The Griffin Family

The First Step: Prevention

If you've had more than one kidney stone, you are likely to form another; so prevention is very important. To prevent stones from forming, your doctor must determine their cause. He or she will order laboratory tests, including urine and blood tests. Your doctor will also ask about your medical history, occupation, and eating habits. If a stone has been removed, or if you've passed a stone and saved it, the laboratory should analyze it because its composition helps in planning treatment.

You may be asked to collect your urine for 24 hours after a stone has passed or been removed. The sample is used to measure urine volume and levels of acidity, calcium, sodium, uric acid, oxalate, citrate, and creatinine (a product of muscle metabolism). Your doctor will use this information to determine the cause of the stone. A second 24-hour urine collection may be needed to determine whether the prescribed treatment is working.

Lifestyle Changes

A simple and most important lifestyle change to prevent stones is to drink more liquids—water is best. If you tend to form stones, you should try to drink enough liquids throughout the day to produce at least 2 quarts of urine in every 24-hour period.

People who form calcium stones used to be told to avoid dairy products and other foods with high calcium content. But recent studies have shown that foods high in calcium, including dairy products, may help prevent calcium stones. Taking calcium in pill form, however, may increase the risk of developing stones.

You may be told to avoid food with added vitamin D and certain types of antacids that have a calcium base. If you have very acidic urine, you may need to eat less meat, fish, and poultry. These foods increase the amount of acid in the urine.

To prevent cystine stones, you should drink enough water each day to dilute the concentration of cystine that escapes into the urine, which may be difficult. More than a gallon of water may be needed every 24 hours, and a third of that must be drunk during the night.

Foods and Drinks Containing Oxalate People prone to forming calcium oxalate stones may be asked by their doctor to cut back on certain foods if their urine contains an excess of oxalate: beets chocolate coffee cola nuts rhubarb spinach strawberries tea wheat bran People should not give up or avoid eating these foods without talking to their doctor first. In most cases, these foods can be eaten in limited amounts.

Medical Therapy

So I had surgery on Saturday, and am still pretty much down, and very sore!I know alot of people have said they would like to just lay in bed and do nothing for a while. For the first couple of days it's O.K. but when you are a mom, life goes on, and it is next to impossible to be in bed as long as I have been. I have a stent in, and without going into much detail....IT REALLY SUCKS! I just have to remind myself I am on the uphill part of things so it should just get better every day from here. And it will hopefully end in a week and a half when they take this dang stent out! This is my life, when I get something medical, it can't be just "routine", it always has to be the "extreme" case of everything. But life will go on as it always does. I am thankful to all the people in my life, and I have a wonderful ward who has helped out so much! And last, but not least.... CHOCOLATE, and COKE are on the list...... GREAT to make matters worse.... I am now going to starve to death!!!