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Kidney stones common problem in Las Vegas

13 Action News reporter has firsthand experience
Posted at 6:51 AM, May 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-17 09:52:53-04

You may have noticed 13 Action News reporter Parker Collins wasn't on air the first two days of this week. If you follow him on social media you know exactly why.

The rising temperatures are putting a lot of us at risk of having kidney stones.

"It was like giving birth to all three of my kids at one time," said Robin Walls, who suffered from a kidney stone years ago.

Ask anyone about having a kidney stone and the first thing they bring up is the pain. Same goes for doctors.

"Having a kidney stone is one of the most scariest, painful things that I've ever been through and I would rather give birth again than have a kidney stone," said Dr. Daliah Wachs.

It starts in your kidneys. They filter your blood and throw away what you don't need in urine. Kidney stones can form if your urine is so concentrated small solids drop out. 

Dehydration is a big cause and that happens a lot in the desert. In fact, researchers have a special zone called the stone belt where kidney stones are most prevalent, covering the southern states including Las Vegas.

We're not cooling off anytime soon so this is kind of like kidney stone season. 

With the pain long gone, some people laugh about how bad it was.

"One of the paramedics go 'are you sure you don't just have a bad case of the flu?' And I'm just like, that made it hurt all the more worse. I was so mad. I go flu?!" said Charles Peterson, who had a kidney stone.

Once you have one kidney stone, you're more prone to others.