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Had renal colic episode last week: First class (CAA)medical temporarily suspended.....I am on sick leaves. Ct scan showing single stone(5mm) in lower ureter.... Waiting decision from CAA medical in LGW.
Any testimonies of active pilots who went through this are welcome !
I think that in the ureter a stone so big will loose you a Class 1 automatically. It is not a good idea to have one there. 5mm is too big to pass? Operation under general called uteroscopic stone removal. It is a day procedure? Save fragments for analysis to help with future diet/oxcylates. Then the medical should not be a problem. After the operation, passing water can be painful and with blood, must drink lots of water, not beer, water flushes better. A stone so large should be visible on an X ray I think. There is a loop in the lower ureter, if the stone is caught up on the upside of the loop it may be stuck. You should see a urologist and also possibley a nephrologist. If stones also in kidneys then perhaps a lithostripsy or two or three? They are not a problem, in and out - oh, of hospital. Ah! Once there has been a stone, it is very likely there will be more in future. CAA will need X ray after two years? Thus diet, exercise and water are important. If stones calcium-usual, no oxcylates ie. nuts or beetroot.
I have read a lot about them and have appointment with Urologist already. Anyway I want this stone to be removed... I was just wandering if the CAA would issue me a new class 1 restricted to multicrew as it is described in their website.... They will answer me next week but I am very worried....
Bleedfail - ouch!! you have my sympathy they chuffing hurt. I had a stone as a kid which the CAA questioned me about on my initial Class1. I still had the Class1 issued as the stone had passed. I then had another some time ago now whilst I was in flying training. The CAA gave me a restiction on my class1 that I had to fly with a safety pilot. I peed the stone out so didnt need any medical treatment and then the restriction was removed, but to continue my unrestricted class 1 the CAA required me to have a kidney x-ray and report sent yearly to them from my urologist. Its all at your own expence but I went free on the NHS, I also had my AME copied in on the reports. I organised the yearly urologist report to be about the time of my medical renewals so I could advise my AME that I had sent the report to the CAA. I am pleased to say that I have not had any more stones for several years now, certainly not since I have been flying commercial airliners, and the CAA have written to me saying as it has been over 7 years they no longer require any more reports. I imagine you will have to submit a yearly x-ray report to the CAA for the next 7 years to continue an unrestricted class1 once the stone is out. All the best
I think that there will be a difference in between a stone in the kidney and one in the ureter. Problem with one lodged in ureter is that the urine can be totally blocked and that is not very funny? Do not worry, it is painful and a nuisance but it will not kill you.If you find you cannot piss then you may need a catheter inserted. It is not a problem but not nice but you would need a hospital emergency section perhaps for that. If it does happen, do not worry, the pleasure of the piss will chase away all fear of the catheter. These stones are not fun things like diamonds and girly baubles. Ah..after any operation up the tubes, the PSA can go sky high. So not to worry if that happens.
Commiserations, Bleedfail, and I hope that you are quickly and satisfactorily sorted out in all respects.
On the lighter side, I passed one (of several over the years) into a milk bottle some years ago, and, rightly or wrongly, took the half-full bottle with the offending stone still in it for the doc to have a look in case it helped in any way.
She held the bottle up to the light, and gave the contents a long hard look, but initially said nothing so I said "Well, what do you think?", and she replied "I think I'll never drink milk straight out of a bottle again!"
I am not going into details(as it had been a lot of more complicated in reality) but :
Saw Urologist this afternoon in the same hospital (NHS) : he doesn't agree with radiologist and told me he cannot see any 5 mm stone in my Ureter(the one CAA has a report about) but a 2 mm one inside kidney and that he would speak to radiologist monday!!!
5mm is not a small stone. That size should show up even on X ray. Anyway....from CAA point of view, suppose that urologist report is what interests them. From your point of view, could you see the stone in the urether in the CT scan? Good luck..
Last edited by Der absolute Hammer : 7th September 2008 at 21:14. Reason: Grammatik
Yep , but in first place , NHS staff told me I had nothing and said no follow up,no referral to Urologist they even told me it was no need to go see my GP! 3 days later CT scan and X-ray reports arrived at my GP telling very different story! Is this common ? I hope not....
i had the same thing in jan this year, had to go to hospital middle of the night spent the night there was then told was a kidney stone but has now passed through, 3 days later got a phone call from my GP saying that the report from the hospital says i still have the stone in my system, i spent 3 weeks at home of work while the mess was sorted out and had to do varios tests to satisfy the CAA.
Spoke with CAA this morning : any stone present (unless embedded and very unlikely to move ) : No medical , even with multi crew limitation as described in CAA website(http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?ca...=90&pageid=555).... Have to remove it then.....
Last edited by bleedfail : 8th September 2008 at 17:11.
get the stone removed...you'll be back after a few months. Friend of mine had a stone removed...out for months....never looked back since. Like pissing glass if its zapped.besta luck
Months.....!? Was it UK CAA ?(because I know with FAA it takes long) Do you know the reason why medical department wait that long to assess you fit again if you are stone free(after treatment) and you never had this problem in the past ? Any infos welcome please. Thanks
Last edited by bleedfail : 11th September 2008 at 01:09.
Just as an FYI - I had a kidney stone - BEFORE - getting a Class 1.
In order to get Class 1 I had to prove that it fully cleared at the time of occurence (ie: hospital X Rays and reports from the instance showing no sign) - with subsequent proof at years 2 and 7 (from the date of the kidney stone - not the medical) that it was not recurrent.
I had the misfortune to suffer from one of these about 20 months ago, pain was excrutiating and onset was without warning - hence you will almost certainly have your medical temporarily susupended. The pain is the nearest a male will get to experiencing childbirth apparently
Like you, my stone was lodged in the ureter and of a similar size - too big to pass naturally. None of the options for removal are pleasant. My urologist convinced me to go for the rigid telescope and l@ser option which promised just about the quickest route to recovery of the medical. I won't go into details but I'm glad I was fully unconscious. Unfortunately the first attempt at lasering the stone was unsuccessful and I had a 'double J stent' inserted. This small tube hooks into the kidney and bladder ends of the ureter - it's purpose is to ensure the kidney can drain urine past the stone to the bladder. A blocked ureter can cause the kidney to die! I now know what to wish for for my enemies - for the 4 weeks it was in place the double j stent caused the most discomfort I have ever experienced. Every pee was a punch to the kidney!
Still reading? OK the second attempt at lasering was successful and for the next 2 weeks I had to pee in a jug and then sieve the contents for the shrapnel. Consultant was happy with small collection of remnants - all about the size of a grain of sand and not at all painful to pass.
A final IVU X Ray to confirm stone had gone, sent details to CAA and medical category restored. Total time from onset of first symptoms to restoration of medical was about 12 weeks - this would have been about 8 weeks had first l@ser attempt been successful. I now have to do further IVU X Rays at 2 and 7 years from anniversary of episode to maintain my medical.
The CAA website has a useful flow diagram which explains all.
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