Was involved in a 4 hour surgery last night.  Stone removal from an artifical bladder they had made for the guy a year ago.  One of his stones was so fucking big it took us 2 hours and some pretty ingenious inventions by the surgeon to nab it.  He had to "afro-engineer"  his basket capture device (very small wire with a "cage" made of nylon fibers) that then went down with the endoscope (tiny flexible camera so we could see it).  It was funny, in a way - like being a spectator during some sort of strange game.  We kept holding our breaths, encouraging the surgeon, etc.  He was cool, though - kept cracking jokes the whole time.

Twice we got the stone all the way to the entry site on the guy's belly, but the damn thing was so big it wouldn't come out through the hole in his belly and popped back in.  Our last attempt, though, nabbed the sucker.  DAMN it was so fucking big - made a loud "PLUNK" sound when dropped into the cup we used to hold the other stones.

Longest surgery I've yet been involved in.  Whew.  

PS - what was VERY cool was seeing this all inside him, in color, in real time.  Used a Fujinon camera - they make damn good optics (I have one of their scopes - very nice!)

I passed one the size of a grain of sand once. I never had such worse pain!!

This thing had to be about 1/2" in diameter.

I thought that this was about a rock band.

So how big was it?

PICS DAMNIT, PICS!  You people always forget the pics.

Quoted: PICS DAMNIT, PICS!  You people always forget the pics.

Didn't have my digital camera with me - but the surgeon took some pics to show to his students later.  This is why it is so neat to work in a teaching hospital.

Quoted: PICS DAMNIT, PICS!  You people always forget the pics.

Funny, it was right after that I had dinner - Dinner Pic!

What is an artificial bladder made of? and how do they attach the ureters and urethra to it?



ETA asking because a friend of mine is scheduled to have hers removed. Just don't want you guys to think I've developed a bladder fetish or something....

Quoted: What is an artificial bladder made of? and how do they attach the ureters and urethra to it?

Well first you gotta get your hands on a "genuine NFL regulation size football....................."

Quoted: Quoted: What is an artificial bladder made of? and how do they attach the ureters and urethra to it? Well first you gotta get your hands on a "genuine NFL regulation size football....................."

And duct tape...lots and lots of duct tape.

Quoted: This thing had to be about 1/2" in diameter.

Had a tomcat once that had 2 or 3 that seemed to be that size, removed by the vet.  He died not long after that.  Even if my memory isn't right, if they were half that size, that still seems huge for an animal that size.

When my wife had her kidney removed, the surgeon found a stone the size of a chicken egg and two others slightly smaller. The kidney itself was pocked with hundreds of small stones. He said she had a very rare disease, he called it a sponge kidney. Seven years now and no more problems.

Bladder stones often are classic crystaline structure. Have seen several that were multi pronged like the playing pieces for the old childs game called "jacks". About the same size too.

A couple of years ago a young lady came through our surg. dept. with a kidney that was almost totally filled in with calcification. Surgeon would work for a few hours breaking it up, then she would get a day of rest. Went on for maybe 2 weeks. Do not understand why only one kidney was affected. She was a trooper, handled the whole thing better than most would have.

Quoted: This thing had to be about 1/2" in diameter.

I take it he could not pass it in the normal fashion?

Quoted: This thing had to be about 1/2" in diameter.

Stones run in my family... oh good God, the things I have to look forward to...


- BG

a buddy of mine showed me his collection of stones he had. Damn things look like beer bottle glass
About the size of cat litter particles