First hike-in seep lake outing of the year for me 3/9/2023

Starman77

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@Starman77 - Great to hear that you recovered and got to enjoy the outdoors once again. I've never had kidney stones but from what I've heard they are quite painful to endure. I've heard that there's a procedure whereby the doctor is able to pulverize the stones to make passing them much easier..
I had 2 procedures done, one called laser lithotripsy, where a laser is used to pulverize the kidney stones, but the urologist wasn't able to use the laser to reach the largest kidney stone, so he used another procedure called shockwave lithotripsy, which administers focused ultrasonic shock waves to break up the kidney stones. It was still very painful passing the broken pieces of the kidney stones, so painful that I almost couldn't stand up. After the procedure, I also had a 10" long stent installed between the kidney and the bladder, and a catheter between the bladder and the tip of the urethra. The catheter was removed the next day, but the stent remained in place for two weeks.
 

cdnred

Life of the Party
I had 2 procedures done, one called laser lithotripsy, where a laser is used to pulverize the kidney stones, but the urologist wasn't able to use the laser to reach the largest kidney stone, so he used another procedure called shockwave lithotripsy, which administers focused ultrasonic shock waves to break up the kidney stones. It was still very painful passing the broken pieces of the kidney stones, so painful that I almost couldn't stand up. After the procedure, I also had a 10" long stent installed between the kidney and the bladder, and a catheter between the bladder and the tip of the urethra. The catheter was removed the next day, but the stent remained in place for two weeks.
Seems like you went thru torture. Glad to hear it's all behind you now, life is short..
 

Stonedfish

Known Grizzler-hater of triploids, humpies & ND
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Rex,
After passing seven stones and having three lithotripsy procedures myself, I know exactly what you went through.
I certainly got the correct last name in Stone, lol.
Glad you are recovering and getting out now. Thanks for the report.
SF
 

Flymph

Steelhead
The end of nuts, spinach, pop, salty snacks, rhubarb, and a few other things I have grown to crave to fend off future stones. Rex, glad your're on the mend. Apparently some of us just don't drink enough water!! ER lady doctor made fun of my contortions and said "now you kind a know what women go through giving birth".
 
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RCF

Life of the Party
^^^ if one would give up everything that is rumored to help stop the creation of stones all that would be left is water with no naturally occurring chemicals...
 

Starman77

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The end of nuts, spinach, pop, salty snacks, rhubarb, and a few other things I grown to crave to fend off future stones. Rex, glad your're on the mend. Apparently some of us just don't drink enough water!! ER lady doctor made fun of my contortions and said "now you kind a know what women go through giving birth".
I'd read that I'd have to filter my urine to find bits of the kidney stones so that they could be analyzed, but my urologist didn't collect any pieces of the stones and didn't have me filter the urine, so I don't know exactly what I should be avoiding or trying to eat. My urologist just said to avoid salt and drink lots of fluids. I do admittedly eat lots of spinach and leafy green vegetables, which are apparently sources of oxalate, a key component of calcium oxalate (80% of the kidney stones are made of this). So in trying to eat healthy stuff, I may have instead inadvertently created kidney stones. In comparing lists of things to eat and not eat, I discovered that on one list, it listed potatoes as something to avoid, but on another list it listed potatoes as something I should eat, so who to believe? I've just decided to try to drink more fluids and eat various foods in moderation, like I normally do, but maybe I'll eat spinach less frequently.

I also have read that the pain of passing kidney stones is comparable to the pain of childbirth. Since I have no personal experience with childbirth, I can't compare, but it does amaze me that most women will voluntarily go through childbirth multiple times, even though they know how much pain they will experience. I haven't run into anyone who would voluntarily seek to get kidney stones again. :)
 

Northern

Seeking SMB
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I'd read that I'd have to filter my urine to find bits of the kidney stones so that they could be analyzed, but my urologist didn't collect any pieces of the stones and didn't have me filter the urine, so I don't know exactly what I should be avoiding or trying to eat. My urologist just said to avoid salt and drink lots of fluids. I do admittedly eat lots of spinach and leafy green vegetables, which are apparently sources of oxalate, a key component of calcium oxalate (80% of the kidney stones are made of this). So in trying to eat healthy stuff, I may have instead inadvertently created kidney stones. In comparing lists of things to eat and not eat, I discovered that on one list, it listed potatoes as something to avoid, but on another list it listed potatoes as something I should eat, so who to believe? I've just decided to try to drink more fluids and eat various foods in moderation, like I normally do, but maybe I'll eat spinach less frequently.

I also have read that the pain of passing kidney stones is comparable to the pain of childbirth. Since I have no personal experience with childbirth, I can't compare, but it does amaze me that most women will voluntarily go through childbirth multiple times, even though they know how much pain they will experience. I haven't run into anyone who would voluntarily seek to get kidney stones again. :)
Well, there's a reward for childbirth! Unless your kidney stones are gemstones, it's not really comparable 😆
 

Northern

Seeking SMB
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Just to be sure everyone knows I was joking, as I have the greatest respect for what women go thru in childbirth. It still does amaze me that women are willing to go through childbirth more than once in most cases.
No disrespect perceived at all! I meant that the comparison seems unfair to the poor guy with the kidney stone 🙃

Glad you're feeling better - love your reports!
 

RCF

Life of the Party
As a survivor of multiple kidney stones for past 30 years (I think 46 so far), there is no pain like both ureters being blocked by 3 stones at the same time. I have been on morphine pumps where it did not touch the pain levels being experienced. I have talked with ladies who also got kidney stones (somewhat rare) and had natural child birth. They have all said they prefer child birth to kidney stones...

I was a part of the UW Urology/Kidney Stones study for 5 years. I still get them. I have had kidney stones and UTIs for 8 straight months in 2020 (dam C-19) and it is no fun to say the least. Laser lithotripsy seems to be the normal course of action. What a pain. Shockwave lithotripsy is a true blessing. It has worked great for me. The last few stones were blasted so small I could not even collect any of the sand from stones.

The UW is working on a new shockwave/burstwave lithotripsy treatment where one is no longer sedated and is just a quick in-office visit (simple as getting a vaccination).


IMHO that new technique can not come fast enough.
 
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Starman77

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As a survivor of multiple kidney stones for past 30 years (I think 46 so far), there is no pain like both ureters being blocked by 3 stones at the same time. I have been on morphine pumps where it did not touch the pain levels being experienced. I have talked with ladies who also got kidney stones (somewhat rare) and had natural child birth. They have all said they prefer child birth to kidney stones...

I was a part of the UW Urology/Kidney Stones study for 5 years. I still get them. I have had kidney stones and UTIs for 8 straight months in 2020 (dam C-19) and it is no fun to say the least. Laser lithotripsy seems to be the normal course of action. What a pain. Shockwave lithotripsy is a true blessing. It has worked great for me. The last few stones were blasted so small I could not even collect any of the sand from stones.

The UW is working on a new shockwave/burstwave lithotripsy treatment where one is no longer sedated and is just a quick in-office visit (simple as getting a vaccination).


IMHO that new technique can not come fast enough.
Wow, I had it easy compared to you! I do worry that I may get kidney stones again in the future, as it seems that once you get them, you are likely to get them again, and you sure prove that to be the case. Hopefully, that new BSW treatment will be available before then. Thanks for posting the link to that article! Very cool that it is being investigated locally.
 
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Engee

Steelhead
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I've been out of action for the past 5 weeks due to dealing with kidney stones and associated surgery. Just hope you never get kidney stones... Never knew one could get so many tubes, cameras and tools stuck up one of a man's most sensitive private parts.

I wasn't able to do any exercising over this past month, so I got out of shape quickly. I thought I'd try one of the hike-in seep lakes in central WA just to test out my endurance and to see just how badly out of shape I was. Fortunately, I made it in to the lake and back out without needing to call for medical support. Somehow, that trail gets longer and longer each year, and mysteriously, it is also uphill both ways.

The fishing was tough, probably due to very murky water. The water temperature was ok, in the 45 to 46 degree range. But the fish gods were merciful to this recovering pilgrim, and I was able to land and release 8 fish in the 12 to 19 inch range:

View attachment 57290

Most were nice rainbows, like this one:

View attachment 57291

But, one was a skinny Tiger trout:

View attachment 57292

I was casting and stripping, as I usually do, and most of the fish took this #10 Muskrat Nymph:

View attachment 57295

A Muskrat Nymph is an older fly pattern that is just a generic, all-purpose nymph pattern that can imitate a wide variety of insects, depending on how it is retrieved. On yesterday's outing, I was trying to imitate a damselfly nymph, as I know this lake has a lot of damselflies. But I don't know that the fly pattern was anything special, as I think I was just at the right spot at the right time (near sunset) when the fish went on the bite, as they sure weren't biting for most of the day.

Anyway, it was so nice to be back on the water after being out of action for over a month. I enjoyed seeing a flock of snow geese (maybe 1,000?) in the fields along I-90. Near the lake I also saw a huge flock of cackling geese (maybe 10,000?). At the lake I also saw what I'm pretty sure was a mink, maybe an escapee from a mink farm? The muskrats don't stand a chance against that mink. I didn't see any sandhill cranes, but I heard some, so they are starting to migrate thru.

Rex
Nice report Rex. Glad to hear you're on the mend. Never had any stones, but I hauled a friend from work at Priest Rapids to nearby Mattawa with an attack, and I thought he was going to pass out on me on the 10minute drive.
 
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