The Saga of the Kidney Stone

Well, last I wrote, we were waiting to hear from the doctor about what procedure he recommended for Daniel. He called last Wednesday and said that the sonic blast procedure would work (although sometimes a second blast is needed weeks later if an x-ray shows the stone didn't get completely busted). The next day a girl from his office called to tell me the cost of the procedure... I assume since you are reading this at a computer you are sitting down, if not, please sit now... the cost for one round of "blasting", not including the catheter, follow-up x-rays or the removal of the catheter four to six weeks later is $30,000.00!!!!! Yes, thirty thousand dollars! And he has been sure to mention multiple times that it sometimes takes more than one round of blasting. Needless to say we have been a little beside ourselves for a bit.

Besides the cost, we have also been concerned about the prospect of the procedure itself. They were concerned that Reflux may have been why he had the infections in the first place. Reflux being a back flushing of urine back into the kidney. When they insert the "pigtail" between the kidney and the bladder to keep the tube open to flush the stone out they actually create an artificial reflux and leave it that way for four to six weeks! What possible damage can that cause? Wasn't that what we were concerned about in the first place?

I called Dr. Todd Robinson in Lakeland and spoke with him. He suggested I seek another opinion. Since Daniel's blood work came back clear and he isn't having any infection or trouble at the moment we have some time, but should keep him monitored. He told me to get Daniel on Magnesium and Vitamin B6. I have been doing some research on the Internet and have also started giving him Stone Free by Planetary Herbals and having him drink organic apple cider vinegar mixed with water and raw honey. I hope I'm not over doing it, but I am praying that these things break the stone up and he is able to pass it on his own. Dr. Todd also told me about two websites that I can access to find a doctor here in Arizona that uses nutrition and homeopathic methods.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.