tintin
Well, it certainly sounds like your wife is in good hands (Sorry, I first thought she was being treated in an Indonesian hospital). I wish her a prompt recovery following the procedure. By the way, I assume that what you have called "laser surgery" is in fact a laparosopic nephrectomy, which is a minimally invasive technique, providing patients with less discomfort and equivalent results when compared to the larger incision required with traditional open surgery.
tintin
Lithotripsy is a technique which uses ultrasound shock waves to break up stones in a kidney, so that, once broken, they will pass with the urine. So, obviously, and luckily for your wife, her kidney is apparently still functioning, and wont be removes. The only problem is with the large stone(s). I had several personal experiences with kidney stones, and believe me, it's not fun...The last time I had such a crisis, it was taken care of using lithotripsy. It was a new technique at the time (early '80s), and only a couple of hospitals in the US had a lithotripter, imported from Germany. The Boston hospital had one on order, but obviously, I could not wait several months for its arrival. I called the manufacturer representative of Dornier System in the US. I was told that the first lithotripter was in Chicago. When I called, they told me that, up to now, the machine had only be used to take care of gallbladder stones, so I would be the first one with kidney stones...(no, thank you, but thank you). I went with the second one, at the Long Island Jewish Hospital, in New York. I flew down from Boston, in the morning, and the procedure took place in the afternoon. I flew back the same night to Boston, as they refused to keep me overnight, because this procedure was classified as an outpatient procedure (!?) I arrived in Boston, after the one-hour flight, around 10 pm, and my wife, who had come to pick me up, thought I was walking with a foot in my grave. But after a good night sleep, I was OK the next day. The thing that I find totally unbelievable regarding your wife is that, as you wrote, "Half a dozen 'Drs' didn't pick up that her pain was kidney related. Finally she found someone who diagnosed her correctly." Kidney stones symptoms are so characteristic; a first year pre-med student could diagnose the ailment with no problem.So don't worry, the procedure is now "routine", and hopefully, your wife will be allowed to stay overnight at the hospital, so there wont be any unnecessary pain.
