I agree totally with the pain experience. Though one time I had a real jagged stone that got caught right at the very end of it's voyage out of my system. Very embarrasing at the ER in the middle of the night. :eek:

"Do you drink a lot of water during the day?"
"Sure I do. A pot of coffee, a can of Coke. You know, the usual stuff for a college student."
"That's not what I meant! How much water do you drink in a day?"
"Well, coffee has a lot of water in it..."

The doctor didn't like my answer and, years after having gone through the pain I experienced from those kidney stones, I stick to what he told me: I drink almost a full three liters of water per day, especially when it is warm out. The pain of the kidney stone was so bad I was nauseated and I could barely walk without falling. I remember the nurse commenting that my blood pressure was extremely high compared to the follow-up exam.

Avoid surgery. A girl I knew suffered the same fate in college and had to go under the knife. Once a ureter has been opened to remove a stone, it cannot heal without a supporting, internal piece. "They put a tube in me to keep the ureter from collapsing on itself" she told me. Thinking it was a short section of tubing that covered just the affected area, I asked how they removed it or simply left it in. She told me that no, the tube is not a short one. It is, in fact, a full-length catheter and removing it is very simple and "very unpleasant".

"They just pulled it out."

Water. Lots of water. Must drink tons of water. And cranberry juice. Ow. Ow ow ow. Hydration needed. Daily.

Urinary stent, which does indeed support the ureter (urethra?) during healing to keep it from swelling shut. When my wife had her stone extracted, they stented her; about a nine inch long plastic tube that coiled when it reached the bladder, presumably to hold it in place.

That coil rubbed raw the inside of her bladder to the point that, two weeks post-removal, the pain in her bladder was worse than the pain from the stone. We finally took her to the doctor's office, walked her in (with support from me, she was hurting so badly), and said, "Take this *out*!"

He did.

I hope you continue to feel better Rich. I've not had a stone but will probably have some medical problem resulting from drinking too much water.

There are many in my family that have gone through the pain and suffering as you have. It's not fun, I know.

This is not the key to all health problems but has done very well (so far ) for me. Regular low impact exercise, about a gallon of water a day and some veggies even just once every week or so has saved me from any serious problems.

My genetics are not that great for living a long life without some health challenges, but hopefully some of my habits will delay the ill health that I know is in my future.

Now if you will excuse me, I'll be off dodging traffic on my bike.:lol:

Thanks. Things have been quiet for the past two months. I have a blood test I am supposed to get to check for possible causes like too many minerals.

I hope you came back healthy from the trek.