Surgery in 6 hours
btw, my tumor grew only 1 mm in 6 months -- gotta love these slow growing kidney cancers.
I am NOT looking forward to the recovery of an open surgery, and I do suffer from post-surgical depression. But right now, I'm feeling pretty positive.
I think I finally got work and home in order. Hmm, guess I better go pack a bag or something.
Oh yeah, one tiny little wrench thrown in the works. I'm COVERED in poison ivy! Sheeks. I've never had it this bad before, and unfortunately it is all over my arms. They're just gonna love that. Oh well, at least perhaps everyone will remember to glove up before touching me!
Comments
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surgery
Jamie my thoughts are with you for your surgery. It always seems to be such a mixed bag of things we can have done. I hope it is the easiest one of the 3. And you have my support and thoughts let me know how you do. Keep the good word and your spirits high.
Jess
It is now about 7 am and I am think of you. I hope all is going well. and you will be back with us soon. Keep smileing and keep the good thoughts. you will soon be healed and ready to get back to normal. Just remember to do what they tell you and do all you can but dont over do. I learned the hard way.
Jess0 -
Best wishescandoredo said:surgery
Jamie my thoughts are with you for your surgery. It always seems to be such a mixed bag of things we can have done. I hope it is the easiest one of the 3. And you have my support and thoughts let me know how you do. Keep the good word and your spirits high.
Jess
It is now about 7 am and I am think of you. I hope all is going well. and you will be back with us soon. Keep smileing and keep the good thoughts. you will soon be healed and ready to get back to normal. Just remember to do what they tell you and do all you can but dont over do. I learned the hard way.
Jess
Jamie1.3cm
Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Icemantoo0 -
Jamie,DarrylPe said:Best of luck
Hi Jamie you should be resting by now .Hope all went well. Your in my prays and thoughts hope to hear from you soon.
Darryl
Sorry I haven't been
Jamie,
Sorry I haven't been on for a while. I've been tending to my wife.
I wish you a speedy recovery and welcome your return
Sorry to hear you have poison ivy.
How did you catch that?
Hope all goes well!!!!!
JQ0 -
I hope you are doing well
This is such a horrible surgery but I am glad you are done with it ! Take it slow should be your motto. I am 5 months post-op from a radical right kidney removal, and I have been feeling good for at least a month now.
Glad to hear your tumor was slow growing let us know how you are feeling but rest alot.
You are in my thoughts
Colleen0 -
Surgery updateCafewoman53 said:I hope you are doing well
This is such a horrible surgery but I am glad you are done with it ! Take it slow should be your motto. I am 5 months post-op from a radical right kidney removal, and I have been feeling good for at least a month now.
Glad to hear your tumor was slow growing let us know how you are feeling but rest alot.
You are in my thoughts
Colleen
Instead of the nephrectomy, he was able to cryoablate the tumor, sparing the kidney. And I still have good kidney function. That means he was able to separate the tumor from the renal artery. yay!
Instead of going through my side, he went through the front, but said he didn't encounter any gut issues.
Definitely man-handled the ribs. A couple were fused together, so he had to separate them, and separate the muscles from the ribs to get to the kidney. But he didn't have to permanently break off any ribs.
3 hour surgery; 5 hours in recovery because of breathing and pain issues. First night and next morning did not have pain well controlled. At that point, they used Toradal (sp?) in the IV. It's an ibuprofen product, which I'm not supposed to take, but he said it would be ok for 2 days. It was great pain control, with a dilaudid pump for break through pain.
Had no veins left, so he had to use a central line in my neck. Egads, that was horrible.
Would get up and do one thing, then have to nap for two hours afterward. You know the drill.
Pathology: Renal Cell Carcinoma (clear cell), which is the most common.
Follow up: we'll just monitor the area with ct scans every few months.
15(?) staples will come out late next week.
Moving is still the big issue. And I'm afraid to move without the velcro belt, just like my previous surgeries. Hard to lie comfortably in bed, so I spend about half the night in bed, and half the night on the couch. Hey, did you know I Love Lucy is on at 3 a.m? ; )0 -
Glad to hear you are homeJamie1.3cm said:Surgery update
Instead of the nephrectomy, he was able to cryoablate the tumor, sparing the kidney. And I still have good kidney function. That means he was able to separate the tumor from the renal artery. yay!
Instead of going through my side, he went through the front, but said he didn't encounter any gut issues.
Definitely man-handled the ribs. A couple were fused together, so he had to separate them, and separate the muscles from the ribs to get to the kidney. But he didn't have to permanently break off any ribs.
3 hour surgery; 5 hours in recovery because of breathing and pain issues. First night and next morning did not have pain well controlled. At that point, they used Toradal (sp?) in the IV. It's an ibuprofen product, which I'm not supposed to take, but he said it would be ok for 2 days. It was great pain control, with a dilaudid pump for break through pain.
Had no veins left, so he had to use a central line in my neck. Egads, that was horrible.
Would get up and do one thing, then have to nap for two hours afterward. You know the drill.
Pathology: Renal Cell Carcinoma (clear cell), which is the most common.
Follow up: we'll just monitor the area with ct scans every few months.
15(?) staples will come out late next week.
Moving is still the big issue. And I'm afraid to move without the velcro belt, just like my previous surgeries. Hard to lie comfortably in bed, so I spend about half the night in bed, and half the night on the couch. Hey, did you know I Love Lucy is on at 3 a.m? ; )
Jamie 1.3cm
i am so happy that all went well with your surgery, you are home and doing well. I know the laying down and getting up routine. Stay strong and keep good thoughts. You will do well. And no I didnt know I Love Lucy is on at 3 am. Take care of yourself.
candoredo
Jess0 -
Piece of Cakecandoredo said:Glad to hear you are home
Jamie 1.3cm
i am so happy that all went well with your surgery, you are home and doing well. I know the laying down and getting up routine. Stay strong and keep good thoughts. You will do well. And no I didnt know I Love Lucy is on at 3 am. Take care of yourself.
candoredo
Jess
Jamie1.3cm,
Now that the surgery is over with I want to extend to you an invitaion to the club. It sounds like your initiation was the real thing even though you still have 2 Kidneys. As I have stated before my name has nothing to do with this freezing procedure, but reflects the fact that my father and grandfather were in the retail ice business, hence the name, Icemantoo.
Best wishes,
Icemantoo0 -
Jamieicemantoo said:Piece of Cake
Jamie1.3cm,
Now that the surgery is over with I want to extend to you an invitaion to the club. It sounds like your initiation was the real thing even though you still have 2 Kidneys. As I have stated before my name has nothing to do with this freezing procedure, but reflects the fact that my father and grandfather were in the retail ice business, hence the name, Icemantoo.
Best wishes,
Icemantoo
Happy to hear all is well! FYI I used a wedge to sleep for the first six weeks in bed -it worked great!
Rae0 -
sleeping wedge & pain medsrae_rae said:Jamie
Happy to hear all is well! FYI I used a wedge to sleep for the first six weeks in bed -it worked great!
Rae
Me too! In fact, it's a big stuffed cat that I use as a sleeping wedge. On my back with head and knees slightly lifted is most comfortable on the kidney, but that sure makes your small back hurt after a while, as it would anyone. I haven't been brave enought to try sleeping on my side yet.
Hey, yeah, iceman. I'm an iceman now, too! I was frozen, thawed, frozen, thawed.
I had 2 more questions for my follow with my doc, but I can now only remember one: What was the final size of the tumor? We know IRL it can be slightly different than what was seen in radiology. What was my other question?
I'm on oxycodone, and I'm not even going to go read all the gloom and doom on the internet about it. My pain level is signficant. But instead of taking 2 every 4 hours, I'm just taking 1 every 4 hours so that the rx lasts longer. I know I'll need it. But I'm not sure 1 is really doing me any good. Any advice?0 -
goalsJamie1.3cm said:sleeping wedge & pain meds
Me too! In fact, it's a big stuffed cat that I use as a sleeping wedge. On my back with head and knees slightly lifted is most comfortable on the kidney, but that sure makes your small back hurt after a while, as it would anyone. I haven't been brave enought to try sleeping on my side yet.
Hey, yeah, iceman. I'm an iceman now, too! I was frozen, thawed, frozen, thawed.
I had 2 more questions for my follow with my doc, but I can now only remember one: What was the final size of the tumor? We know IRL it can be slightly different than what was seen in radiology. What was my other question?
I'm on oxycodone, and I'm not even going to go read all the gloom and doom on the internet about it. My pain level is signficant. But instead of taking 2 every 4 hours, I'm just taking 1 every 4 hours so that the rx lasts longer. I know I'll need it. But I'm not sure 1 is really doing me any good. Any advice?
Thanks for the med reply in the other folder, Iceman. I think I need to remember that we don't get any brownie points for stoicism.
Each day I set goals for myself. The small chores-around-the-house goals I seem to reach fairly easily, like take a cup of water to the plants, run the dishwasher.
But today my goal was to improve my posture. I really seem to want to hunch over, but I don't want to form any adhesions that would cause me to favor that poor posture forever. So I'm trying to stand and sit up straighter, when I stand and sit up, which isn't all that often.
In any case, I didn't reach that goal. I need to take more pain meds so that I can reach goals like that.
5 days post-op, and I still sleep most of the day. Still hurts to get up and do things. Getting out of the bed is the hardest, since I live alone. But my head is pretty clear. No depression. I manage to do small things that need to be done.0 -
post opJamie1.3cm said:goals
Thanks for the med reply in the other folder, Iceman. I think I need to remember that we don't get any brownie points for stoicism.
Each day I set goals for myself. The small chores-around-the-house goals I seem to reach fairly easily, like take a cup of water to the plants, run the dishwasher.
But today my goal was to improve my posture. I really seem to want to hunch over, but I don't want to form any adhesions that would cause me to favor that poor posture forever. So I'm trying to stand and sit up straighter, when I stand and sit up, which isn't all that often.
In any case, I didn't reach that goal. I need to take more pain meds so that I can reach goals like that.
5 days post-op, and I still sleep most of the day. Still hurts to get up and do things. Getting out of the bed is the hardest, since I live alone. But my head is pretty clear. No depression. I manage to do small things that need to be done.
Jamie1.3cm I am now 10 post op. I have days all I want to do is sleep and days I want to do everything. Rest as much as you need to do only what the body says you can do, dont do what I did, I over did before I was ready and spent 2 days down. standing and walking is good but dont over do too soon. make your goals attainable but if you wake up and say I want to stay in bed today do it.
I wish you the best of recovery time. I am off pain meds now. I am going back in tomorrow to have the staples removed all 40 of them. So I will probally have to have some pain meds for that but not the hydrocodone that they gave me for pain management. Take your time and do what the body says to do.
I look forward to your posts,0 -
Pain mngmt & staplescandoredo said:post op
Jamie1.3cm I am now 10 post op. I have days all I want to do is sleep and days I want to do everything. Rest as much as you need to do only what the body says you can do, dont do what I did, I over did before I was ready and spent 2 days down. standing and walking is good but dont over do too soon. make your goals attainable but if you wake up and say I want to stay in bed today do it.
I wish you the best of recovery time. I am off pain meds now. I am going back in tomorrow to have the staples removed all 40 of them. So I will probally have to have some pain meds for that but not the hydrocodone that they gave me for pain management. Take your time and do what the body says to do.
I look forward to your posts,
I can't imagine being off pain meds after only 10 days! Mine is a bit complicated by a huge hernia right below my incision, that is pulled down by gavity, creating more pain, but still.
I can tolerate the pain on 1 pain pill every 4 hours IF I wear my velcro support belt. Tomorrow I'm going to test if 2 pain pills would mean less time in the belt. Like I said, I can't even fathom being without pain meds at this point.
I do spend much of my time sleeping through things. I barely woke up in time to see Levi Liepheimer win the Tour de Suisse, and he's my hero!
Removing the staples doesn't hurt at all. You won't even feel it. I'm not sure what kind of tool they do it with, but I've had major staple removal 3 times, and I never even felt it.0 -
Lunch anyone?
One week post-op. I took myself out for a Panda Express lunch. Probably not the best idea physically, but psychologically, it felt great.0 -
LunchJamie1.3cm said:Lunch anyone?
One week post-op. I took myself out for a Panda Express lunch. Probably not the best idea physically, but psychologically, it felt great.
that sounds great I got the word that I get to drive in a week. so when that date come around I will surely be ready to go to lunch. I am happy that you are doing so well today. keep your chin up, I got told on today at the doctors office when someone ask when was I to get to drive again? the doctor looked at me and told me in a week. not before. so no more sneaky runs to town for hot fudge sundaes. Wishing you the best with your recovery..
Jess0 -
Webcam,candoredo said:Lunch
that sounds great I got the word that I get to drive in a week. so when that date come around I will surely be ready to go to lunch. I am happy that you are doing so well today. keep your chin up, I got told on today at the doctors office when someone ask when was I to get to drive again? the doctor looked at me and told me in a week. not before. so no more sneaky runs to town for hot fudge sundaes. Wishing you the best with your recovery..
Jess
Candoredo and Jamie1.3cm,
With so much information you guys should get a webcam. Seems like old times
Without going thru this we wouldn't appreciate what weve gone thru.
Icemantoo0 -
drivingicemantoo said:Webcam,
Candoredo and Jamie1.3cm,
With so much information you guys should get a webcam. Seems like old times
Without going thru this we wouldn't appreciate what weve gone thru.
Icemantoo
I confess: All my driving trips have been sneaky ones. Not more than a few blocks, however.0 -
picture testicemantoo said:Webcam,
Candoredo and Jamie1.3cm,
With so much information you guys should get a webcam. Seems like old times
Without going thru this we wouldn't appreciate what weve gone thru.
Icemantoo
Let's see if this site allows picture posting here, rather than the "expressions" gallery, which is kinda lame.
If it works, this is my incision, right above the hernia, which is a complication from a gut surgery 3 years ago.
Nope. Didn't work. Fudge.
My staples come out on Friday.0 -
Comfort foodsJamie1.3cm said:Lunch anyone?
One week post-op. I took myself out for a Panda Express lunch. Probably not the best idea physically, but psychologically, it felt great.
This is the biggest challenge for me is wanting to eat comfort foods and having to watch the diet for protein and sodium. I haven't had a hot dog in over a year and a half!!! I haven't given up a good hamburger though. Just don't salt anything anymore.
There are things that simply can't be done as far as giving up foods and it sounds like Panda Express is one of those for you...
All things in moderation and mixed in with a good does of veggies and fruits, shouldn't be a problem. I am just hyper sensitive to the amount of protein that I eat each day and try to stick to under 75 grams. It is tough though being a meat eating carnivore. The challenge with any kind of Asian food is sodium. I had Chinese food last night and just know that I went over the 2-3 grams limit yesterday. Like you said though, it felt great!!!
John0 -
Speedy recoveryejneary said:Comfort foods
This is the biggest challenge for me is wanting to eat comfort foods and having to watch the diet for protein and sodium. I haven't had a hot dog in over a year and a half!!! I haven't given up a good hamburger though. Just don't salt anything anymore.
There are things that simply can't be done as far as giving up foods and it sounds like Panda Express is one of those for you...
All things in moderation and mixed in with a good does of veggies and fruits, shouldn't be a problem. I am just hyper sensitive to the amount of protein that I eat each day and try to stick to under 75 grams. It is tough though being a meat eating carnivore. The challenge with any kind of Asian food is sodium. I had Chinese food last night and just know that I went over the 2-3 grams limit yesterday. Like you said though, it felt great!!!
John
Good to hear from you Jamie. I had you in my nightly prays. I'm glad that your kidney function is holding up . Girl your a fighter !!!!! Missed your posting you lighting the mood in here. Take care of yourself.
darryl0
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