ESWL..... What's that?

For ordinary people ESWL is just nothing, it is just some sort of acronym for a certain company or group but for medical experts and people with problems urinating this means a lot.

Me.... yeah. I do have a problem with this and I just ignore it before. I don't usually pee on public toilets. Comfort rooms are supposed to give you comfort when you need to pee or do some other things but if you don't get it don't call it comfort room.

Call it a disorder but that's me and because of that I got this crystal stones. Yes. Last Thursday I went to the doctor because I was experiencing back and side pains. When he heard my complaints and aches he gave me a referral for laboratory test (serum creatinine, urinalysis, and KUB ultrasound). I was able to finished the first two on that day. So the last one on the following day.

Friday, I was scheduled for KUB Ultrasound at 1:30 pm but since there were a lot of patients waiting I was set at around 3:00 pm. It was a torture and my gull bladder was really full. Any little movement will sure make me pee in my pants. I still manage to hold on until they finished the examined and when it was finally finished I immediately run to the CR to relieve. Haaaayyyyyyyyy!!!!!! I waited for 30 minutes to get the results. When I got the result it was positive with few scattered stones ranging from 2-4 mm. I called my doctor and told him the result. Immediately he scheduled for the treatment. The only earliest available time was Saturday 2:30 pm so I said okay doc let's do it.

So there I was with my wife waiting to be called for the treatment. No food intake since 5:00 am, a little bit nervous, and wondering about the treatment. They interviewed me as part of the procedure and then later on instructed me to wear the patient's dress. Nice it's my favorite color blue.... hehehe. Laid on the stretcher and inserted a needle on my hand for the dextrose. Minutes later I was brought to the room. They set me up and dozed me then I fall asleep. I don't know what happen next. The only thing that I get to remember was when they removed the patches on my chest. I don't know how long I slept but the nurse woke me up (maybe because I was the only patient who slept that long). Later on when I was okay they led me to my wife and we went home. All instructions were given to my wife.

The procedure was called ESWL or Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy where it uses shock waves to break a kidney stone into small pieces that can more easily travel through the urinary tract and pass from the body. To have a better idea on how it works see this.

Advise to all if you don't want to get stones in your kidney lessen your salty food intake and drink a lot of water. One more thing try to pee often. I'm practicing it right now.









.