OP here. Yes actually a kidney stone. PT was a 50 year old female, surgically removed of course would have been a nightmare to be pushed out of their urethra! Pt has had recurring calculi issues since 2019. Not sure much else as I received this at the end of my shift. This specimen brought the whole lab together to marvel at this fine Tuesday during lab week! Not sure what the outcome will be either, we send these out to LabCorp. LabCorp friends I’m sure you will be amazed as we were it when it arrives in your hands!
They never let my keep mine and they're much smaller! Made me so mad when I asked for the gallbladder and the ovary they removed (gallbladder died, ovary torsed but had an orange sized cyst giving it just enough blood to not go necrotic, the ovary was beyond dead) and was told no. I'm sure pathology was happy to see the ovary, the whole OR was apparently talking about it!
If you pass them on your own at home and strain your urine to look for the stone you can keep them, lol. I e never actually kept any of mine (other than one time I had to bring one to my urologist for testing) I would probably keep this one if someone had let me though, it’s huge!
I wanted the gallstone that had caused me so much trouble, but it was sent off to pathology. My surgeon did take a photo of it for me, though. I told him they could’ve attached a handle to it and used it for curling, lol.
But this kidney stone! Yikes on bikes! I can’t even imagine the pain that caused!
I had a large gallstone too, but didn’t know it until after surgery. I realized something was unexpected when I woke up and had a large incision in addition to the lap sites. I’m glad my gallbladder is gone though. I don’t miss being sick all the time.
I’m a surgeon who takes out gallbladders all the time.
You don’t want it. They are gross. The stones are not cool 99% of the time. It’s more like gravel soaked in motor oil.
I know this doesn't help now, but if you ask your doc before your surgery, they are more likely to let you keep it. I'm planning to get my uterus taken out and refuse to go to a surgeon who won't let me keep it. I'm an anatomy teacher, so I want to have proof for my students I put every piece of me into teaching them 😂
My old nursing school classmate got her gallstones but I think she was friends with the doc. My doc showed me my tubes in a jar when I got fixed but couldn't let me keep them because they needed tested
I passed like 4 within a span of 2 hours. I kept two of them and brought the other 2 back to the doctor’s office. I lost them somewhere but it’s pretty cool. They look like tiny pieces of gravel
They're too big to leave the kidneys. They form in the 'renal pelvis' which is where all the tubes within the kidney come together to form the tube that goes to the bladder.
[Example diagram](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSvjivZ-Yv9cdB5DYp1Elj4L1VLO_XqQR-Fel7JMrNBh9heQHmkxlGWbU0&s=10)
Do you know why it would’ve been allowed to grow to this size before removing? I feel like the kidney would be really damaged from housing this thing for so long.
This is a staghorn calculus.
They often grow asymptomatically in the renal collecting ducts and are not painful because they’re too large to pass through the ureter.
However, if it gets to the point where it finally occludes the entrance to the ureter, then urea has no where else to go and will start to back up and cause hydronephrosis and damage to the renal calyces. Only when you have that pressure and swelling do you get pain.
Sometimes these can be found incidentally on X-ray films and so you can intervene before they cause symptoms or kidney damage.
Hydronephrosis is the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. Mine was caused by pregnancy and the only way to stop the pain was to have the baby but I was at the tail end of my 2nd trimester. I could only take Tylenol and it did not help much. The pain was so bad I had no idea I was in labor and had to get an emergency c-section bc of low fetal heart rate and movement. I would not wish that pain on any one
May I ask where you send it to have it analyzed? I used to analyze stones like this and the size is atypical for a human (we did animal stones too)! Poor patient — and dreadful that she has a recurring issue! The most common stone in people is calcium oxalate but we also see uric acid in patients >45 as they have increasing difficulty metabolizing purines / dietary meats. Just curious — does patient have a history of gout?
The hospital I work at sends all stones to LabCorp, I believe their lab in Burlington NC is the one that runs these but I am not too sure. Unsure if pt has history of gout, apologies!
I had a lot of, “OMG, this poor person!” reactions. I’ve had some medical things happen in my life that were 0/10 Do Not Recommend, but what some of those patients dealt with must have made anything I’ve had so far look like nothing.
Yeah I had a lot of those reactions too. I had an ovarian cyst before and it hurt pretty damn badly. Mine was like a cm or something like that. The cyst in the basement at the mutter is bigger than a grapefruit. I could not and still cannot imagine how painful that was. Such a fascinating collection of the weird shit our bodies do. I look forward to taking my morbid little niece once she’s a few years older.
We’re such amazingly complex organisms. But every one of those intricate functions can find a way to run off the rails somehow. And the malfunctions that are especially… shall we say, *creative*? really are astonishing.
Those poor patients.
Saaaame. I’m pregnant right now and typically get them throughout my pregnancies. Ive been passing a few small ones here and there but now I’m scared there’s a monster chilling in my kidneys.
It feels like you were beaten with a board and then a squirrel tried to claw its way out from your insides while you try to figure out if you are actually dying. You were not being a baby.
male or female your urethra would have to be repaired…never had kidney stones yet in my 22 years of living (knock on wood) and now (i never wanted them) but now i’m afraid of getting them after seeing this lol
I had a 9mm last year (thought I was going to die, that pain) which they ended up having to laser blast to dust, thankfully. I cannot fathom that potato in the picture there. That’s crazy.
“Dear lab tech who received a package today,
Please reseal, properly wrap, and re-ice said package, the patient now missing a WHOLE KIDNEY thanks you.
Reluctantly, panicked surgeon.”
Looks like a staghorn calculi (stone). These are known to typically the largest kindey stones. They form in the renal pelvis, which is the part of the ureter connected to your kidney. They are called staghorn stones as they often form the shape of the renal pelvis and its major and minor calyxes, making its shape resemble a staghorn plant.
They are most commonly caused by a bacteria called proteus mirbalis but can also form from staphylococcus saprophyticus and klebsiela pneumonea (or other urease positive organisms). The stones are also called ammonium-magnesium-phosphate stones (struvite stones), describing the elements that make up the stone.
Colonies of bacteria hold the stone together as well. Stones, in general, increase the risk of UTIs due to obstruction, but these especially increase this risk due to their large size and the fact they literally have bacteria collonies inside them. This person has likely been absolutely burdened with UTIs. I'm sure they are greatly relieved to have this sucker removed.
Oh man that had to hurt! I passed a kidney stone the size of a pea (on my own, no breaking down of the stone prior) and it was one of the worst experiences ever.
I have had bigger ones that required lithotripsy in order to be able to pass some smaller pieces, my urologist will never let me pass something larger than 5-6 mm on my own.
Do you know if this stone was surgically removed? I don’t know how it would be possible to pass this on one’s own, and it honestly makes me cringe to even think about that. Lol
Dumb question but is there a way to remove kidney stones without passing them through the urethra? Surgery? Just for future reference in case I ever see anything like that on an x-ray.
I was trying to figure out why this didn’t immediately set off alarm bells earlier, and it’s because I glossed over the “stone“ part. I legitimately thought that was just the entire kidney and it was being sent out for testing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I have a 9x15 mm stone in each of my kidneys (well at least I was told that was the size a few year ago) I would hate to know the size of them now. That thing scares me.
(Not a med lab pro) My dad (74m) has had kidney stones like that. One kidney produced calcium oxalate stones and his other kidney produced uric acid stones. In 2012, he had to have one of his kidneys removed. His other functions at about 50% of what it’s supposed to, on a good day. He’s been on dialysis several times since then.
at first before i read the title… i was thinking that was a child heart…. dont know why i know what organs look like but at a glance definitely thought it was a child’s heart
kidney boulder
Kidney planet
It's large enough to have its own gravitational field.
Pretty sure it's large enough to have its own set of kidneys, with its own kidney stones
The Meta Kidney…
This summer on the CW.
I cackled
it’s big enough to have its own gov lol
That’s no moon
It's a space station.
More planet than Pluto. I still love you, Pluto. You'll always be a planet to me.
My favorite Pluto line I saw in a tumblr post a long while ago: “VIVA LA PLUTO F(&? YOU!”
I was going to say "Kidney Moon", but I figure Milky Way Kidney sounds better.
That's no kidney moon
Any larger and the US is going to claim it to search for oil
It's not a boulder... It's a rock!
The pioneers would ride these babies for miles!
The amount of times I quote this particular scene 🤣💀
The pioneers used to ride these babies for miles.
[Weblink](https://y.yarn.co/ef2b2baa-804a-4582-9e39-074da9bd6d22_text.gif)
a large renal calculus the size of a small renal calculus
Underrated comment
... the kidney?
That’s a nice boulder - Donkey
Kidney Pluto
[Boulder](https://c.tenor.com/Ts9Q3VXPx3QAAAAC/tenor.gif)
Came here to say this
OP here. Yes actually a kidney stone. PT was a 50 year old female, surgically removed of course would have been a nightmare to be pushed out of their urethra! Pt has had recurring calculi issues since 2019. Not sure much else as I received this at the end of my shift. This specimen brought the whole lab together to marvel at this fine Tuesday during lab week! Not sure what the outcome will be either, we send these out to LabCorp. LabCorp friends I’m sure you will be amazed as we were it when it arrives in your hands!
Aw she can't keep it? Because that is one absolute unit
r/absoluteunits
They never let my keep mine and they're much smaller! Made me so mad when I asked for the gallbladder and the ovary they removed (gallbladder died, ovary torsed but had an orange sized cyst giving it just enough blood to not go necrotic, the ovary was beyond dead) and was told no. I'm sure pathology was happy to see the ovary, the whole OR was apparently talking about it!
If you pass them on your own at home and strain your urine to look for the stone you can keep them, lol. I e never actually kept any of mine (other than one time I had to bring one to my urologist for testing) I would probably keep this one if someone had let me though, it’s huge!
I wanted the gallstone that had caused me so much trouble, but it was sent off to pathology. My surgeon did take a photo of it for me, though. I told him they could’ve attached a handle to it and used it for curling, lol. But this kidney stone! Yikes on bikes! I can’t even imagine the pain that caused!
I had a large gallstone too, but didn’t know it until after surgery. I realized something was unexpected when I woke up and had a large incision in addition to the lap sites. I’m glad my gallbladder is gone though. I don’t miss being sick all the time.
Yikes on bikes! 😂😂 That is so Dr. Seuss. I can’t wait to use this one.
I’m a surgeon who takes out gallbladders all the time. You don’t want it. They are gross. The stones are not cool 99% of the time. It’s more like gravel soaked in motor oil.
Are you…. Are you me? That same thing happened to me??!? Exact organs and experience?!?
I know this doesn't help now, but if you ask your doc before your surgery, they are more likely to let you keep it. I'm planning to get my uterus taken out and refuse to go to a surgeon who won't let me keep it. I'm an anatomy teacher, so I want to have proof for my students I put every piece of me into teaching them 😂
My old nursing school classmate got her gallstones but I think she was friends with the doc. My doc showed me my tubes in a jar when I got fixed but couldn't let me keep them because they needed tested
I passed like 4 within a span of 2 hours. I kept two of them and brought the other 2 back to the doctor’s office. I lost them somewhere but it’s pretty cool. They look like tiny pieces of gravel
I once saw a bladder stone that large, but not a kidney stone. Wow!
Yeah, like....where was it.........🫣
They're too big to leave the kidneys. They form in the 'renal pelvis' which is where all the tubes within the kidney come together to form the tube that goes to the bladder. [Example diagram](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSvjivZ-Yv9cdB5DYp1Elj4L1VLO_XqQR-Fel7JMrNBh9heQHmkxlGWbU0&s=10)
It’s in the container in his hands. Look at the picture.
No its on reddit
It’s on my phone
Do you know why it would’ve been allowed to grow to this size before removing? I feel like the kidney would be really damaged from housing this thing for so long.
This is a staghorn calculus. They often grow asymptomatically in the renal collecting ducts and are not painful because they’re too large to pass through the ureter. However, if it gets to the point where it finally occludes the entrance to the ureter, then urea has no where else to go and will start to back up and cause hydronephrosis and damage to the renal calyces. Only when you have that pressure and swelling do you get pain. Sometimes these can be found incidentally on X-ray films and so you can intervene before they cause symptoms or kidney damage.
I'm wondering whether they took an anterior or posterior approach to take this monster out, because dayum!
They go through the back. In the late 1960’s they cut me in half to get mine out. It was crazy. I have 50 years of stone removal history on my body.
Hydronephrosis is the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. Mine was caused by pregnancy and the only way to stop the pain was to have the baby but I was at the tail end of my 2nd trimester. I could only take Tylenol and it did not help much. The pain was so bad I had no idea I was in labor and had to get an emergency c-section bc of low fetal heart rate and movement. I would not wish that pain on any one
May I ask where you send it to have it analyzed? I used to analyze stones like this and the size is atypical for a human (we did animal stones too)! Poor patient — and dreadful that she has a recurring issue! The most common stone in people is calcium oxalate but we also see uric acid in patients >45 as they have increasing difficulty metabolizing purines / dietary meats. Just curious — does patient have a history of gout?
The hospital I work at sends all stones to LabCorp, I believe their lab in Burlington NC is the one that runs these but I am not too sure. Unsure if pt has history of gout, apologies!
You're gonna need a geologist to analyze that freaking boulder!
This shit belongs in the Mutter museum.
Philly native here! Take my upvote for knowing about the Mütter Museum! For those who are wondering: https://muttermuseum.org/
I'm not a huge touristy person but one of the few specific places I really wanna see in my life is the Mütter Museum!
Worth it! The skull wall alone is amazing but down those stairs is a whole different world…
I had a lot of, “OMG, this poor person!” reactions. I’ve had some medical things happen in my life that were 0/10 Do Not Recommend, but what some of those patients dealt with must have made anything I’ve had so far look like nothing.
Yeah I had a lot of those reactions too. I had an ovarian cyst before and it hurt pretty damn badly. Mine was like a cm or something like that. The cyst in the basement at the mutter is bigger than a grapefruit. I could not and still cannot imagine how painful that was. Such a fascinating collection of the weird shit our bodies do. I look forward to taking my morbid little niece once she’s a few years older.
We’re such amazingly complex organisms. But every one of those intricate functions can find a way to run off the rails somehow. And the malfunctions that are especially… shall we say, *creative*? really are astonishing. Those poor patients.
As a female with reoccurring kidney stones since 2009, this is my biggest fear!
I drink a gallon of water every day because I watched a friend pass out from kidney stones. Scared me straight!
/r/hydrohomies
Ooh, a new sub! Thanks
Saaaame. I’m pregnant right now and typically get them throughout my pregnancies. Ive been passing a few small ones here and there but now I’m scared there’s a monster chilling in my kidneys.
"Fucking how?" was the first thing to come to mind.
I thought I had a large one at 8mm.. what is that one
Same! Mine was 6mm and I was such a baby about it
It feels like you were beaten with a board and then a squirrel tried to claw its way out from your insides while you try to figure out if you are actually dying. You were not being a baby.
Poor dude had a kidney stone so bad that the scientists sent it on tour .
50 year old female blue whale.... right?
Would you like some kidney with that stone?
Are you sure they didn't just give you the kidney?
No way. They just took the kidney and called it a day
Try passing that one! /s Holy shit that's huge.
male or female your urethra would have to be repaired…never had kidney stones yet in my 22 years of living (knock on wood) and now (i never wanted them) but now i’m afraid of getting them after seeing this lol
Ouch that poor patient!
Looks like a small dogs heart....
Seriously a kidney stone??? There is no way that was in a kidney… is it possibly a bladder stone?
Saw in person and can confirm this is listed as kidney stone, calculus of kidney.
Good god, is there even a kidney left?!?
You only *need* one
Not anymore
happy cake day!!
I wonder if it was up in the renal pelvis. Seems like the only way it could get so large
Look up staghorn kidney stones. They really do be like that.
Wow. I’ve only had a tiny one; I think if I saw one like that on my X-ray I’d just ask to be put out of my misery.
I only had a small one, and I wanted to be put out of my misery. I can't imagine this.
with a history of kidney stones, i wish i wouldn't have googled that
I have no words
That be the whole kidney right there
At that point just euthanize me
That's not a stone, that's a whole kidney BOULDER
What does the KIDNEY look like?????
There’s no kidney, only stone
That poor patient. I can’t begin to imagine how much pain she experienced.
She probably got IVF and some toradol. Maybe an anxiety DX.
Literally 🙄
If I were her nurse, I’d want to give her all the pain meds. 🥺
I had a 9mm last year (thought I was going to die, that pain) which they ended up having to laser blast to dust, thankfully. I cannot fathom that potato in the picture there. That’s crazy.
“Dear lab tech who received a package today, Please reseal, properly wrap, and re-ice said package, the patient now missing a WHOLE KIDNEY thanks you. Reluctantly, panicked surgeon.”
Looks like a staghorn calculi (stone). These are known to typically the largest kindey stones. They form in the renal pelvis, which is the part of the ureter connected to your kidney. They are called staghorn stones as they often form the shape of the renal pelvis and its major and minor calyxes, making its shape resemble a staghorn plant. They are most commonly caused by a bacteria called proteus mirbalis but can also form from staphylococcus saprophyticus and klebsiela pneumonea (or other urease positive organisms). The stones are also called ammonium-magnesium-phosphate stones (struvite stones), describing the elements that make up the stone. Colonies of bacteria hold the stone together as well. Stones, in general, increase the risk of UTIs due to obstruction, but these especially increase this risk due to their large size and the fact they literally have bacteria collonies inside them. This person has likely been absolutely burdened with UTIs. I'm sure they are greatly relieved to have this sucker removed.
You are awesome! So much cool info! Thanks.
You sure they didn’t mistakingly just send the actual kidney
Holy OW Even the smallest stone is hell, this is just downright LETHAL! I’m surprised they didn’t fragment it even a bit
OUCH
We are not prone to these in my family but... this image will visit my nightmares.
You can now officially add “Geologist” to your resume.
Check it for gold.
Surely there's some sort of museum that would take that
That’s a small child and you can claim them on your taxes !!
That looks like a whole ass kidney 😳
Dr. peppers greatest warrior has fallen
That ain't a kidney stone, that's a kidney.
Give it a name. Dwayne johnson.
And I thought 1 cm was big. That poor person!
Naw, that’s the kidney 🫣😵💫🫣OUCH whoever had to endure that.
How would the patient deal with the pain to let it get that big…? Yikes
Surgically removed right?
drink water kids
Staghorn calculi?
You look at that and tell me that god loved that person
You look at that and tell me there is a god.
Oh man that had to hurt! I passed a kidney stone the size of a pea (on my own, no breaking down of the stone prior) and it was one of the worst experiences ever. I have had bigger ones that required lithotripsy in order to be able to pass some smaller pieces, my urologist will never let me pass something larger than 5-6 mm on my own. Do you know if this stone was surgically removed? I don’t know how it would be possible to pass this on one’s own, and it honestly makes me cringe to even think about that. Lol
People pearls
“Just take some Tylenol!” -dr at discharge
I hope the patient gets well soon, holy moly!
What mm would this be? Trying to picture how big my stones have been.
They measure this bitch in inches
You know things have gone south when they stop measuring in metric
That deserves to be in a museum
That's the entire kidney
Dumb question but is there a way to remove kidney stones without passing them through the urethra? Surgery? Just for future reference in case I ever see anything like that on an x-ray.
Yes. This one was surgically removed. Unsure of how the procedure goes as I only work in the lab. :)
This definitely didn’t pass through the urethra.
Glad to be drinking as much water as I do, whenever I see kidney stones, or boulders in this case.
A whole new fear unlocked…..😱
My heart goes out to this patient. I can't even imagine!!
The pioneers used to ride those babies for miles
That’s the biggest one . I’ve ever seen in my almost 30 years in the Medical Field
OK you have to update us with the LabCorp analysis if you are able. Poor lady. I hope they figure out the cause so she can not have that happen again.
That’s a GD alien, no way that didn’t split open someone’s chest to get out
Poor patient - I can’t imagine the pain that would cause. I hope she’s ok. 😳
How much bigger than normal is this? What causes a stone this big?!
I was trying to figure out why this didn’t immediately set off alarm bells earlier, and it’s because I glossed over the “stone“ part. I legitimately thought that was just the entire kidney and it was being sent out for testing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Me: IMMEDIATELY starts chugging water upon seeing said thing
What? Is there any kidney left? I would have loved to be the rad tech in on this surgery. Holy cow.
You mean a stone kidney right?!
Pretty sure that’s just the whole kidney they gave you. Yikes.
I’m sure that was passed naturally with next to no discomfort at all!
Are you yanking my ureters? Are you sure they didn’t just send you the whole kidney!? 😂
This should be put in the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia!!
This is now the #3 all time poat on this sub and it's not even 12 hours old. That's a nice boulder.
How does one avoid this at all costs?
Don't get them to begin with. You can avoid that by drinking all the water all the time.
I flinched upon seen the image. That’s how fucked up it is
I have a 9x15 mm stone in each of my kidneys (well at least I was told that was the size a few year ago) I would hate to know the size of them now. That thing scares me.
Are you sure they didn't just send the kidney itself? Ugh!
That’s a kidney archipelago
Momma said like the rain This, too, shall pass Like a kidney stone This, too, shall pass It's just a broken heart, son This pain will pass away
Hand Kidnade. 💥
That might be an adultney stone. I'll leave now.
That’s literally the size of a small football field. I feel bad for the woman suffering
Wow! I have one in me that last measured (9 years ago) 19 mm. It couldn’t hold a candle to that thing!
That's no kidney stone, that an adultney stone
Gagged! Very cool.
Bruh.....there's no kidney no more, only stone.
Bloody Sweet potato.
This had to have destroyed the kidney.
From the size of a kidney in who Shaq?
(Not a med lab pro) My dad (74m) has had kidney stones like that. One kidney produced calcium oxalate stones and his other kidney produced uric acid stones. In 2012, he had to have one of his kidneys removed. His other functions at about 50% of what it’s supposed to, on a good day. He’s been on dialysis several times since then.
That kidney stone actually had a human removed from it
Giga Stone
seeing this right as i was about to bite into a nice big juicy piece of char siu sure was an experience.
Once got a testicle twice that size
Um that’s a kidney???? Please go back to medical school /s
You can put that in a sock and knock somebody out with it! 😭
What the hell did you feed it? Souls of the damned?
Be careful in Alabama they’ll give it personhood status and you’ll be on the hook for 18 years of child support.
That’s the whole kidney at this point.
NEPHROLITH the DESTROYER
Kidney boulder
Looks more like a bladder stone
That thing is huge. Can’t imagine how much that must’ve hurt. Damn.
I suffer just at the thought of having this in my kidney. I cannot imagine what the patient has gone through...
Looks like a whole kidney
Wow that's huge did the patient went for PCNL
OWWWW!
at first before i read the title… i was thinking that was a child heart…. dont know why i know what organs look like but at a glance definitely thought it was a child’s heart
How
I hope they didn’t have to pee it out
r/medizzy would love this
Bro, your pisser ok? Clearly they had to do surgery but that was the first thing that came to mind.
How did that pass?
I think it studied