Unexpected Stones in My Urostomy Bag: Normal or Not?

No, I'm not referring to the musical ones but the more home grown solid ones.

I recently found a stone in my Urostomy bag and thought it was a kidney stone. Not the case according to my local doctor as it was too big - 1cm. - to have passed down the ureters.

Prior to this I did have severe back ache for a couple of days -surprise,surprise!

Recently saw my Urologist who was not impressed or bothered about my passing a stone but did send me for a CT scan.

Now having trouble with drainage - not frequent enough - which causes pain around conduit and then acute back pain. Kidneys not too happy with all this. Results of CT show I now have another 3 stones, each about 1cm. in size, made in the conduit. Hence the blockages! So, now they have to go fishing in the conduit to try and extract the 3 little buggers! ( Don't know when this is to happen - public hospital system - efficient but not always in a hurry ).

My question to you fellow Urostomates - who have all had a lot more experience in these matters - is this the normal I can expect or is there more to come? Have been told that I have a rather convoluted conduit and a fix of this is "not un-complicated" surgery. That sounds like another way of saying it is complicated surgery.

Hey Ocker, sorry you're not getting replies. It's not that we don't give a crap (that's what we're mostly about), but maybe the title of your post might be misleading. Consider changing it to something more indicative of your situation. There's help here.
Sincerely,
Mike

Ocker,



First of all a large stone can pass down the ureter. I passed one the size of a bullet. It was a uric acid stone. The stone can form in the kidney and with time move along the ureter to the bladder, hopefully. It is a slow process because the stone is far from smooth and will cling to the wall of the tube as it descends. The pain is very bad I know. The problem is if the stone gets stuck urine can back up into the kidney causing an infection which is of course not good. If you are running a fever they usually put you in the hospital. At the time, my urologist had me drinking excessive amounts of water and doing jumping jacks and just jump up and down to force the stone to pass along. It worked after a couple of days. They can go in and extract the stones usually. You have three large stones you say. Did your urologist say you are eligible for lithotrypsy (sp?) where sonic waves are used to break up the stones which are more easily passed. Sometimes this procedure cannot be used. He/she should be able to tell you. The fact that you are forming stones with such frequency might be due to your diet rather than a structural abnormality in the tubes. Too much protein (uric acid) or calcium (dairy products) or dehydration because you are not drinking enough are all potential culprits that should be ruled out.The stone has to be chemically analyzed before the MD can advise you on this matter.



Good luck, Ocker



X_

Thanks for the info.,Xerxes. Using sonic waves to break up the stones is not an option as far as the Urologists are concerned. Having no bladder causes some concerns and they are sure they are stones that are created in the conduit. They intend to send down a flexible camera and catcher via the stoma orifice. I just hope that is all that is required as a re-alignment of the conduit is a major job and if I can get away with having stone removals every 2-3 years then that will do me!

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Thanks again,



Ocker