Kidney Stone(s)

[KirkR.]

I am a 21yr old male who has a kidney stone of about 1.5cm that has been festering  for over 2 years now. First it started with blood in my urine, sometimes small trace amounts and other times there have been excessive amounts of blood, almost as though I was urinating pure blood. I then began to have discomfort in my lower back that steadily progressed around my left side and into my pelvic region, sometimes feeling as though there is an intense pulling on my left testicle. Shrugging it off at first thinking it to be a kidney infection or UTI I began taking some antibiotics to fight off possible infection, although I had no fever or vomiting just intense pain and discomfort as well as blood in my urine. About a year and a half later I decided to go to the hospital and get verification of whether this was a stone or not. As I stated earlier it turned out to be one single stone.. When I was at the hospital they gave me 2 sets of x-rays, one set before knowing and the second set they said was to determine whether there was any damage to my kidney (I.E. Ruptured Kidney). Noting there was no verifiable damage to my kidney they wrote me a prescription for some minor pain medication and told me to see a Urologist ASAP. Just for a check-up that took no longer than 25-30 mins cost me over 3,000 dollars (US Currency).
I am not sure if I should keep waiting around in hopes of passing this stone taking into consideration that stones of this size are rarely passed, especially in males. I have heard reports of medical costs ranging anywhere from 1,000-10,000 dollars (U.S. Currency), for ranging removal practices. I can not afford these prices.

Any advice or comments are welcome, just hoping to hear from someone with similar circumstances for possible insight.

[wabbit66]

Forget the cost - save or steal.  I didn't have my stones removed for years & now am functioning on 45% of full use.  Lithotrypsy is the procedure, and it's very simple in the USA.  Please consider this.  You do NOT want to have a stone try to descend & get stuck.  This is life-threatening.  It almost killed me!