Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Stone Temple Pilot

The title might suggest that i might be talking about the band but what i am talking is about stone, renal stone to be exact. At the end of last year i was struck with a medical problem that i didn't think that i would get in my life. It came suddenly out of the blue. I got a renal stone, luckily it was not big and it was on its way out of my body. But the movement of the stone caused a great deal of pain. I was pissing out blood literally, and it was the most excruciating pain ever.

I got it removed as soon as i found out. The procedure was simple, the surgeon introduced a scope or a probe through my urethra via a Ureteroscopic Stone Removal (google it please, i dont want to tell it in detail.) and took out the stone. It was small in size around 0.5mm x 0.3mm but that small stone really did a lot of damage inside. The stone is a calcium oxalate stone which is very common. I didn't get the chance to take a picture of it as they had sent the stone to Australia for an analysis.


Picture of the procedure



The stone looks very much like this


The realization of the disease that i had made me come to terms that i am just another person and not a super person or a superman. The surgeon hit me with the truth, that the stone is caused by myself and by other people. Its the food and water that i had taken for the past 31 years of my life. Apparently i had been taking a lot of acidic food and unhealthy food.

Well for starters, my fav foods is usually seafood like shrimps, squids, and etc... And i have been eating out most of the time. And if i eat at home usually the food would contain 'belacan' as it is my favorite. And the water that i consume doesn't include plain water. Mostly it was carbonated drinks, or colored drinks or even the instant ones and the biggest culprit would be the 'teh ais' which i take almost everyday.

I don't have a family history with renal stone, but with all the factors above plus the area which i am living now is considered as the highest prevalence of people having renal stone so naturally sooner or later i would get it. And i am glad that i got it sooner rather than later. It may sound crazy but i am really grateful that God had given me the chance to feel what is like having this problem. Now i can take better care of my health as a result. And i can tell people with my own experience how it feels and thus i can treat them better.

How to treat it and avoid it in the future. For starters, a lot of modification in my lifestyle especially the foods. I have to avoid all my favourites plus foods that contain high oxalate such as chocolates, spinach, wheat bran. I have to eat less meat, and fish too. It is better to take white meat rather than red meat and especially not to take inside organs such as liver, kidneys. It is because those foods contain high protein content and high protien produces a lot of uric acid which is a factor for stone formation.

The amount of water is important too. I have to take at least 2 to 2.5 liters of water per day to avoid concentrating the urine. It is to dilute the calcium inside of my urine and avoid the stone formation. And of course not to take 'teh ais' anymore.. The content of the water is also important, i need to take water that is slightly alkaline as acidic water promotes stone formation. And also the surgeon advises me not to drink RO (reverse osmosis water as according to him is useless water and in fact will make you worse if you have renal stone) The water is best around ph 7.0 to 7.9.

I am more health conscious than ever before and i hope that i can influence people more by telling my experience. And i hope that i can avoid having a recurrent stone.

7 comments:

Hanim said...

urgh sounds painful. let's all keep fit yeah? me starting with a flatter tummy hahaha

deejay said...

It is Hanim.. did a spinal for the procedure and it was urrgghhh after the spinal effect wore off...

zen non said...

kurang makan daging, makan sayur, air kosong selalu, gula sikit aja..sebiji buah setiap hari untuk kesihatan. be well. take care.

deejay said...

thanks bro.. hoping to be well and live well.

Adzimi Muzni said...

Wow, it does sound really painful, caused by a small little thing. I think at our age now past 30s, we need to seriously take better care, its scary to hear the kind of problems my friends are facing, and we are all at relatively a young age. And most of it attributes back to the unhealthy food that Malaysians eat daily.

EnAikAY said...

Itula... aku dah cakap jgn main transformers banyak2... hehehe.. just kidding.
Take good care bro.
Me too need to force myself to drink plenty of plain water. During work mmg sikit minum, but when training.. hah tu dia.. 2 liter pun boleh habis sekali teguk je...

deejay said...

Adzimi.. yup, its just too many factors at one time, and the body just said no.. now have to learn to listen to my body
Nik.. Its just more than meets the eye.. and i think you should drink constantly. not just during training cos our body need the fluids 24hrs a day...