Sufferers of kidney stones know that there are few things on this Earth that can be more painful than the formation and passage of one. But one man learned through personal experience that the medical system can cause as much — if not more — mental, emotional, physical and financial suffering as the stones.

If you want to learn more about potential problems that a kidney stone sufferer can face so that you can avoid them, this information is for you.

Chris Mitsoff is sharing his stories of dealing with the pain of both kidney stones and doctors with you in the hope that sufferers like him can avoid potentially lethal prescription combinations, operating room mistakes and conflicting diagnoses and prognoses — some the problems he experienced.

Signs of stones began in early adulthood.

Chris was born to Macedonian immigrant parents in Cincinnati, Ohio on Dec. 17, 1925. By his teenage years, his family had moved to the nearby city of Middletown, Ohio. During that time he pursued his lifetime passion, writing stories, by working as a reporter at the local newspaper, the Middletown Journal. Even though he was still only a teenager, the newspaper editors recognized Chris’s skills and abilities at a young age, and allowed him to cover sporting events for publication. Following high school graduation, Chris went into the U.S. Army and served in Germany with the 508 Parachute Infantry Regiment. It was after World War II, while he was serving with the 82nd Airborne Division, that he experienced a stone “letting loose.” Examinations by military medical personnel led to the discovery of a large kidney stone, known as a staghorn stone, forming in Chris’s left kidney.

“You don’t forget the first three or four kidney stone attacks you experience,” according to Chris. “First of all, you wonder what it is that is cutting up your insides. As the pain progresses, you wonder if you are going to die.”