Kidney Operation 2025

The last few weeks have been challenging to say the least.

I have been aniexly awaiting the call for this procedure since 19th of June. I had expected to be called sooner as the Urologist red flagged the PCNL. But more about that later…..

My older brother passed away suddenly on 21st of June at 66, sudden no warning fatal heart attack. He was 4 years older than me but I always thought that I would be the next to go in the family. As life has it we were estranged for many years – more because of a clash of personality than anything else. Joseph like me worked in the transport & distribution industry since he was 18, he decided not to retire and has left behind his loving wife Caroline and their twins Sinead & Mark. My sister Susan had informed me of his passing. His removal was on Sunday 27th of June which I attended and his funeral was on the 28th of June which unfortunately I was unable to attend. We had a strange relationship since birth but still my brother and he is now back with my parents awaiting my arrival. That Monday was a disaster from start to finish- my brother lived in Dublin about a 180klms from where we live. I had phoned Anita when I was leaving the removal on Sunday and she had told me that her car was giving trouble- only slight as it seemed to have stalled a little during gear change, we live in a semi rural area so two cars are necessary. On the Monday morning I was expecting to get an admission call for the surgery so stayed close to home. I decided that to be on the safe side we would drive Anita’s car to our local garage. We had just left the house and were stopped at traffic lights when the car basically stopped. I had it towed to the garage and basically one of the spark plugs had collapsed into the engine and damaged the pistons, they car was classed as scrapped. As always another unexpected expense but to be fair the car had cost very little since we purchased it in 2017.

So June was an absolute disaster in every way possible. We found a great replacement car for Anita, which she loves driving.

But with all the negativity above we have thankfully passed 60,000 viewers on this site, when I commenced building this Awareness Site I had not expected such a response. To be honest the introduction of new authors has made a significant impact to the site, there are further developments behind the scenes with more authors preparing their experiences and they are all fantastic. And July marks 8 years since my stem cell transplant- I crawled out of hell and faced death back then so in reality this procedure is nothing compared to that

From late July I have had seriously bad kidney pains and treatment for UTI’s, thats CV 9th this year and antibiotics have less effect. The pain is absolutely terrible and needing a lot of bed rest, which is unlike me. I’m also hit with weight loss again, my general post therapy weight was stable at 80kgs, which is my original fighting weight from my late teens and into my twenties, pre chemo is was averaging about 95kgs but now over the past few months it’s dropped from 80kgs to between 70 and 75kgs. My oncologist asked if this was intentional and my future answer to this will be “Why the absolute fuck would a Cancer victim want to loose weight” My GP advised to eat high calorie food and include cakes etc, I do have a pint or two of Guinness every night and to be honest I’d hate to see how much more weight I would loose without this. I am also mindful of the potential of high sugar additions as I don’t want to hit diabetes again. I am also mindful of how extra dairy products could generate more kidney stones.

Once this operation is over then the door will finally open for the Oncologist to decide what’s next.

Just to clarify: the operation is called Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is a surgical procedure used to remove large or complex kidney stones that cannot be treated with other methods, such as shock wave lithotripsy or ureteroscopy. It involves making a small incision in the back to access the kidney and then using specialized instruments to break up and remove the stones. Sounds simple enough but my underlying medical history as always delayed the procedure. The surgeon wanted the urologist, haematologist and a cardiologist present- the operation is expected to take over 3 hours. The concern is the damage caused to my lungs from the levels of aggressive chemotherapy, this damage means that high pressure oxygen can’t be used, this type of oxygen is the standard treatment during lengthy surgery. 3 hours would also mean the longest surgery I have ever had.

This stone is substantial at 4.5cm, it is at the top pole of the left kidney and was first spotted in 1994 with a size of 2.5cm. Basically it had not moved since then but the last CT Scan picked up what appeared to be a fragment of the stone breaking off. The idea is to drill the stone and remove it completely. I took a bad fall last September when a ladder I was using snapped sending me over 15ft to the ground, I walked away from that but it’s possible the impact caused the stone to move. But at some point this stone needed to be removed, if it broke free fully I could loose the kidney as a stone this size would not be able to leave the kidney.

19th August

Tuesday and following another urine test that showed another bad UTI I am back on strong antibiotics. However I’m more concerned that I am relapsing with Lymphoma, last Wednesday I was in Kerry with the lovely couple that bought my last house as the external alarm bell needed replacing. It was a mild day but the sweat was running off me and I felt drained – this is not like me and I hope it’s just the UTI running through me but what should have taken 1/2 hour ended up taking 4 hours. This is now the 10th antibiotic this year and it needs to be resolved. The new antibiotics and UTI have resulted in extreme fatigue but this is also an indicator of Lymphoma. There are so many things I need to do and my current health needs to improve, our auctioneer has stalled placing the house on the market to give me a chance to recover , but with finances currently fucked we need this sale to happen, I’m confident that the house will sell fast but I do need to get more stuff out of the house and into storage. Just to clarify the last house we lived in before Galway was in Kerry, I tend to upgrade houses I live in especially the security. I self installed interactive alarm & CCTV systems, not to protect the house but to protect ourselves-the alarm system & CCTV are monitored from our mobile apps, it either of us are away from the house and the other one falls or takes ill we can log into the system and check, this proved valuable when I installed a full system in my mums home, we were able to call emergency service after my mum fell and was incapacitated, via the system we were able to guide the paramedics into the house and updated them on her condition. The last house in Kerry after we sold it to a lovely young family asked me to help maintain the system as they viewed the multiple advantages of the high level of security- it can be advantageous to meet a house owner when purchasing a property it is rare in Ireland & unfortunately I’ve yet to buy a house and met the seller so when I sell I like to back the sale with meeting the buyer and running them through various projects that I have done to the property.

First mental shock came with the ward name “Mother Theresa Unit” my mother was named Theresa and passed in 2018, miss her every day

But in so many ways it’s a good sign, she was always there for me if I needed her and every day since

21st August 2025

The procedure is in the Galway Clinic which is a private hospital in Galway City

https://www.unitedurology.com/conditions-treatments/general-urology/understanding-kidney-stones/treatment-options-for-large-kidney-stones/percutaneous-nephrolithotomy-pcnl-/a-step-by-step-look-at-the-procedure/

This operation has played havoc on me mentally. I’ve had to handle kidney stones since 1992 & judging by the medical reports I’ve managed to explore it could resolve the constant pain, anyone reading this that have had issues with stones would appreciate and agree that the pain caused by stones is severe. Obviously my concern is the length of time I’ll be out and the recovery period. I’ll deal with the recovery my way.

Urinary Catheter

Always have advices patients to leave pride & embarrasom at the door of the hospital, as a naturally shy person I have had to overcome situations that have me exposed in embarrassing positions especially in hospitals. This UC procedure is another taboo procedure, when it comes to our private parts we tend not to want to discuss the issues. A UC urinary catheter is a flexible tube used to empty your bladder and collect pee in a drainage bag.

They can be inserted through:

• the tube that carries pee out of the bladder (urethral catheter)
• a small opening made in your lower tummy (suprapubic catheter)

The catheter usually remains in your bladder for a period of time. The catheter allows pee to flow through it and into a drainage bag. More about this later..

Admission 21st and my first stay in this hospital. Blood test completed and the urologist came in. The operation is scheduled for 7:30am 22nd but the haematologist will not be there as he is on duty in another hospital.

22nd of August

Up bright and early for a shower and prepped for surgery, the backless gown and surgical stockings- felt I was dressing up for The Rocky House Picture Show. And then down to Theatre, 15 minutes early and this hospital runs like clockwork. I was taken into Theatre 4 and given anaesthetic – but it’s a new approach for me as up to now previous anesthetic was done manually by a plunger injection but this time it was a computerised IV, so no one asked me to count to 10. It hit instantly and the lights went out. At 11.30 I started waking up, I was told I was just out from the procedure and to rest, my mind was racing as to where was I, I needed to pee and checked under the blankets and yes they had done a UC urinary, so I just relaxed and allowed this new nature to take over. I do remember chatting to the nurse and then the surgeon came into see me. He said “All went according to plan” he spoke to the nurse and gave his okay to return the room I was in.

I got back to the room shortly afterwards and lifted my mobile to call Anita – but the mobile was dead zero black screen. So lifted the landline and called her. Anita’s Mum flew over a few weeks ago on her broomstick to see us and take care of Anita when I was in hospital. She had done the same in 2017 when I had my stem cell transplant. Anita had already called the ward so she knew I was out of surgery, so no need to look for the will again.

I relaxed and settled into bed. I was woken up for lunch and at about 3pm the urologist came in. He felt he got a substantial amount of the stone, some particular had gone into the bladder and so tiny pieces remained in the kidney but he classed it as 100% successful. He mentioned that the haematologist had asked him to do a biopsy on a lymph node but decided that the procedure was to much to add further trouble to recovery, one step at a time I think he said this lymph node is deep and would need keyhole surgery to biopsy . The kidneys can bleed a lot but again no need for a transfusion. All going well he hopes to discharge me in 3 or 4 days.. I have a lot of confidence in this gentleman as he tends to go with an open talk no barrier’s conversation. He mentioned again that even though this was keyhole it was a serious operation and recovery could be slow. I asked if he noted any swollen nodes on the surgical scan and he said yes but emphasised that it could be the kidney infections

But like a light switch I felt the darkness descending. It’s a horrible feeling but I had not expected to survive this operation. My mind is a dangerous place. And this sudden return to darkness caught me off guard. It might have been the discussion about the lymph nodes that triggered it but anyone that understands this what I call darkness will agree it’s fucking awful. But I know why myself- all of this started in 2014 when I was first diagnosed and shortly afterwards given a terminal diagnosis. We have both gone through hell medically and financially since then- no actual lengthy break from the medical situation, it never seems to stop. But we’ve both beaten rare cancers and every challenge is met head on, no matter what it is.

23rd August

Very little pain and a good nights sleep helped. The consultant was back in with me and happy with my recovery, he also wants the UC removed today. This will allow me to get up and about more. He mentioned he had put a JJ Stent in place between the kidney and bladder that he will leave in for 4 to 5 weeks, I’ll explain what they are next. But he has said he would be happy to discharge me on Monday. A day earlier than expected

A JJ stent, or double J stent, is a thin, flexible tube placed in the ureter to ensure urine can flow from the kidney to the bladder, bypassing a blockage or assisting healing. The tube’s distinctive double J-shape coils at both ends, anchoring it in the kidney and bladder to prevent migration while facilitating internal urinary drainage. 

I’ve had a number of these in the past and not a big fan of them. They tend to only use a local anaesthetic so your awake for the procedure. Having a urologist place a scope up your Willie then fish out the stent is not nice and feels awful.

But getting on to recovery now which for me includes good walks, the gardens around the hospital are beautiful and well kept. It’s a nice day so off I go with a pager unit that has an emergency call button. Managed to revive my mobile, it was a faulty lead so I’m back connected again. A reasonable night and awake early on 24th, bloods done and a chat with the staff nurse – chanced my arm and asked what the chances of discharge today would be, she called consultant and also got blood results – good to go home. 48 hours after surgery and two days earlier than expected. I called Anita as I need to be collected by a responsible adult (they don’t know her). So heading home today but back in 4 or 5 weeks. I am back to the hospital on Wednesday to meet the haematologist as his practice is in this hospital. I suspect that when I come back in he will organise a biopsy on the day the stent will be removed but we’ll wait and see.

I do tend to bounce back from procedures and yes it’s happened again. Heading home shortly.

Elvis sang a song called “You Gave Me a Mountain” but it’s more like a mountain range for us, Jew keep getting up one mountain when another presents it’s, each with challenges sometimes more than the last. I’ll keep dragging myself back from death and fight back with everything I’ve got. Thankfully Anita has the same attitude and the combination is hard to beat.

For now I think I have managed to push the darkness back into its cell, I know it looms in the background and waits for weakness to attack. Ain’t no mountain high enough yet (this song is fractured on our website for a good reason) I love powerful songs and like many others I can take different means from a song. I’m been discharged now along with a prescription and letter for my GP.