[ehafield]

I have been diagnosed with a kidney stone that the doctor says is the size of an orange. Has anyone else had anything similar? Please let me know the outcome. They are wanting to schedule surgery to remove it. What does it involve?

[morknmindy]

I am not to familiar with kidney stone issues but that sounds pretty big to me... Needless to say I found this website about large kidney stone surgery.

I hope you can pick it from here: http://www.ocurology.com/PCNL.html

If not then just type in large kidney stone surgery on your search and you'll find some good links..

Good Luck and I hope this gets resolved soon...

[haylee_beutler]

A kidney stone the size of an orange is extremely rare. I had a stone the size of a chicken egg, and i was told that mine was extremely large. There are basically 2 different surgeries urologist use to remove large stones, open stone removal surgery and PCNL (percutaneous nephrolithotomy or percutaneous nephrolithotripsy). The open stone removal surgery is done very rarely. This involved a very large incision on your back where they literally cut directly into your kidney to remove the stone in one whole piece. This is very invasive and will require you to be out of work for sometimes 4-6 weeks. I had the PCNL surgery. This is much less invasive than an open surgery, although it will require hospitalization for 3-5 days. They make a small incison into your back where a nephrostomy tube is inserted directly into your renal pelvis of your kidney for drainage and to provide access for the surgery. They use a nephroscope to break the stone down into smaller pieces then they suction then out of your kidney. They stitch the tube into your back for a few days to allow the kidney to heal and drain blood and urine. You will also have a catheter and pain medications through your IV for the next few days. This surgery was 100% a success for me, although i ended back up in the hospital because a blood vessell had ruptured during surgery and i would bleeding contunuously.

Choose your urologist carefully for whatever surgery you might have. With a stone that large, i wouldn't doubt it if they recommended removing your kidney altogether. Have you been having pain? I am just shocked that your stone is that large. Mine was 22-25 mm. The average size is 1-4 mm.

Let me know how things go for you. Very curious!

[ehafield]

I saw Dr Dean Assimos today at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. I am scheduled for surgery on April 2nd. They tell me that it will take at least 2 surgeries to make sure that they have gotten all of the stone. Yes I have had some pain but not alot. Will keep you updated.

[haylee_beutler]

I am wondering what kind of surgery you are getting for your stone? I had a PCNL surgery and i can offer you a lot of advise as to what you can expect. Please reply!

[ehafield]

Yeah it is the PCNL. They are doing it the 2nd. I was told it will take at least 2 procedures. How did you do? How long were you out of work? Thanks for the info.

[haylee_beutler]

I am very shocked that they are only doing a PCNL surgery on you for a kidney stone that large. Did they give you a millimeter measurement of the stone? I had the PCNL surgery on Nov. 6th. The surgery was done in 2 sections. They took me to radiology first where the nephrostomy tube was inserted and that gave the doctor access to the stone in the 2nd half of the procedure in the operating room. The procedure took about 2 hours. There were no complications other than the doctor did not have good access to the stone and i had a lot more blood loss than was expected. I was in the hospital for 3 days, then i had a followup appointment after a few more days. Then i was told to stay out of work for 1 week.

However, during my recovery, i starting urinating very large blood clots, which sent me to the ER 2 different times, and eventually got me transported back to that hopsital (which was 3 hours away). Either during the surgery or during the recovery, i ruptured a small blood vessell in my kidney which kept bleeding perfusely. I ended up having to have another surgery and 2 angiograms to stopp the bleed after 13 blood transfusions.

The likeliness of a bleeding complication for this surgery is less than 3%. I just happened to be one of the 3%.

I am shocked with a stone of that size that they aren't removing your whole kidney or doing an open kidney surgery. (much more invasive).

Good luck to you. Please tell me how it goes. And be prepared for at least a 1-2 week recovery. You litterally will have a very difficult time sitting up for the first few days. My personal recommendation would be to make sure you have a bed that is low to the ground to sleep in, because i had a hard time bending over to get into my bed.