POST KIDNEY STONE ATTACK UPDATE
If you remember my last article, I wrote about another kidn
ey stone attack which required surgery because it was stuck! Well, here is the update on it all…
I had a stent in my “private area” after the surgery for about a week. It was one of the weirdest and uncomfortable experiences of my life…I had a “fishing string” hanging out of my privates the entire time and it felt like I was in a war every time I had to urinate. I was so happy to meet the physician assistant a week later at the office to have the “stent” taken out.
I was extremely nervous about the process of getting this thing out of my body! Fortunately, it was not as bad as I thought, and it took a few seconds of holding my breath and it was over. However, I was shocked at how long the actual stent was when it was out of my body…it was over two feet long and went all the way through me and up to the actual kidney!!!
Because of the numerous issues with my kidney stones, I was able to meet with a nephrologist that specializes in this area. After the meeting, I was informed that she wanted me to change my diet a bit to see if that helps in any way. The diet is called the “DASH” diet. Basically, it is a plant-based diet that also says to “avoid anything that has a mother or a face.” What does that mean? Well, it means no meat or fish of any kind (or a limited amount of that type of food). So for the past several weeks, I have been eating a tremendous number of legumes and beans to replace the normal protein I got from fish. Additionally, the “DASH” diet calls for minimal salt intake. So, I have been incredibly careful about that side item as well…which means the food has no taste!!
The nephrologist also wanted me to get genetic testing done to see if it is something in my DNA. So I did a swab test at home and sent it to the laboratory and four weeks later it came back negative! Additionally, this doctor put me on special medicine to see if that helps that I must take twice a day for several months. Finally, the doctor is making me do a 24-hour urine test so they can evaluate the acidity levels, etc. of my urine. My wife is not so happy that I brought home a 24-hour urine test kit that I must urinate into and carry around the house…but I told her this is the doctor’s order!
Obviously, this has all been a pain in the butt (actually a pain in the kidney)! Between genetic testing, DASH diet, the special medicine and the 24-hour urine test we hope answers will follow as to why I am producing all these kidney stones. Oh, to add salt to the wound when they did the original CT scan for the stones in the emergency room, they found something suspicious in the kidney, and I now need to get an MRI to make sure it is nothing to worry about.
Well, that is the current update on the kidney stone saga. I have a meeting with the nephrologist next month to see what all these results uncover.
As always, be safe and live well!