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Why I have a nephrostomy

A nephrostomy is not the nicest of things. Not the most convenient. Not the most comfortable.

It effects the clothes I wear. It's not convenient for work or travel. Means I need to be near a loo pretty much at all times. And it's a bit of a passion killer.

But at the moment, it's stopping me from being in incredible pain and potentially losing my left kidney. So I'm more than happy to have it - for now.

I'd never heard of a nephrostomy before I had one. Why would I? None of my family have urinary problems, I don't work in the medical industry and I gave up watching Holby City years ago!
You usually need a nephrostomy if you have a problem with your ureter, if it is blocked or not working properly.
A percutaneous nephrostomy (or just nephrostomy as it tends to be known) is a tube that goes through your back and into your kidney. The tube helps the urine to drain out of the kidney and into a nephrostomy bag that is attached by adhesive to your back. You usually need a nephrostomy if you have a problem with your ureter, if it is blocked or not working properly.

My story isn't a pretty one. My cervical smear test revealed abnormal cells. I had to go for a colposcopy and the results showed that I had severe dyskaryosis with CIN3 cells. This meant that left untreated, these cells could turn into cervical cancer. I had some treatment - LLETZ but some of the cells remained. I was given the option of further treatment, or I could eradicate the problem completely by having a hysterectomy.

I should point out here that I was a fit an healthy 41 year old mum of 2 boys. I had the discussion with my husband and we wanted to make sure that I couldn't get cervical cancer and would be around to bring up my boys. We weren't planning on having any more children. So for me it was a no brainer, I was going to have a hysterectomy. 

Source: http://training.seer.cancer.gov/anatomy/urinary/components/

Now, I'm no poster girl for hysterectomies. During the operation, my ureter was blocked, the likelihood is that it was accidentally stitched. This in turn, stopped it from working properly which meant my left kidney couldn't function. I had a severe kidney infection, I was showing signs of sepsis and I had a lot of pain.*

I had the nephrostomy fitted and the relief from pain was immediate. So, now I have a tube going into my back into my left kidney. The tube outside of my body sits within a sterile bag attached by adhesive to my back. The tube is carefully sealed at the end so that it can't get loose and go into my body.

This is what my nephrostomy looks like


If you talk about nephrostomies, people give you THAT look. You know, the mixture of pity and disgust. There is the pity there that you have a bag attached to your back and then you can see them thinking "There's wee in there! She's carrying round a bag of wee!"

Yes that's right, you've got to get used to carrying round a bag of wee. Sometimes you might be really busy or so chilled out that you forget to empty it and suddenly you realise that you have this huge bag keeping your lower back warm. I like to think of it as a hot water bottle!

But seriously, don't let the bag get too full as it could cause the adhesive to come lose and your bag could come off. I'm pleased to say that this has not happened to me but I don't want to try!

I've written some other blogs that describe my experiences and my journey with the nephrostomy. Please have a read and leave me any comments or questions below and I will do my best to answer them. Please remember that I'm not a medical expert, I have no medical training - I'm simply giving you my thoughts and experiences with the hope of helping someone.

*This blog is not for putting people off having a hysterectomy - what happened to me is incredibly rare. If you need to have this procedure and you are reading this, please discuss any concerns with a medical expert for the full facts.


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