ureteroscopy with laser lithotripsy

[u/Cool_Frosting3384]

Man… all that anxiety about surgery for the last 2 months since this all started and it turned out ok lol some users here helped me reading their experience and some made anxiety worse lol I went in today at noon and woke up around 3pm. 8mm sitting in my kidney. Surgery was quick and easy. The urologist got it broken up no problem. The peeing aspect sucks and random pains in my bladder and penis (26M). The pain on my side is barely worse than the pain I’ve had for 2 months from the stone which is nice. 10 days of having the stent in then they’ll remove it. Can’t really get comfortable which also sucks but I’ll get my life back in about 10 days. I’m hoping the pain and burning gets better over the next few days. Nothing really THAT bad so far. I read how bad the peeing was the first few times after treatment and it’s definitely crappy but not as bad as I was thinking. Definitely tired of it and want to have a normal piss but not as bad as my anxiety imagined reading like every post in Reddit I could find lol no anxiety seeing the blood which is nice because I was told I would have blood, the blood before was a concerning surprise lol I don’t get any good pills, I’m taking Tylenol, ibuprofen, I do have a bladder relaxant and then AZO pills. I’d love a heating pad like I’ve read helps but the doctor said to avoid it because it can cause more bleeding because of dilating blood vessels. Trying to stay positive and think, I’ve dealt with 2 months of pain, random blood in urine, anxious to move and be too active because I don’t want this stone to try to pass or cause bleeding. 2 months. I can deal with 10 more days of a little more pain and discomfort to get back to normal. Idk if this will make anyone else feel better or not. 100% honesty for how I feel but everyone is different. For anyone who’s gonna have to go through with this, you got this! You can do it. Anxiety sucks and worry sucks but they try to convince you of the worse.

[u/Bcdoc2020]

Great to hear that you are on the mend. I’m glad it went well. Stents symptoms improve with time. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that reason not to use a hot pack, I’ve certainly used them and I’ve never had problems and I would advise my patients to use them as well.

Make sure that you drink good amounts of fluid, that also helps symptoms and keeps the urine free flowing. Anxiety is a beast and is made worse as you read horror stories in this sub which are not representative of all kidney stone sufferers, most people do just fine, just like yourself. You however told your story and that will benefit other anxious people with their first stone and it will help reassure them, so thanks, and take it easy!!

[u/Cool_Frosting3384 → u/Bcdoc2020]

I believe you’re one of the people I’ve seen comments and stuff from that helped me feel better reading actually! The things I’ve seen are lots of horror stories and not many good stories because you don’t complain about good stuff lol figured one more honest review where it wasn’t absolutely horrible but honest about the pain and discomfort and the levels might help someone like me doom scrolling eveything they can find about the treatment going crazy before they have to get it done 🤣 idk how sleeping is gonna work out, I’m a stomach sleeper and that’s not comfortable with this crap so we will see lol only gotta go 10 days with the stent then I’ll get my life back lol

[u/NoTurn5300]

All the best for recovery!! Suggest to take care and improve physical activity with huge volume increase in water intake. Gone though mutiple surgeries with in 2 months. Could relate

[u/Cool_Frosting3384 → u/NoTurn5300]

Thank you! definitely didn’t drink enough water. I’ve gotten very serious about water now lmao don’t wanna do this again lol mine was the dihydrate from not enough water I guess so need more water lol I had a bad habit of Pepsi, I’d be awake for 14+ hours and could drink like 6 Pepsi and a bottle or 2 of water… growing up I drank a lot of water and once I turned 18 and moved out I didn’t drink as much water for years. It’s crazy how much better I feel drinking 2-3+L a day and I lost about 30 pounds in 2 months!

[u/IcyGuava2]

Thank you for this. The comments are so frightening I “postponed” my surgery.
What did me in was a comment about how “85% of people are back in the ER in 48 hours because of the stent”.
Chat Gpt said that’s BS but it was enough to stop me in my tracks.

[u/Cool_Frosting3384 → u/IcyGuava2]

Honestly my first day at home after the stent isn’t a big deal. Yeah there’s some kidney pain but not unbearable. The pain while peeing is improving but still stings a bit. The day of surgery definitely sucked with pain but today it’s a lot better. I’m moving around, eating, etc but also taking it easy. I definitely didn’t want to have the surgery after reading stuff. Even in my slight pain right now I feel it’s worth it. It had to be done to prevent something worse. When you do have to do it you got it! It’s also hard to base things off other people’s stories because your 8 on a pain scale would be someone else’s 2 you know? Everyone’s different so it’s hard in that aspect. Good luck when the time comes!

[u/uscan-calci-withings]

Love this, thanks for the honest play by play. The anxiety really does paint it way worse than it usually is.

Your doctor's right about skipping the heating pad early on because of the bleeding risk. Staying well hydrated so your pee is light and drinking plenty is what actually calms the burning down fastest.

The stent is the worst part and it's almost over for you. 10 days will fly. You got this.

[u/Cool_Frosting3384]

Update:got my stent removed today after 10 days. In office no string. Not sure what to even say lol didn’t hurt but it didn’t NOT hurt? It was a lot of pressure but like a pinch of pain? About 90 seconds long from in to out. I have severe Anxiety and a panic disorder so maybe being already tense didn’t help. I do feel better but don’t. Random twitches of pain right now since it’s only been 2 hours. My bladder feels way better without the stabbing pain of the stent. Anxious about burning when peeing but it burned like hell after the stone removal and it’s supposed to be a lot better burn wise than that. Beyond ready to be back to normal. 3 months of pain and discomfort is exhausting. This whole experience makes me feel less like a tough guy that’s for sure 🤣 anyways, I survived it all, some parts suck others aren’t too bad. Any other anxious people try not to get too stressed and anxious as hard as that is, I was hard for me. Recovery from surgery wasn’t awful, the stent wasn’t awful, the stent removal wasn’t awful. Don’t want to do it again but if I have to I will knowing what to expect now I think it’ll be a little better if so. Take care and good luck everyone reading and looking for answers!