Like I'm not dealing with enough - kidney stone?

[AnnClare]

Monday night I rolled over in bed and felt a tender, aching in the left side of my back. Half asleep I remember thinking, "Ow, my kidney." Then I figured it was probably just a strained muscle, no biggie.
The sensation was pretty much gone by the time I woke up, and I'd only feel discomfort if I pressed on the area (like where the rib cage ends).

Yesterday afternoon, had my bi-weekly onc checkup, was told my labs still look 'excellent' (always good to hear). Because the pain hadn't bothered me in so many days, I forgot to mention it. I did ask about my urine looking a tiny bit on the cloudy side. He asked if I had pain with urination & I said no. He said it was typical when going through chemo as the body is filtering out all the meds. Made sense.

An hour after my appointment I was home and my back started hurting BAD. I couldn't get comfortable no matter how I moved, laid, sat, stood, rolled, etc. I thought it was trapped gas or something. Then I started having a little bit of chills. This went on for about 3-4 hours. The pain let up some around 9 and I dozed off for a few minutes, but by 10:30 it was back. My husband and I looked online and everything I was experiencing pointed towards a kidney stone. Ugh. Really?

I drank a lot of water and some pomegranate juice, laid on a heating pad and took 2 Advil. Thankfully the pain let up enough so I could sleep.
I'm at work today, and the area feels tender, but the pain is bearable. I called my doc's office and they said most people pass them on their own and to only go to ER if the pain is intolerable.

This is ridiculous. I've had 40 years of excellent health and now I feel like my body hates me and is trying to kill me.

So now I'm drinking lots of water and hoping the damn thing will pass. Oh, and one of the things I read last night was that people who have ostomies are more prone to kidney stones. Hadn't heard that one before. Nice.

[Deb m]

I have had many issues with kidney stones. Drink as much lemon juice as you can, it will help dissolve them.

deb m

[AnnClare]

Deb - thanks for the recommendation. I will begin doing that as soon as I get home this evening. Right now, all I have access to is water.

Have you passed yours without having to go to the Dr/ER? I really don't want it to come to that. Two ibuprofen & the heating pad last night seemed to ease the pain tremendously.

[missjv]

drink a lot of lemon water!! i just went through it two weeks ago it is the most horrible pain i rolled around on the floor like an idiot and i have a pretty good pain tolerance but kidney stone kicked my ass. i went through it a few years ago right after i had lung surgery i thought area where chest tube was had gotten infected because of the horrible pain but a kidney stone is what caused the pain. hope you are better soon!

missjv

[AnnClare]

missjv - that sounds like me! I was rolling around on the floor last night trying to get comfortable. No dice. I, too, have a high threshold for pain. Didn't get my scripts filled for Percocet after my ostomy surgery or port placement (although last night I was wishing I had! Advil helped, though, thankfully.)

How long did yours take to pass? My fear is that mine won't and I'll end up in the dreaded ER.

[Deb m]

I've had two episodes since 2009 and both needed to be surgically removed because they were too large to pass. It was the worst pain I've ever had! Since then I have been drinking lemon juice/water. I take a real lemon and press the juice out into water and drink it. About 1/2 lemon per 16 oz of water. I try and drink at least three glasses a day. I suppose you could just use lemon juice and mix it with water to make thing easier. Lemon water is also good for detoxing your body of toxins. My husband drank alot of it while he was going thru folfox for his cancer. If your stone is already very large, it may not get ride of it, but it will help. If it's small, it may dissolve it completely. It will also prevent you from forming new ones.

Wishing you the best,

Deb m

[missjv]

i use organic lemons or if im in a hurry i use lemon juice mixed with lemon oil that i get at whole foods in the fridge section. i guess some of us are just prone to them and i was bad and did not use the strainer i was given so i don't know what kind of stones i even have.

missjv

[AnnClare]

I'm wondering how long I should wait and see if it/they pass on its own. The stuff I've read online indicates it's usually about 48 hours. But is that from when you first feel an odd twinge, or the really bad pain? If so, I'm under the 24 hour mark on that. But the first sensation I felt was Monday night.

[Deb m]

My urologist always told me that it can take up to 6 weeks to pass. He said as long as there is no visible blood in urine, no fever, no pain while urinating and the pain is not intense then you can wait. If it doesn't pass by six weeks he said it probably won't and they remove it surgically. I on both occasions was in terrific pain with urine that was red in color comming out and uncontrolable vomiting. I never even made it to six weeks!
deb m

[AnnClare]

Yikes - you poor thing!

Guess I'll wait it out, since it's been less than a week and I don't have any blood or pain when urinating (knock on wood - hope I didn't just jinx myself!)

I really, really, REALLY don't want to go to the hospital unless it's absolutely, positively necessary.

[Jacques]

When I had kidney stones, my doctor gave me a two-week prescription for potassiium citrate. He said that if the stones were still there after two weeks then he would have to operate to remove them.

http://kidneystones.uchicago.edu/price-of-potassium-citrate/

Fortunately, they dissolved in about a week and I didn't have to go to the hospital.

[DarknessEmbraced]

I'm so sorry you are going through this!*hugs* Kidney stone pain is horrendous! I have two kidney stone surgeries. One was stuck and had to be removed surgically. I had a procedure to break up the kidney stones into smaller pieces. One fragment that was left in my right kidney was bothering me so I had another surgery to remove it. I must have passed the others. My kidney stones were due to high calcium from hyperparathyroidism. I hope you pass your stone soon!*hugs*

[AnnClare]

So I haven't had another super painful episode like I had Thursday night, it's now just a dull ache. But Friday evening & all day yesterday I was running a fever. Just took my temperature a little while ago and it's 99.5. I feel tired & weak, probably because I really didn't eat anything yesterday. Just had a waffle and two turkey sausage links, but it was a chore to eat - still have no appetite.

I'm debating as to whether or not I should go to the ER. I'm scared to go, mostly because I don't know what it will entail. Will they keep me overnight? I'm scheduled to have my 3rd infusion this Wednesday and can't imagine getting it while I feel so weak and just overall lethargic. Should I just bite the bullet and head to the ER? I don't have any blood in my urine or pain when I go . . . any advice or insight?

[Ron50]

I would go and get it checked. It seems that stones seem to go with colon cancer and the related chemo. I have had acute pancreatitis and lost my gallbladder which was full of little black cholesterol stones. I have had five or six episodes of renal colic. Fortunately and unfortunately my stones are not calcium they are uric acid crystals and they scratch and cut all the way out and it is common for me to pass blood in my urine. I don't know how many tests I have had for bladder cancer thanks to the blood. I usually drink cranberry juice after one has passed , it seems to head off any urinary tract infections. I suffer nephrotic syndrome of the kidneys believed to be caused from a combination of 5fu and levamisole. I see my nephrologist regularly and he once said he thinks people take too many calcium tablets. He thinks that most can get enough calcium via the diet and that with supplements the unused calcium can build up as stones in the kidneys. He does not want me taking calcium supplements he would rather I ate sardines a couple of times a week. I suffer osteo-penia from high dose prednisone so I thought I was doing the right thing taking calcium. Ron.

[Jacques]

... I feel tired & weak, probably because I really didn't eat anything yesterday. Just had a waffle and two turkey sausage links, but it was a chore to eat - still have no appetite...I'm debating as to whether or not I should go to the ER...

I think you should probably see a doctor and have your situation diagnosed. He/she may check your blood for kidney problems (renal panel) and may check your WBC count to see if you have an infection.

The staff may also take an X-ray or do another kind of imaging to see if your kidney has become enlarged or if the stone is blocking the exit to the bladder. If this is the case, then it could be serious, because you could lose the function of that kidney or have to go on dialysis. Basically, you need to have the medical staff look at your situation to make a proper diagnosis and then go from there.

It could be the case that your kidney stones were precipitated by numerous sessions of diarrhea due to chemo, which then caused dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, then kidney stone formation. If so, you may need to keep better tabs on your diarrhea while you are on chemo and make sure that you do not become dehydrated. If you are not eating well and not drinking enough water, then your electrolyte count may be low and may not have been replenished sufficiently. Drinking sports drinks like Gatorade can help boost up the level of electrolytes. Alternatively, you can make your own sports drinks inexpensively by mixing packets of oral rehydration salts with plain water. They come in different flavors. You should be able to find a flavor that you like.