurse insert something called Gel inside the penis, and she let it stay there for about 10-15 mins. Dr came in to start process for removal stent, i never experienced more pain ever. especially when he put in something like a scope so he can see thru and i can say that was painful and burning you inside alive. Now i tried to control my pain with keeping breath in for a few secs to not make muscles tight because it hurts more, the more you holding air deep breath the less pain you have. I can rate my pain from 1-10 (8). After he got done pain stops, but has a pains when urinate after that, for about three times. Now it does hurt inside my body still from that and i wish i dont have to ever do this again, this is horrible. Good Luck to all you. God Bless.
Bare with me, there’s a reason for the length of my story. I’m a 38 y/o female with 3 children. On 9/22/14 I went in for a full vaginal hysterectomy. When I awoke I had a sharp/dull/aching pain in my right side. I assumed it was my liver due to being diagnosed with a non-alcoholic fatty liver. I was concerned about it and mentioned it to the doc. No concerns, just post surgery as they assumed. I was on a morphine drip with occasional dose of Tramadol. I had temporary nausea and vomiting with a slight headache and a burning sensation in my scalp. Not sure what caused the head pain until later in this story. Home I went they next evening and I was soar as to be expected but that pain in my right side progressively got worse. I couldn’t eat solids and was stuck on clear liquids so I had nothing in me to cause constipation but I couldn’t figure out why I was starting to swell in my abdomen by the 27th (5 days after surgery). The evening of the 28th I couldn’t stand the pain anymore and decided to go to the ER. I couldn’t even put my bra on as I was so swollen. So while in the ER I received Xrays and a CAT Scan of my abdomen. As I was waiting for the results the nurse came into my room and had 2 big vials of clear liquid he was going to put into my IV. I asked him what they were. He said 1 was saline to clear the line and the other morphine. I told him that my results hadn’t come back yet and I knew morphine was constipating. I gave in and figured I could use an enema if needed. So he cleared the line and I was talking to my fiance as he did. Next thing I know my scalp starts burning and feels like someone pulled my pony tail and my head fell back. I yelled out, “Oh my God it’s kicking in.” I asked my fiance to lift my head up and when he did it fell forward and my throat constricted where it was hard to swallow or breathe. I grabbed my throat and turned my head as I told the nurse what I was experiencing. He smiled at me and said, “That’s what it does.” Well it didn’t stop there. The symptoms got worse, it felt like someone took hot bacon grease and poured it under my skin from my head down to my abdomen. It felt like hot liquid was pouring out of my ears, cold and hot worms were slithering under my skin and then my body started trembling and jumping about. The nurse finished administering the morphine and left the room shortly after. All the weird symptoms but one went away which was a slight head ache and burning of the scalp like I mentioned with the morphine drip. Finally I got the results of the CT and it showed my right kidney was retaining fluid but they couldn’t see why. I went to see a Urologist the 30th and then went in for surgery on 10/2/14. He told me when I woke up that the doc that performed the hysterectomy had gone through and sutured my ureter and kinked it so that the urine was backing up into my kidney. (HAS THIS HAPPENED TO ANY OTHER WOMEN VISITING THIS SITE?) He had to put a stent in up into my kidney. I’m afraid of pain killers due to sensitivity to meds and didn’t want to take the Norco he prescribed. Well needless to say I went into a full blown panic attack from the pain and had my fiance call the doc. He talked me into the Norco. Took the pain down and knocked me out but gave me a headache all the next day. So needless to say, it is almost X-mas day and I’m here reading other peoples experiences with stent removals. I’ve been and still am terrified of the possible pain I may experience when he pulls it out. The anxiety, lack of sleep and of course the pain I have while it’s in me is overbearing. My left kidney started hurting after the stent was put in and I asked the doc why since the stent is in the right side. He said not to worry that my kidney is fine. I haven’t had any other X-rays or CTs to check, but I guess I have to put my trust in him since I don’t know any better. I do know that my experience in the ER with the Morphine was not right, I was having an allergic reaction called Anaphylaxis and that I could have died. Nothing was administered to counteract the reaction and when I requested my medical records the ER doc stated that she gave me ‘narcotics’ for the pain w/o specifying an actual name. All I know is that I’m scared half to death of having the stent removed, what side effects there might be since the doc said if the stent doesn’t fix the problem he will have to to evasive surgery by cutting into my abdomen to hopefully fix the problem. This whole ordeal hasn’t just affected me, but my whole family who has to watch me deal with it. I hate having to pee, not knowing whether it’s going to feel like contractions. At times I worry about passing out and falling off the toilet from the pain. Arghh, I’m planning on being doped up on pain meds before going in. Thank you for reading
The exact same thing has happened to me. I am scheduled to have my stent removed the 31st & am terrified my ureter will collapse & I will have to undergo another surgery. And how will I know??? Also I am experiencing constant diarrhea & vaginal pains as well. Wondering if I will ever feel & be normal again.
Dear Monica- I am so sorry for you experience….when I was reading I said to myself OMG…..this is my story! Well….after the hysterectomy I had 7 procedures to avoid the big surgery ( psoas hitch – the ureter reinplantation) and I must to have it…..I had it a month ago. I just need to say that I feel exactly how you are feeling right now…..I need to say that the stent removal is not that painful honestly….you just need to make sure to take the pain medication prior…make sure they conduct the lasix renal scan to evaluate your kydney function after the procedure. I know the pain you are going through…I hope you are feeling better now. I feel I am not alone with this awful experience….thank you everyone for their feedbacks.
after 3 weeks. stent removal, still feel painnear my abdomen. why
I had kidney stone surgery a week ago and they put a stent in. While having the stent was uncomfortable the worst part was when they removed it. The doctor who did it while efficient he was very impersonal. It hurt horribly. They just numbed the urethra with a gel and send you home afterwards. The severe pain didn’t start until about 4 hours after. I was crying and didn’t know what to do. The oxycodone they put me on wasn’t doing anything. Eventually my fiancee came home and looked it up. He had me take a different painkiller they had given me. I guess the amount of people who experience severe pain afterwards is small and I just got unlucky. The pain was focused in my urethra and the kidney that had had the stone
I had a stent put in 2 month ago due to a blockage caused by scar tissue from an inflammation in the colon from a diverticulitis infection. I had surgery last month and the surgeon decided to leave the stent in, I asked him to remove it while I was under anesthesia but he didn’t want to do it, now I am stuck with a kidney stent that the Urologist refused to take out under sedative, considering this is Kaiser now I know they don’t care if you have pain or not. I talked to several doctors and the member services department but it is all the same crap! For the last 6 month I have been experiencing severe panic attacks, can’t sleep, crying all the time and irregular breathing can’t get my mind around getting this stent out without sedatives.
I am looking for a private hospital to get the stent remove under sedation, this is going to be costly maybe several thousands, just hope to find a hospital that will do it. I HATE KAISER and I will never go back to this hospital, the doctors are very insensitive they treat people worse than you will treat an animal.
I will recommend to check your doctors and hospitals before you buy insurance Kaiser is the less expensive but the worse. THEY PLAIN DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU.
I am 35 years old and have been dealing with Kidney Stones since I was 14. I have been through hell and back. In the past 2 months I have had 7 procedures done. I understand what you are going through with going to a hospital that didn’t understand or care. I went to the ER in Hermann, MO when this last episode of stones started, 2 months ago…. They did a CT scan and told me my kidneys were filled with stones but none were obstructing so there is no way I was in pain. They told me stones in that are in your kidneys are no risk and even had the nerve to ask me if I was just out seeking pain medications. I was so offended I went straight out of there and called the administration office while I was still in the parking lot, I was sobbing crying so hard the man could barely understand me. He said, DR. PARKER was a great doc but he would investigate it and get her side of the story. Later that night I was in so much pain and couldn’t stop vomiting so my husband drove me to an amazing hospital which was 2 hours away. Turned out I had stones in my kidneys and all through my tubes and was immediately hospitalized and went to the OR first thing that next morning. I have had every procedure done on both sides in the past 2 months because my body will not quit producing them. I have a great Urologist now who is trying to find a preventive for me. He said the stones in my kidneys were a danger because there were so many. If my husband had not drove me to Columbia University, MO I could have died from being septic because Hermann hospital misdiagnosed me! Even when I went to just a doctors office here in Hermann to have a doctor closer by than 2 hours away, DR. MAHONY was the doctor, he looked up my reports and tests from Hermann hospital and said the same thing DR. PARKER from the Hermann hospital ER, he said it looks to him that the stones are just in my kidneys so he didn’t understand how I could be in so much pain and had the nerve to ask me if I had a drug abuse problem! Again, I was so offended and humiliated and in such shock! Never in my 21 years of dealing with kidney stones had I ever been treated like that or accused of such a thing! I left my last Urologist because that’s all he would do is procedure after procedure and was writing me Narcotic scripts over and over again instead of trying to figure out why I had them and how to prevent them! I told him I did not want to live on pain pills for the rest of my life, I didn’t want to mask the problem I want to fix it! My new Urologist in Columbia, MO Dr. Pokala is doing just that for me! He is testing the stones and doing a 24 hour urine collect so we can figure out why and prevent! Once I am better and have all the papertrail on all I have been through since Hermann hospital Dr. Parker saying all she said and accusing and misdiagnoising, I am gonna do all I can do to show her and Dr. Mahony and all I’m asking for is a personal apology!
A lot does depend on your urologist. I’m lucky, I had an awesome one. He didn’t hesitate to prescribe good pain management pills, oxycodone, and also asked if I wanted the numbing agent and be awake during removal or be put under general anasthesia. Wasn’t a hard choice for me. You’re going to pull a 12 inch tube out through my urethra? I’ll take the general anasthesia please.
Jeff who is your urologist ?
So true! I have also noticed that when u have a nurse who has never had kidney stones, they tend to not understand, so they don’t tend to u much in the hospital or don’t understand how important it is for pain control!
I had double J stents put in 3 days after the birth of my son 8 weeks ago. The pain after was horrific, I’ve had three children, appendicitis, the pain from the stents was worse than all put together, no pain relief would even touch it in the first 72 hours.
For the past 8 weeks I have been in constant pain, needing the toilet every 5 minutes, day and night, only to find it barely possible to pee when I get there. I haven’t been able to walk or do any normal, every day activities.
Today I had the stents removed, 8 hours ago to be exact! This was done under general anaesthesia and the INSTANT I woke up I was pain free! I’ve been up and about, used the toilet twice, no pain, no bleeding and no need for any pain relief!
So while I know that must of us found the procedure to put them in hideous and indeed the duration of them being in, I hope this goes some way to reassuring you that having them out can indeed bring instant relief 🙂
I had a stent put in me a little over a week ago and the pain has been off the chart! Yesterday I was in so much pain in my right side I was crying and I never cry over pain, but this was a monster! I called my urologist office to see if he could order me something stronger than something quailed the spasms and TRAMADOL. IT was a joke to the nurse. I Pleaded with her, begged her to get me something for the severe pain I was experiencing. It was no use. I had to go to the ER and they gave me morhine IV and was SO THANKFUL for their mercy. After 2 x_rays and an ultrasound on both kidneys I was sent home with some hydrocodone. I wanted to kiss everyone that helped! Sharon, I feel your pain. My urologist treated me like a “job” and not a person who was in pain. I am suppose to have the stent removed tomorrow morning (11-13-14). I read up to see what kinda medication the doctor gave to the patient to minimize the pain. Get this NAPROXEN was given. DIDn’t say what the milligram was. That stuff does work for the break through pain. I’m going to take me a couple of taps of my hydro to make sure I don’t feel too much pain or at least minimize it. I was told that my UROLOGIST was a god one…not true. He did not provide pain management. From what I have read not many do. Next time I need to see a urologist, I’ll do my research and get to know him before any procedure. I will also ask what meds he uses for pain management. That is the KEY…management of the pain.
I don’t know where you are located at but I have an awesome doc. He has made sure I have enough pain medicine and minimal pain. I go tomorrow to get my stent out hoping it won’t be to bad.
I had my surgery on Thursday to remove my kidney stone. During the surgery the doctor put a stent in. I went to the doctors office the following Monday to get it removed. I thought it couldn’t be that bad. I was the most painful barbaric experience ever. I am still scarred from it. They lay you down on the table, numb the tip of your dick, and they fish around to pull it out. My stent got stuck so it took a little while longer. It is very painful but you will live. You have no choice you have to suck it up and do it.