Kidney stone treatment waiting times

tuxy

Not really a long tearm illness but it looks like this could take sometime to resolve so I figured I would post it here.

I had been having abdominal cramps for months. I went to my GP who booked me in for a scan. I went weeks with out hearing any update on when the scan would be performed. One day when the pain became very bad I had enough and went into A&E. I ended up spending the next two night in hospital and they inserted a jj stent. I was told I had a fairy large stone. I was discharged and told that I would be back in 2 weeks for extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. When I got the appointment it was for 6 weeks time!
I went in for the lithotripsy and that went fine, it did not hurt like I expected. I was told I would be back again in 2 weeks. Again when I got the appointment it was for a further 5 weeks.
So I am now waiting on my second session of lithotripsy with no end in sight as I understand it may take several sessions.
Generally I am not in any pain but the steant means that I have had to take it easy. I can not do any vigorous exercise, if I do I am in severe pain. I had been very active in sport but have had to put all that on hold since I had the stent inserted back in July.

Has anyone on here been through this?

corium.sam

Hi, kidney stone is listed in one of the severe pain conditions. The problem is that if you have suffered from it and operated it, it again starts formation after a certain time. For this you need to avoid calcium rich food in your daily diet. And exercise daily to make sure that your bladder throws out all the impurities.

tuxy

I was in hospital yesterday, finally. It went great most the stone broke up and they removed the stent. Feeling so much better now. I can feel some of the stone passing when I urinate but it's not too painful.

The exercise is no problem, I was active before I realised I had the stone so I plan to be very active again soon. My diet is not great though, what are the most important things to avoid?

corium.sam

Hi tuxy, happy to hear that your stone got treated. Just make sure that you avoid fruits and vegetables which are rich in seeds. Avoid nuts, chocolate, wheat germ and other oxalate foods.

Tabnabs

tuxy, do some proper research on this, there's plenty of good advice to be found online. You've been through the pain and distress, so I'm sure you motivated enough to make dietary changes

As someone who has had this problem myself, do the homework and make it go away!

rajeshrohaniya

Horse gram can be tried once for the treatment of kidney stones. My 7 mm stone was dissolved easily after consuming its soup in early morning in empty stomach. I used it for four months.

Ger Roe

I have had several kidney stone issues over the years, ranging from sound wave treatment, to stent insertion and surgery for stone removal.

Regarding the diet thing, the word from my consultant was that the list of possible risky foods was so long, that you would starve if you avoided them all. Also the final word was that if you are prone to forming stones, any diet restrictions you might observe will probably just delay the frequency of stone formation, not eliminate it. That's what I was told by the experts anyway.

In relation to the initial posted question about delays, in my experience the delay for all aspects of kidney treatment has increased in recent years, from getting any tests done, to consultations and treatments... all considerably longer than they used to be.

The bottom line is, if you feel pain, go straight to A&E and get a jump start on the process. If it is kidney stone issues, the treatment plan will then start much quicker than politely waiting for appointment letters to snail their way to you. If they think you can wait for a paper trail process, you will be left waiting.