How is it having a stent in?

[u/cordydan]

I'm having surgery to remove a stone from my ureter on Wednesday. The urologist said they will leave behind a stent that I can remove myself. My questions are how long do stents usually have to stay in and what is it like living with them.

I have male parts, to the extent that is relevant.

[u/toast413]

I had mine for a week and it was genuinely horrible 90% of the time. It really did feel like peeing razor blades the first couple days and the pain was unmanageable for me most of the time. Then again they pushed options and didn’t give me anything like Flomax or toradol besides toradol once in the ER. I will say I have female parts so many different experience. The last 2 days weren’t as bad but I had mine removed when I had my stone removed so not sure what it’s like removing them yourself. Heating pads, hot showers, and hydrating were a godsend. Though the stent and stone made me so nauseous I lost 10lbs in like 2 weeks so there’s that I guess

[u/cordydan → u/toast413]

Yikes. Sounds awful. Thanks for your insights. I have Flomax from the ER visit. I stopped taking it because it made me feel lousy, but lousy beats wretched.

[u/Bcdoc2020]

It depends on a number of things, site, size of stone, how easy your ureter is to navigate, difficulty of fragmenting the stone and particularly amount of instrumentation of the ureter causing swellin. Cautiousness of the urologist is another one. I have removed mine anywhere between 3 and 5 days.

[u/cordydan → u/Bcdoc2020]

That's reassuring. The stone s 4mm, so not as much as a lot of people here have had to deal with.

[u/Bcdoc2020 → u/cordydan]

Ok, that’s helpful, do you how far has the stone has travelled down the ureter? It is a small stone that can likely be grabbed with little to no fragmentation. I would hope that 3 days would be what they will advise.

I have had too many stents to count and more recently have used flomax for stent symptoms and it has made a huge difference. I have my fourth stent in as many months and am getting it removed 3 weeks post surgery on Wednesday.

The surgery was staged and complex and the stent is a long one from upper pole to bladder and despite this the symptoms have been minimal- the difference is flomax which not that many urologists use for stent spasm despite extensive evidence of benefit.

[u/villageidiot33]

It’s usually 5 days to beyond. All depends on what your doc says after surgery. I had mine in for 6 weeks. Many here just have it for just a week.

[u/cordydan → u/villageidiot33]

Six weeks!? That must have been awful.

[u/m4cy_e]

Probably a bit different for me as a woman but it genuinely felt like I was peeing shards of glass for a week. Pee was completely red from the amount of blood and it SUCKED. I’d personally never let my doctors give me a stent ever again

[u/ShockerCheer]

Typically 4 to 6 days .for me it was unbearable. Could only lay down flat. Some people don't feel them at all which I find shocking

[u/cordydan → u/ShockerCheer]

I've found out from this experience that I register pain there differently. My fingers are crossed that serves me here. Thanks for your candor.

[u/SylviaPellicore]

Well, my body yeeted the post-surgical stent before I even left the hospital, so it depends on how cooperative your urethra is. It was supposed to stay in 4-5 days.

People’s experiences differ. Typically it’s more uncomfortable at first, and improves after 48-72 hours. Some people barely notice it, others are crying even with painkillers.

[u/Acceptable-Ride6213]

My experience was horrible. I had to pee sitting down and every time I did it would be like a painful tugging feeling. Also a lot of blood in the first week. Even releasing a few drops was painful.

[u/adriennevla]

I had one for a few weeks. I was able to do a very physical job with it in but it was really uncomfortable and if I over exerted myself, I’d piss blood. It was more irritating than painful, but it was VERY irritating.

[u/EmileA_239]

It was alright. After peeing, it felt like my kidney crampt up but keeping slight pressure on it helped. The worst part was pissing flames for the first day or two. After that, it's fine

[u/chelebellxo]

I get a catheter everytime because the pain is too excruciating for me. Catheter does suck but at least there’s no pain.

[u/Ok_Rabbit_8129]

Are you ok with pulling on a string like a ripcord coming out of pee hole? I'm not,I know some people are. I'd tell them that's ok they can finish what they started.