Mike is going through his 2nd bout with kidney stones - the first time was 10 years ago, 2 months before we got married. At that time, he ignored the pain in his back (thinking it was muscle strain) until it was a full blown attack (vomiting, traces of blood, etc...). He immediately had same day surgery to have a stent put in, then had the ESWL (shock waves) treatment to break the stone up.

This time, when Mike started with the back pain on Wednesday night, we both had an idea of what it was (due to the location of the pain). The pain was really bad Thursday night so I took him to the ER and they did a cat scan and said that he did have a 3 mm stone and that it was actually 2/3's of the way out.

He went to the urologist on Friday and he said the stone was big, but that he had a "greater than 50% chance of passing it on his own", but that if he didn't pass it by today, he'd have to come back in and see what the next step would be. Poor Mike has done nothing but drink water and gatorade all weekend, and he's been unable to sleep due to the pain (it's worse when he tries to lie down).

So, he called them today and was told that he needed same day surgery tomorrow to put a stent in, but he had to come into the office to see the dr today. So, when he got there, Mike told him that he actually hasn't had any pain since last night (and he slept fine last night). The Dr said that Mike may have passed the stone without knowing it - he said it's rare, but it does happen. So, they canceled surgery for tomorrow and scheduled him for a cat scan for Thursday to see if it's still there.

So, my question is, has anyone ever heard of someone passing a stone without knowing it? It would be wonderful if that's the case, but it almost seems too good to be true! From the stories I hear, if he has indeed passed it, he's a lucky guy!