Bladder and kidney stent removal

I had lithotripsy done on 6 May. That wasn't too bad but, like others in this thread, the stend is driving me crazy. I have to travel overseas and am just dreading the long flight. I have to go the bathroom every half hour and when I need to go, I need to go NOW! My doctor has prescribed flomax. Reading the side affects of it isn't encouraging.

Wow! after reading all these IDK I guess it could go either way for me.
I am sched. to have the stent removed on Friday and i am to start a badly needed job the following monday....so what do you all think? How bad is that Monday gonna be for me? ? any guesses

I am HOPEFULLY getting my stent out tomorrow. After reading this thread, I too, am quite nervous. My doctor prescribed Vicodin for my pain during all of this. Had lithotripsy *sp* . I believe it was successful. I have been passing sandy particles for about a week now. A couple of bigger pieces. I have a construction business and really need this thing out. I hope all goes well. I'll bookmark this page and report back.

Ok, so I had the removal today as planned. It was interesting to say the least. NO local anesthesia was used. My doctor said that a recent study had shown that it was a placebo because the urethra was waterproof (makes sense) and all the medications were water based. So the procedure took place with no meds. Just a side note...do NOT tell them if you've taken any pain meds. They are under law restricted to let you sign the release form if you are on any kind of narcotic. It had been 5 hours since taking the Vicodin and my wife co-signed the consent so it all still took place.

This morning before the Dr. visit, I had an x-ray done to check on the progress of my stone. That all looked good except for a tiny piece that was still lodged in between the stent and the ureter *sp*. It was very small so this was not a concern, just more to pass later.

The procedure took less than 3 minutes tops. It was very uncomfortable but tolerable. He used a scope and went in. Then my wife said (yes she was watching, she's weird like that...lol) he ran a wire, I'm guessing with something on the end to grab the string, down the scope and grabbed the string. Then he yanked, just kidding,...pulled the string/stent out. He did this at a steady pace. It was over fairly quick.

I did have a great urgency to urinate. And yes, it burned like crazy. This lasted about 2 hours. There was some cramping as well. I sat and watched a movie (Drillbit Taylor.........it was ok, but glad I waited for the dvd to come out instead of going to the theater). I had a urine jug in place and a towel. The urgency finally ceased. After the movie or about 1 1/2, I got up and emptied the jug. Low and behold, there was the bit of stone that I believed had been lodged. The pain and urgency were almost immediately gone.

So, in conclusion, I think the cramping and urgency was from the stone fragment moving and eventually being passed out. The procedure is uncomfortable BUT I now believe that the stent was the only way to go for me. GOOD LUCK and GOD BLESS. I hope no one reading this EVER has a kidney stone again. They, as you all know, are not my idea of a Sunday picnic.

I had my stint removed today. I must say I was very concerned after reading many of the posts on this thread.

I had no problems Dr had to 'look' a little for the string that they use to remove the stint. While this may sound unnerving, I would not classify the feeling as pain (nor something near orgasm, as another poster mentioned). One thing I did notice since having the stones broken up and the stint in place (for 7 days) was that my 'johnson' remained as compressed and shrunken as I can ever remember it since pre-teen days. This was somewhat ego bruising, as there were female assistants present, but I hope the effect was the same for all men going through this.

Once he found the string again, I did wince at the very end of the procedure, I imigine as the last of the stint was clearing my unit. All in all, it was NOTHING like what many of the posters have said here. I have not (as yet) had a recurrence of anything near the type of pre-surgery pain and the urge to urinate is slightly present, but nothing like the first day with the stint.

I can only guess that age, gender, type of stone and other health factors contribute to the issues raised here, not to mention that people who had no issues probably aren't going to post.

For what its worth, I'm male, 180lbs, 29 and had a 11mm by 6mm stone that was broken up surgically by running something up my johnson and into the kidney and breaking it up. Obviously I was knocked out while this happened. Then I passed the pulverized stones. My stones were somewhat acidic, caused party by eating lots of meat. I have some meds to reduce the acidity of my urine and they will do a blood test to check for the acidity of my blood.

At any rate, the motivation to post was to say that the stint removal was a non-issue painwise and, IMO, nothing to get worked up about.

Piece of cake..I had worked myself up to thinking it would be a very painful procedure..Numbing agent used, bladder filled with some water, scope inserted located stent easily enough a little tug and it was out..No after effects either..

I suddenly had the mad pain and then kidney blasted. I will have had the stent in since 5 May and return for xray on 3 September, why leave the stent in so long, it is not getting better the discomfort, changing color of urine, burning on passing urine, went to doc for kidney function test and infection urine examination all well. But now its dragging me down more and more, housework out the window, at first digging garden lots of laboring in garden, now all I can do is just about water the garden. Fed up of the whole thing really. like razer blades when I pee. Slight fevers, off my food. Go out for the day and have to come home, sometimes passing just a drop of pee, sometimes lovely clear pee. I was sent home from hospital with no paper outlining what to expect and was nearly tempted to call an ambulance once or twice. By the way I am in England, where maybe they keep in the stent for longer. Also another point when I urinate its like talc has been dusted on top of the urine maybe tiny bits of stone. And bladder aches a little. Anyway offer it all up to God. Its only something mechanical really like a stone in the engine of a car. its nothing serious or morbid really and thats what i remind myself.

I went in the emergency room almost a month ago with pain and found to have 2 kidney stones that needed to be blasted with a laser. The put in a temp stent before I had the laser surgery and end up putting a smaller one in after the surgeny with both times I was under. The smaller one was kept in for 2 weeks and told to pee in a stainer to get the rock samples...Today they took the stent out and there was no-called magical string. There was numbing cream, a light and forecepts. The whole porcedure took about 15-20 minutes but it felt like a 2 hours...They work was done at teaching hospital in which they let new doctors do this work, while being supervised.....They're fishing around looking for the stent like it was sort of like show and tell...
The bottom line is, the frigging stent is gone and I feel wonderful...

I had my first stone (4mm lodged in the ureter) surgically removed 3 weeks ago. A stent was placed and I was instructed to remove the stent myself in 5 days. The stent had two tiny black strings taped to my lower abdomen. I was given no other information. While the stint was in place it was extremely uncomfortable to the point of pain at times. It was difficult to find a comfortable sitting or laying position. Removal of the stent was worse than the surgery itself. I had no idea what to expect. I was tentative at first. I was surprised to find that, at first, I felt nothing and thought, "This is a piece of cake." However, as I continued to pull (a word of caution -- pull gently and slowly) I began to have kidney pain that increased to the point of nausea. The stent was 12 inches long with curls on each end. The end that was in my kidney had tissue on it, which I was later told was normal. Approximately 10 to 15 minutes later I was in bed with excruciating pain, nausea, and chills. I was so very ill. The doctor told me that a "colic" kidney is to be expected. Thankfully, the pain decreased over the next week. However, I am continuing to have some moderate pain. I see the urologist for follow-up in three weeks. Meanwhile, I am seeing my regular physician to determine why I am having fluid retention (possibly due to decrease in kidney function from surgical trauma). I am a young 52 year-old female, active, working full-time and going to school. I would say in all honesty, the stent removal was the worse experience that I NEVER want to repeat.

I had cystoscopy done 3 weeks ago to remove a 12 mm kidney stone. After the procedure, I was in pain only in my kidney, and lower abdomin. I still have a stent in me, and I have'nt stopped bleeding yet. I have terrible pain every time I urinate. I urinate at least 80 times a day, and hardly anything comes out. When I urinate, it feels like I'm peeing razor blades. The doctor said it is caused by the stent. I was just wondering if this is true, and has anyone else experienced this. If so, is the pain gonna go away after the stent is removed.

OK, I'm really freaked out about the stent removal. I go in Thursday and I would like to chat with any females who had had this done in office while awake. I need details about how the pain is and if I should take pain meds beforehand. Is it as painful as some of the posters have said?

Went to ER, and they found a 5mm stone blocking my left kidney. Stent was put in next day (general anesthesia) with minimal side affects. Stent was somewhat uncomfortable but not unbearable. Most pain though was when I urinated. (Could feel stent tugging in kidney when I started, and bladder spasming when I finished each time).

Had lithotripsy one week later. 4 days after that, had xray and stent removal. Was dreading the stent removal a great deal. Went in at 7:30am and hadn't planned on calling off work.

For me, the experience was very painful but brief. Brief pain when inserting numbing agent, which quickly went away. Actual scope insertion caused the most searing pain when it went through my prostate, and then briefly again when the stent came out through the prostate. While the doctor was in my bladder looking/fishing for stent actually was the least uncomfortable part.

My prostate burned for about an hour (so badly at first I had to have my wife come pick me up from hospital since I didn't feel well enough to drive). Within 4 hours, I was able to urinate without much pain, although am still bleeding slightly, which is normal.

I have read other males who say the experience of a cystoscopy is not that bad, so I guess it varies widely.

My recommendation - if you are a male, don't plan on going to work immediately after, and make sure to have some pain meds on hand. It was not pleasant for me.

I am 30 weeks pregnant and last week I had a stent put in my Ureter. I find it to be one of the most uncomfortable and horrible things I have ever had to have done and I am wondering if anyone else feels that they would rather not have the damn thing done at all and keep the kidney stones because at least they pass eventually. Not only do I feel pain around the clock and require two pain pills every four hours to endure the pain, but my doctors are treating me like I am a big baby and that the pain is all in my head, not to mention that I am pregnant and my overly active baby boy is kicking his feet at the foreign object because he doesn't know any better. I have only had this thing for 1 week and I have gone through 40 pain killers and haven't slept in several days, I am sorry if I am scaring anyone out of having this done but I want everyone to understand that the pain is different for everyone. Some people get over the pain with in a few days, others are in pain religiously 24 hours a day and will feel like they never get relief, and of that I am well aware. I do know many people who have been saved by getting this stent put in place. I, on the other hand, have nothing good to say about it. If you have any questions regarding my experience please e-mail me at ****** and I would be happy to share my experience. Although I want everyone to understand that everyone's experience is different and that you will need to be sure of your pain tolerance and heeling time before considering this procedure.

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E-mail me if you need to talk. I am in need of some answers myself and by now I am sure you have had the stent removed, but I am so scared of having it removed after being in pain for a whole week, and not just a little but an unbearable amount of pain. my e-mail is **** if you feel like talking.

Nicole





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I looked on this site for reassurance that I was not the only one having problems with a kidney stent. I have had severe pain after having the stent in for nearly three months now. The hospital doctor said discomfort was to be expected but reluctantly arranged for the stent removal. I only have the stent in as my ureter was torn during the cystoscopy performed to check there was no blockage from kidney stone, and subsequently infection and an abcess set in. Why on earth they did not use the IV dye to check for blockage I will never know but it would have cheaper and easier and a lot less pain and bother in the long run.

I went in for the stent removal on Friday and it was a lot worse than I expected. The damn thing had got stuck and they gave up at the fifth attempt. I think I had stopped shouting by then and was reduced to whimpering and begging. It is unbelievable that the neck of the bladder does not get anaethesised. I am having this stent out now under a general but the plan is to put a second stent in when they finally get round to blasting my stone. This one will be in for life as there is no way I could voluntarily put myself through an experience like that again. If it had come out first time, that pain would have been enough for me to still feel the same way. However this doctor did reassure me that I had not been imagining the pain. He pointed out the various places of damage and irritation to the bladder wall and that the stent was very badly calcified.

Anyway Im now hoping that there will be some communication at the hospital and they might see the sense of treating my stone first and in the near future so the stent can be removed quick and with no need for a replacement. Feel better for having a good moan and thanks for reading x