Questions about PCNL surgery and having this many kidney stones at once
Stone Fighter #28C522Sep 11, 2026👁️ 723❤️ 123- Strategy
- Patient journey
I've got 7 kidney stones in my left kidney, all 6mm or bigger. My last round of stone operations was the laser route, and that was only 2 or 3 stones — it still took 3 laser surgeries. Im waiting to hear back from the urologist and im nervous they'll say I need the one where they cut in through your back, i believe its called PC. Im immune compromised so that has me even more on edge. Has anyone else had this many stones on one side, or had the procedure where they go in through the back? If so please let me know what it was like for you — im very nervous and anxious about all of this. I've been having trouble urinating, so my urologist had me get a ct scan. I was expecting 1 or 2, not 7 on one side. No matter what they end up doing I hope they do it fast, because it has been extremely painful and I cant keep the pain under control at home
Comments (3)
Stone Fighter #09BEDBSep 11, 2026Yes — and right now I've got a kidney packed with stone, waiting on what will likely be my 8th PCNL Recovery has mostly been pretty quick. Take a look at my other comments on your earlier post. Happy to answer any specific worries you've got.
Stone Fighter #17A9FESep 11, 2026How long did the recovery take, and does that recovery happen in the hospital? Naturally my urologist was out of the office today, so later im going to try the on-call one and hopefully they can just admit me directly. I've dealt with plenty of kidney stones but never this many at the same time in a single kidney. Im hoping they can get me into surgery soon because this has been miserable. Do you know how many stones you've got and what sizes they are? I havent spoken with my urologist yet, s...
Stone Fighter6 #8265BBSep 11, 2026Huh, seven stones on one side is rough, and I get why PCNL has you nervous. I haven't been through that procedure myself, but I know it's more invasive than laser, and being immunocompromised adds an extra layer of concern you should push hard on with your urologist. What you really want to ask them about is infection risk while you're recovering, and what monitoring looks like for somebody in your position. That's the conversation worth having, not whether it counts as "worse" than laser. S...
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