First Kidney Stone Attack

[Smoken D]

Lets hear your story, usually funny years later of course. ---- Here's mine

 

May, 1981, me and my partner Phil, (Detectives back then) went to one of the worse places in the world, Wayne Miner Housing. Cops won't go in without being escorted by other cops. The ambulance team that responds there have Kevlar suits and don't go in without a lot of cops. The fire department just don't go there. Anyway, me and Phil need to talk with a woman who of course lives on the 3rd floor. (No one really lives on the 1st or 2nd floor, always the 3rd or top floor) We knock on the door and she answers. Won't let us in and as we are talking suddenly I get one heck of a thud of a pain in my right side that knocks me to my knees. Phil jumps, the woman jumps, all thinking the same thing I was. I've been shot. No gunfire sound as Phil knocks the woman out of the way and into the room Phil drags me screaming for help on the walkie. I'm a checking and no blood, what the heck, but I'm a still burning in my side. Still no blood. Dang ambulance 5 minutes away so Phil ask's me if I could make it to the car. Hell yes, already have our guns out and a some what running we go down the stairs and too the car. Hospital only a few minutes away at warp speed and off we go with me now really bent over. Yep, it turned out to be my first kidney stone attack. Phil and the team when what is left of the ole 770 squad get together still laugh at that one.

Man that hurt.

[Tony Crowe]

Funny story. I fully understand having had my own kidney stone experience a couple of times. 

[Dorado]

None of mine were funny. Only time in my life that I've thrown up from pain.

[J-BAR #18287]

I've had three, and I cried with each one.  The emergency room Doc told me that women who have had both babies and kidney stones say the stones are more painful than giving birth.

 

it was not comforting.

[Smoken D]

The bad part was this was on a Thursday and Friday I started my vacation. We were going to fly to Phoenix but had to cancel. They gave us a Saturday flight which by golly we made that one. Have had 3 kidney stones in my life and all were the size of my thumb nail which of course lead to a Lithotripsy for each one. That was interresting.

[Noz]

Just one but it was an enlightening experience.

[Tennessee Trapper Tom]

Had my only kidney stone when I was just 20. Cried like a baby. Worse, in Dec 2009 had a bout of pancreatitis that nearly killed me. It's like kidney stones on steroids in your chest. Cried a lot then too.

[Dantankerous]

A good friend of mine woke up early on the morning of his 45th birthday to an incredible pain that sent him to the hospital. He thought he was dying. It was kidney stones. He does not recommend those to anybody.

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

I've become philosophical about them; going on #6, and my Doc tells me I have plenty more waiting to become mobile.

 

My glass is half full; I love the morphine/ demerol and the trip that follows....

 

LL

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

The ER nurse told me the same thing J-Bar was told:  she'd had both children and kidney stones, and of the two, the kidney stones were worse.

I've done many things in my young life; I never asked a fellow lawman for a favor, and I'd never asked a fellow nurse for a favor.

Until I was layin' on that ER table wallerin' like a worm on a fish hook.

I looked up at her and gasped, "I have never asked a fellow nurse for a favor in over eighteen years but I'm askin' now."

She gave me a pitying look, probably thinking in terms of a needle full of relief.

I said "Could you call down to central supply for me?"

She blinked and gave me a look as if to say "You are full of it and I know it," and said "O-kaaaaaayyyy ..."

I said "Have them send up their biggest rubber mallet."

Now she's trying not to laugh, she says "Why?"

I set up on attair bed feeling like an insane Japanese dwarf was stirring a hand forged Zulu war spear around in my tenderloins and I declared firmly, "I want you to take that mallet in both hands and belt me between the eyes just as hard as you can!"

She's giggling and turning red and chokes, "I can't do that!"

I fell back on the table,twisting to try and find some position that didn't hurt like homemade hell and I said "It's like rasslin' a wildcat up in a tree.  Shoot in here amongst us, one of us gots to have some relief!"

That was the day I had a fine healthy pair of kidney stones ... the one in the left renal calyx measured 7.7mm ... think about a 30 cal ... the one in the right renal calyx miked out at 9mm, according to radiographic analysis ... they dunked me in a horse tank of warm water and beamed Grand Funk Railroad at high volumes at my Equatorial Bulge and blew those rascally rocks to sand!

The doc put in a stent to hold things open until the sand washed out.

The stent hurt as bad as a stone, especially when I tried to move.

When the doc finally took out attair stent he held up something not two inches long and real skinny and I cussed him roundly and said "You get back in there and get that (colorfully described) stent outta me!  It's ten foot long and three foot across, it's got three masts with all sails spread and two anchors a-draggin'!"

[Grizzly Dave]

Woke up one morning and headed for the bathroom, as is the case every morning.  Before I got there I got a sudden pain that put me on the floor.  It hit and I crumpled.  Couldn't do a thing about it.  Have had several since, thankfully none that bad.

[MizPete]

Know y'all don't think stones are so bad for a woman, but UR wrong.  I agree -- I've had babies & stones & I'll take babies any day.

Had my first one at 18.  The most memorable was at Mule Camp, on my birthday, and Petey had to shoot the early rotation the morning after sitting up all night in the ER waiting room.

[Whiskey Business]

Doc can prescribe something very effective to prevent those. Low side effects. 

[Tom Bullweed]

I drive eight hours home from Birmingham and just felt odd as I could not get comfortable in the car seat.  Next day, mowed the lawn and spent an hour cleaning the shop, still feeling odd.  Took a shower, and my wife found me on the floor in pain that I never imagined.  The nurse at the ER " just a kidney stone, you'll live'" until I started spreading breakfast around her neat room.  Modern medicine then moved onto my 'favorite things list'.

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

6 hours ago, Whiskey Business said:

Doc can prescribe something very effective to prevent those. Low side effects. 

 

I've been on allopurinol for 20 years, and still make stones.  Do you have something else in mind?  Please, please tell me that you do....

 

LL

[Grumpy Old Man]

My 1st stones, sat straight up in bed at 4 AM. Thought I had a knife in my back. Passed them without too much trouble. 2nd time, didn't even know I had em. Blood showed up in urine at regular check up. Moved for a little while, then stopped. Had to have em blasted.

[Trailrider #896]

I had them.  Didn't get knocked on my knees, but pain was sure bad enough.  First time, the doc put me out and went in with then, then brand new ureterscope and got it out. The stent fell out into my bladder! He got it out. Second time, he tried with a wider (larger diameter) scope. And missed it! Finally passed it myself. Latest was a year ago this April. Pain wasn't quite so bad, and I thought it might be my back acting up. Finally called a urologist who ordered an x-ray followed by a CT-scan which confirmed there was a large-sized boulder in the left ureter.  Pain was intermittent and Advil helped.  Tried to find a doc who would remove it. In all of Denver, the only one that would even schedule me said he could do it in a month or so!   Called the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. on Wednesday afternoon. They said the specialist would see me the following Monday and take it out on Tuesday, which she did. (That's all this doctor does is kidney stones! And she's great at it!)  Left a stent in to be removed a week later, which a doc in Denver did.

While at Mayo, I saw a nephrologist (deals with diseases of the kidneys).  He told me: No more colas, diet or otherwise; no black tea; no more spinach; no coffee (which I don't drink anyway)!  Those all have ocalates which is the major component of the type of stones I get (calcium ocalate).  But diet root beer is okay.  If you get stones you should have a metabolic study done and see if you can eliminate the problem by diet change.

[Dorado]

My first one I didn't realize I had one. I thought I just pulled something in my back. Second one left little doubt in my mind as to what it was. I had volunteered to help out at the large gun show advertising our SASS club. I was woken by an ill-tempered gremlin armed with a harpoon stabbing me in the back. It was so bad I couldn't move. I couldn't even call for help. I crawled and clawed my way to the bathroom where I threw up. Only time in my life I've thrown up from pain. I suffered for 3 hours before I was able to get my parents to drive me to the ER. There Dr. Healme (actual name, maybe misspelled), gave me a shot of toradol and took some x-rays. He new exactly what I was going through. He got me an appointment to see a urologist and prescribed me some heavy painkillers. Next day I was at the urologist and he took more x-rays. He then gave me a little funnel and told me to pee through it to catch the stone for analysis, and wished me luck. Nearly two weeks passed before the stone dropped into my bladder and it took another 2 days to make it out of me. That thing was evil looking. It was the size of an Advil tab and had spikes all over it. Dang thing looked like those morning star maces.

I'm not looking forward to the next one.

[Smoken D]

Yep, the ones I have had were all the size of a quarter, why I got blasted and why they would put me down on my knees. 3 times, last was in 89 or 90 and never want to go through anything like that again. It do hurt!

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

I'm hesitant to even describe the sensation, for fear of enticing a return of the Stone Devil...      

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

I've had nearly 20 of them over the years. Got so there was no mystery or anxiety; would take a lot of Vicodin and go to bed.

[Warden Callaway]

Has anyone tried chanca piedra tea to dissolve stones?  

 

For the past couple of years I've had some to a lot of pain in my lower back and places south.  I just figured I had a bad disk in my lower back or something.  It would be worse in the morning to the point I could hardly get out of bed. I got to thinking that kidney and other urinary infections could cause the same pain symptoms.   One of our cowboy biddies was laid up from a operation of some sorts because of stones.  He has had reoccurring problems with stones for many years. In comparing notes, I was more convinced I may also have a problem with stones.  Hard headed,  I looked for some home remedy rather than go to the doctor.   My research led me to chanca piedra tea.  It's made from a plant grown in the Amazon jungle and the name chanca piedra translates to stone breaker.  I drank a cup every morning and after the first week really didn't see any improvement and per instructions,  that's to be expected.   But I started to see improvement and in a months time,  my lower back pain and other discomforts were largely gone. 

[Noz]

On 7/4/2017 at 10:12 PM, Whiskey Business said:

Doc can prescribe something very effective to prevent those. Low side effects. 

Babies or kidney stones?

[Finagler 6853 Life]

Studies say, as a rule, beer drinkers have a lower incidence of kidney stones.  Has something to do with flushing the kidneys on a regular basis. I don't think I'll ever have kidney stones.

I've held the hand of my Mrs. numerous times as she writhed in pain from a stone, kidney and gall.  Doesn't look like a fun time.  The Toredal does seem to help.

You guys have some colorful descriptions of your episodes.  Sorry for your pain but you made me giggle.  Ok, I'll admit it,  I laughed out loud.

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

My second kidney stone was the one with a 32 caliber in the left renal calyx and the 38 caliber in the right.

My wife set the land speed record getting me to the hospital.

I alternated between begging her to slow down to a little below mach, and trying to stomp the floorboards out of the passenger side.

She had never been to the local hospital, we hadn't been in the Yankee North all that long, I told her let me off at the front door -- the agonies of that hand forged, iron Zulu war spear being stirred about the tenderloins is not a constant, it comes and then it comes harder (never completely goes) -- she went to park and she admonished me not to soft pedal what I was feeling.

She knew I would try to minimize it because I don't like to be a bother.

I headed for the glass doors of the front lobby and looked at someone reflected therein ... and could not help but feel sorry for that hobbling old geezer I saw, some old feller in pain must be off to my side and a little behind ... I got to the door and it took both hands to haul it open and there warn't nobody behind me.

I went in.

The little old bluehairs at the front desk wearing their striped grey volunteer smocks were happily gossiping about something and doing a fine job of ignoring me.

I spoke up finally.

"I beg your pardon, ladies," I managed to groan, "but which way is the emergency room?"

The earthquake hit about that time.

Now with a quake, the ground will roll like an ocean wave, and it did:  as a matter of fact that reception counter took a distinct list to starboard.

I seized it and gritted my teeth and with a manful effort I managed to haul that tilted counter back up level, and then it dipped off to port and it took every last bit of my strength to right that listing marbletop, and a wheelchair was dislodged by the rolling temblor and came sailing up behind me:  a hand gripped my shoulder, the earth shivered and jumped underfoot, my knees buckled and I landed in the wheelchair with an arm across my chest and a voice behind me yelling "GET THAT DOOR!  CODE BLUE TEAM!" and I'm trying to say it's only a kidney stone and about that time I was picked up by twenty sets of hands and I sort of floated up off attair Everest & Jennings wheelchair and as they're wafting me like a wind-drifting cloud towards the ER table, a bolt of lightning drove through my midsection.

Apparently the gossiping bluehairs thought that crippled up old man at their counter was dying of a heart attack.

I told my wife about it later and I said I didn't think I looked that bad.

She gave me THAT LOOK and said "Oh yes you did!"

Now the next I had kidney stones, the in-laws were up to visit, it's two in the morning, the wife comes out to the landing at the top of the stairs and there I'm a-layin', chewing on my knuckle to keep from screaming -- didn't want to disturb her folks -- I felt awful bad they woke to find us gone, but at least Melissa was able to leave a note on the kitchen table along with a cheerful "Help yourself to breakfast, if we've got it, you've got it" -- my father in law has suffered terribly with those angry little uric acid crystals that layer over with calcium, he was of the opinion upon reading the note that he'd partake of Bisquick pancakes or eggs but he'd pass on any more kidney stones.

That second kidney stone attack didn't get me throwed in that horse tank of warm water, but it did get me laid on a cold stainless steel table and they raised a transducer plate up against my tenderloins, and just before they turned on the sound powered jack hammer, they hit me with a syringe full of You Won't Remember a Thing, but when I was in recovery the male nurse who'd set me up came out and shook my hand and congratulated me on my fine vocabulary:  he had been a US Navy Corpsman, he'd served with the Marines, and he said I had a range, a breadth and a depth of language that would be the utter and absolute envy of the most gifted military malediction specialist!

[Smoken D]

My second hit me on a fishing trip with the wife. It was early morning when I felt, "the pain". I woke up my wife and told her I needed to get back home, a two hour ride. Well ya see the wife was blind and the only one to drive was me. It was coming on the left side and as I drove home I could at least lean on the left side against the door. Was a quiet ride as I grit my teeth with sweat rolling down my foehead. At times got a little dizzy and close from passing out while driving. When I finally got home, called a friend to come and get me and off to the hospital. Given that stuff you won't remember and I kept begging for more. Finally they told me I had enough to knock a horse out and they couldn't give me any more no matter how much I begged. They kept saying I was out of my mind and could not feel any pain. They did stay out of my reach because they could tell from my look what I was going to do. Big as a quarter again and off to the tub. The next morning I want back to ER and told them exactly who was in the room with me and what they were talking about. Their mouths dropped and said no way could you remember all that from the amount of, "you won't remember a thing" drugs they gave me. I told them what they gave me never even touched the pain I was in. Those women just shook their head. Man that hurt.

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

Two stones ago I ended up in the ER of an unfamiliar suburban hospital.  The lady at the admission desk insisted that I fill out a bunch of forms before anyone could see me; she relented when I went into full bloody screaming mode about 2 minutes later.  These folks gave the impression that they had never treated kidney stones before; they laid me out on a gurney outside the x-ray department, insisting that I had to have an x-ray before they could treat me; I told them in exceptionally colorful terms that they had better pump some Kickapoo Joy Juice into me, or they were going to have an unfortunate incident in the x-ray room.  They ignored me.  This was a bad one; I had not screamed before; but this sucker grabbed me by the guts and pulled, and I bellowed like a bull.  That was it for Mrs. LL, who had been waiting patiently by my side.  She was up in a flash, down the hall to the administration offices, and in 5 minutes, I had an IV in my arm with some Liquid Mercy flowing.  

 

I've had gall stones as well; in my opinion, nothing, absolutely nothing, originates inside the body and produces worse pain than a kidney stone.  I have a plastic container on my desk with specimen stones of my own manufacture; damn things look like PacMan with teeth.

 

LL

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217]

Hi Gents,

 

I've never had one. Do women get them or just "grin and bear it?"

 

Anyway, I do have a friend, who is a fellow shooter, named Kid Kneestone. His story must be memorable.

 

Regards,

 

Allie

 

PS Just read the other posts and see women do get them.