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ralphmeltonRead on only if you want to know all about my current medical conditions.
So, there is a stone lingering at the top of my right ureter (the tube connecting the kidney to the bladder). It's about 5mm in diameter. It's far more dense than anything in the neighborhood; it stood out like a little star on the CT scan.
The ureter is about 1mm at its narrowest point. So, if the 5mm stone tries to come out intact, it will involve extreme pain.
So I'm getting a lithotripsy. (I recommend following the link; it seems like a decent explanation.)
The lithotripsy itself is an noninvasive outpatient procedure. This is good. But if you followed that link, you may have noticed the mention of the 'stent'. This is a tube that gets put up the ureter to help dilate the ureter and help fragments pass through. And this talk of putting things up my ureter makes me just as happy that I'm to receive general anesthesia for that.
So on October 5, I'm to go to the hospital at 6:30 am, and I should expect to return to consciousness around 1 or 2pm. I am not allowed to drive myself home, and I'm told that I shouldn't expect to get any useful work done that day.
I'm a little worried about getting up early enough for it, since I failed to get the spiral CT scan when I had that early-morning appointment. I was tempted to just stay up all night, since I'd be trashed the next day anyway, but Lori thinks that's a poor idea.
So, there is a stone lingering at the top of my right ureter (the tube connecting the kidney to the bladder). It's about 5mm in diameter. It's far more dense than anything in the neighborhood; it stood out like a little star on the CT scan.
The ureter is about 1mm at its narrowest point. So, if the 5mm stone tries to come out intact, it will involve extreme pain.
So I'm getting a lithotripsy. (I recommend following the link; it seems like a decent explanation.)
The lithotripsy itself is an noninvasive outpatient procedure. This is good. But if you followed that link, you may have noticed the mention of the 'stent'. This is a tube that gets put up the ureter to help dilate the ureter and help fragments pass through. And this talk of putting things up my ureter makes me just as happy that I'm to receive general anesthesia for that.
So on October 5, I'm to go to the hospital at 6:30 am, and I should expect to return to consciousness around 1 or 2pm. I am not allowed to drive myself home, and I'm told that I shouldn't expect to get any useful work done that day.
I'm a little worried about getting up early enough for it, since I failed to get the spiral CT scan when I had that early-morning appointment. I was tempted to just stay up all night, since I'd be trashed the next day anyway, but Lori thinks that's a poor idea.
