Indradyumna Swami: Dear disciples and friends: Yesterday during a routine medical exam here in Durban, South Africa, doctors discovered a large renal stone ( kidney stone ) in my left kidney. This afternoon I’m going into the hospital for a 90-minute procedure under general anesthesia to remove it. The procedure is called Lithotripsy, wherein a laser is used inside the body to destroy the stone. During the operation a stent is placed near the kidney to facilitate drainage. It is removed 2 to 3 weeks later in another operation. This is not major surgery and I’ll stay just one night in the hospital and be back to normal in a day or two, if there are no complications. Sorry for all the details, but I didn’t want the news to get distorted. I’ll be fine.