| I had the lithotripsy done back in August of 2006. It's an easy procedure, it's usually outpatient I believe, but I was in hospital for 5 days because I was having other problems they were trying to diagnose as well. The thing that your brother won't like is the stent they put in after that surgery. It makes it very painful to urinate! Extremely painful! They give you really nice pain meds after the surgery too.
More protein will actually cause certain types of stones to form, as will excess calcium. Make sure that the surgeon sends some of the stones to the lab to find out what kind of stones he has. From there you can talk to the doctor or a nutritionist about a diet to prevent kidney stones. | 
