Surgery Monday 8/22

TinaK

I have 1 word....Scared! I am only 45 and the Dr. found a 4cm tumor on my left kidney right next to the uretha. Not sure if he will be preforming partial or complete. I read your posts about what to expect: pain, recovery, etc. My worry is "did it spread", will I need chemo and if I am only left with 1 kidney what drastic preventions do I have to take to make sure that it stays alive and well? Of course, I have a thousand things running through my mind, but I guess these were my main concerns. Any help or advice would be greatly appreaticated. Thank you, Tina p.s. Please prayer for me!

RobFrom1956

I will say a prayer for you TinaK
Monday will come and your surgery will be fine but post-op can be challenging...please let us know how everything goes.

- Rob

LFocus

Prayers Goes Up
As the prayers go up your blessings will fall down..I'm very new to site and I can pray for the surgery and you healing. May God keep you in His perfect peace during these next few days..and give you strength to go through..you will come out as pure as gold..Believe and have faith the Lord God will never leave you or forsake you...He is a good Good..Blessings TinaK>>>

LFocus

Prayers Goes Up
As the prayers go up your blessings will fall down..I'm very new to site and I can pray for the surgery and you healing. May God keep you in His perfect peace during these next few days..and give you strength to go through..you will come out as pure as gold..Believe and have faith the Lord God will never leave you or forsake you...He is a good Good..Blessings TinaK>>>

LFocus

Prayers Goes Up
As the prayers go up your blessings will fall down..I'm very new to site and I can pray for the surgery and you healing. May God keep you in His perfect peace during these next few days..and give you strength to go through..you will come out as pure as gold..Believe and have faith the Lord God will never leave you or forsake you...He is a good Good..Blessings TinaK>>>

LFocus

Prayers Goes Up
As the prayers go up your blessings come down...I'm praying for you God can do all things..your healing is on it's way..believe and have faith God loves you and he cares about what your going through...trust that you are in the Lord's hand... God bless you!

icemantoo

LFocus said:

Prayers Goes Up
As the prayers go up your blessings come down...I'm praying for you God can do all things..your healing is on it's way..believe and have faith God loves you and he cares about what your going through...trust that you are in the Lord's hand... God bless you!

Scared?
Dear Tina,

Being scared is the normal reaction to being told that you have RCC and then right out of the gate they want to discuss what type of surgery that you are going to have. Just remember that for the vast majority of people with tumors as small as yours and mine you are going to get through this with flying colors so that you can help me with the newcomers down the road. I just turned 68 so I may need a replacement down the road. You sound like I did 9 years ago when I was diagnosed and than had to get the little rascal out. Not fun, but it beats the alternative.

Best wishes.


Icemantoo

Jamie1.3cm

Your tumor & surgery
Sounds like you didn't get much info from the doc. But it is typical to have the surgery very soon after diagnosis.

Since your tumor is in the "small" range, it probably has not spread. Even the larger tumors frequently have not spread because they are deemed "encapsulated." So, I wouldn't worry about that right now. Several months after surgery and probably for years afterward, you will have follow-up ct scans just to check and be sure. These are wonderful because that means that if you did have a recurrence, they would catch it early.

Early detection is important because chemo and radiation typically do not work for kidney cancer. There have been some meds that have reduced tumor size, etc (Sutent, for example), but for kidney cancer, especially small tumors, the surgery is the cure. That's good! We are so lucky in that regard.

Whether or not you lose the whole kidney or only part of the kidney depends on the involvement of the ureter, the location. It's always nice to leave as much kidney as possible, but people live perfectly normal lives on only one kidney, and no, no drastic changes in lifestyle are required.

If you have the total nephrectomy, the doctor is likely to ask that you try to cut back on salt in order to keep your blood pressure as low as possible. High blood pressure is hard on the kidneys. If you wanted to exercise more to keep your bp low, that's of course always good. And you won't want to over-do on protein, like red meats, as protein can be tough on the kidney as well.

basically, nothing life changing on one kidney; just protect the one you have left.

I know this sounds strange, but really your hardest hurdle right now is recovery from surgery. If you have open surgery, you're going to be aching for several weeks. Be sure to have your home ready for your return, when you won't be able to move around very well. No heavy lifting, bending, stretching. Getting in and out of bed will be a pain. You'll just be uncomfortable for quite a while. Ask for the pain meds when you need them; you get no extra points for stoicism. Each day is one step closer to complete recovery. And one day, a few weeks post-op, you're likely to suddenly feel better!

Hope that info helps!

BG

icemantoo said:

Scared?
Dear Tina,

Being scared is the normal reaction to being told that you have RCC and then right out of the gate they want to discuss what type of surgery that you are going to have. Just remember that for the vast majority of people with tumors as small as yours and mine you are going to get through this with flying colors so that you can help me with the newcomers down the road. I just turned 68 so I may need a replacement down the road. You sound like I did 9 years ago when I was diagnosed and than had to get the little rascal out. Not fun, but it beats the alternative.

Best wishes.


Icemantoo

Tina and Iceman,
For me, my
Tina and Iceman,

For me, my neighboor took me at 11:30 pm for a 1500 calorie Wendys milk shake since the fasting cutoff was midnight the day before surgery!!

I know waiting is difficult, hang in there Tina, we are here for you!

Brent