Everything went okay, better than we expected in some ways (from not even knowing if we would be able to have the scheduled surgery due to the stone’s placement in the kidney to no pieces of stone left large enough for the Dr to manually extract), not as good in others. The Dr said he would do his best to not need to place another stent, unfortunately when he evaluated the situation during the surgery it was medically necessary to place another one. I was so hoping that the stent wouldn’t be necessary from all of the issues I’ve had with it the last 3 weeks. Another 2-3 weeks with the stent is not my idea of a good time.
I’m still in quite a bit of pain, enough to need medicine fairly often and that my blood pressure drops when I sit up or stand up, so I look pretty ghostly most of the day. We are hoping I can gather enough stone fragments to send back for testing to find out the cause and prevent further stones. Because of my anatomy I just can’t pass most stones, hopefully this won’t be how every stone happens, because I have one lingering in my right kidney that hasn’t done anything yet. The thought of dealing with this every time is terrifying.
Thank you so much to my amazing husband, Edwin. He has been my champion and support system through this entire journey. He helped and supported me at the surgery center so I was empowered to speak up for myself and what I needed before consenting to the surgery. He has been doing such a wonderful job of taking care of me, making me slow down, and being so patient with me. I could never have gotten through this without him.
And thank you to the nurses, 16 hours without food before the appointment and I was a bit of a hangry bitch while waiting for the Dr to show arrive; but they were so patient with me when I had concerns and hesitations and did not make me feel pressured into following their timeline. Yesterday could have gone very differently without those saints being patient with me!