ureter stent and diving

[Soggy]

BIGJC once bubbled...
Oh man that must hurt... I feel for you! I hope it all works out.

Thanks. It's really not too bad, but exercise aggrivates the stent. The stones themselves, due to their large size and location in the lower pole of the kidney, have never caused me any pain. So, I would go into the hospital feeling fine and would come out in pain. I thought those guys were supposed to make things better!

The stent is no longer an issue, as they are going to be doing a different procedure, a percutaneous shockwave lithotripsy (PSWL) which involves putting a small hole in my back, blasting the stones up from the inside, and flushing them out, so I'm guaranteed to be stone free for a while. I obviously will be out of commission for a little while due to this and a stent may not be necessary. I'm postponing this until probably early november so I can get as much diving in as possible.

 

[scubadoc]

Hello Soggy:

I have nothing much to add to the excellent discussion by the other medical posters. However, the percutaneous shock wave lithotripsy is invasive - while the ESWL is not. You will need to alter your diving plans somewhat until your wound heals completely.

As for the Detrol - it has some side effects that might be adverse to divers - somewhat similar to those of scopolamine and atropine-like medications. These side effects are blurred vision, dry mouth, headache and sleepiness.

More about the kidney and diving at http://www.scuba-doc.com/kidprbs.htm