Hello everyone,

I’m sharing my story because reading messages here helped me immensely when I had my kidney stone, and I want to give back. I’m 31, male, and notoriously anxious about health issues.

The Journey

A 6mm stone was originally found sitting quietly in my middle kidney cortex. Two doctors recommended having it removed, but since it wasn't hurting, I ignored them.

Bad idea. Weeks later, I woke up with strong flank pain. I spent two painful weeks trying everything running, jumping, and chugging water to pass it naturally, but it wouldn't budge. I finally accepted my fate and booked the surgery. Went to the ER once, used diclofenac suppositories couple of times.

The Surgery (Laser Lithotripsy)

I was terrified going in. The procedure involves breaking the stone with a laser, and they had to slightly cut my ureter opening near the bladder to fit the probe.

• The Operation: The surgery report said it took just 17 minutes, and the whole process from anesthesia to waking up was about 1.5 hours.
• First Pee: It burned and felt a bit weird, but totally bearable (max 7/10). The second pee was half as painful, and after that, it was fine. Pro tip: Drinking tons of water makes a huge difference. I saw blood only 36 hours. (First pee was very bloody, then as I drink more, it became tea color)

The Stent

They placed a "Black Star" stent with a magnetic tip, which I had for 16 days.

• With the stent: I had almost zero pain. The only annoyance was a mild 1-2/10 backflow pain during urinating. When I feel the pain, I pause peeing for a second then I continued peeing. It was ok.

Stent Removal

I was extremely terrified of this day, working myself up way more than I did for the surgery.

Because mine was magnetic, they didn't use a cystoscope just a thin extraction cable.

1. They applied lidocaine gel into the urethra.
2. They inserted the cable: it felt like mild pressure, with a tiny 1-second pinch near the prostate.
3. Once inside the bladder, I felt a stronger pressure, but no real pain.
4. Suddenly, the doctor said, "It's done."

I was sitting there with my eyes tightly shut, completely not believing my ears. I literally felt nothing as it came out. I read horror stories about post-removal pain, but I had none. No bleeding, barely any burning on the first pee, and I took 500mg paracetamol just in case (though I probably didn't even need it).

Takeaway

If you are facing this, do not let fear run your life. The surgery and stent removal are really not the big deals our anxious brains make them out to be. If I had known, I would have skipped the two weeks of needless suffering.