A kidney stone ended up saving my life (kinda)
Stone Fighter #05E835Sep 8, 2026👁️ 255❤️ 187- Strategy
- Patient journey
Never in a million years did I think I’d be thankful for a kidney stone, but this one is a first for me.
Sunday morning I was up throwing up from the pain, screaming at my husband to get me to the hospital. Once I got there they ran a CT scan and confirmed the stone… and it was sitting on my left side. The ER doctor kept pressing me with more questions about my right side instead. Then he dropped the bombshell that my appendix looks inflamed and they were bringing in a surgeon. Two hours later I was on the operating table. The surgeon could not wrap his head around the fact that I was not in agonizing pain on my right side, but everybody involved is grateful we caught it and got it out. So now here I am recovering on my couch… from having my appendix taken out, and that stone is still in there!
Comments (4)
Stone Fighter #09BEDBMay 13, 2026Lucky you! Hope you heal up fast and the kidney stone doesn't give you any trouble.
Stone Fighter #2EEB2FMay 13, 2026Imaging the abdomen and pelvis for other complaints is turning up all kinds of other problems at an earlier stage. It has helped improve outcomes from kidney cancers, since the tumors get detected while they’re still smaller. Someone on this thread recently was found to have an appendix tumor because of imaging for a suspected stone. It got caught before it spread anywhere else. It’s good to be lucky.
Stone Fighter #CF1570May 14, 2026Sheesh! That's terrifying and absolutely wild all at the same time. An inflamed appendix masking itself behind stone pain is one of those situations where the stone accidentally saved your life, since they ended up catching something far worse. Your husband probably needed a stiff drink after that Sunday. Appendix stuff like this is honestly more common than most people realize when you land in the ER with acute belly pain, but the way your scan got ordered for the stone and picked it up reg...
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