Surgery tomorrow

robert_douglas_smith

braswelm said:

Day 6 recovery from surgery
Boy, I am trying to think positive, but my intestines are still not functional, and the pain meds now make me sick. Wife called Dr today and got scripts for nausea, and stool softener to see ifit helps. Trying to throw up in this condition is painful!
Haven't had much sleep in the last 36 hours.
Never had a bowel problem before, and thought they should be working by now....
Mike

Well wishes
Mike,

Hope this finds you feeling better. After the 1st week home things will get a lot better.
I'm 5 weeks past surgery. I returned to my part time job at the animal clinic last week, and for the most part feeling pretty well and back to about 90% normal. Have been having some discomfort under lower rib cage on the surgery side, just kinda comes and goes. Am still walking around the neighborhood every day that I don't work. I work 8am to 6pm on Wednesday and Thursday and am pretty (raged out) tired when I get home. The past week seems to have been the best so far.
Take it slow and easy for a little while longer. Soon you will be where I am now. Will keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

Doug

braswelm

robert_douglas_smith said:

Well wishes
Mike,

Hope this finds you feeling better. After the 1st week home things will get a lot better.
I'm 5 weeks past surgery. I returned to my part time job at the animal clinic last week, and for the most part feeling pretty well and back to about 90% normal. Have been having some discomfort under lower rib cage on the surgery side, just kinda comes and goes. Am still walking around the neighborhood every day that I don't work. I work 8am to 6pm on Wednesday and Thursday and am pretty (raged out) tired when I get home. The past week seems to have been the best so far.
Take it slow and easy for a little while longer. Soon you will be where I am now. Will keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

Doug

16 days post surgery
Well, the first 10 days were the worst, but as all you experienced folks told us, it gets better pretty quickly. Finally got over nausea, all systems back to normal, especially my appetite! He had to make one of the incisions larger to get everything out, so I'm still sore and weak, but increasing my walking distance every day. Have not used pain meds since about day 5.
Went for post-op check up the other day. The tumor was Stage One, 7.8 cm, and contained. Doc says there were no signs that it had spread, and my survival rate is 90%. Sounds a little low to me!
Must have CT scans every 6 months, and to me, that long an interval is a good sign as well.
I thought by now cabin fever would have set in, but so far it has been OK.
Still believe that a positive attitude makes a huge difference in how you handle it. Not that it is easy at times, but I've also had great support from my wife.
Thanks to all who have posted on here, you are helping so many people who might not otherwise know where to go....
Roll Tide!
Mike

Limelife50

braswelm said:

16 days post surgery
Well, the first 10 days were the worst, but as all you experienced folks told us, it gets better pretty quickly. Finally got over nausea, all systems back to normal, especially my appetite! He had to make one of the incisions larger to get everything out, so I'm still sore and weak, but increasing my walking distance every day. Have not used pain meds since about day 5.
Went for post-op check up the other day. The tumor was Stage One, 7.8 cm, and contained. Doc says there were no signs that it had spread, and my survival rate is 90%. Sounds a little low to me!
Must have CT scans every 6 months, and to me, that long an interval is a good sign as well.
I thought by now cabin fever would have set in, but so far it has been OK.
Still believe that a positive attitude makes a huge difference in how you handle it. Not that it is easy at times, but I've also had great support from my wife.
Thanks to all who have posted on here, you are helping so many people who might not otherwise know where to go....
Roll Tide!
Mike

Hi Mike
Glad you are cruising right along to a speedy recovery,and also glad to hear about the favorable path report.I had my right kidney removed on 10/11 this year I my self was also a stage 1 and I thank god every day for my early diagnosis,so good luck and take care

robert_douglas_smith

braswelm said:

16 days post surgery
Well, the first 10 days were the worst, but as all you experienced folks told us, it gets better pretty quickly. Finally got over nausea, all systems back to normal, especially my appetite! He had to make one of the incisions larger to get everything out, so I'm still sore and weak, but increasing my walking distance every day. Have not used pain meds since about day 5.
Went for post-op check up the other day. The tumor was Stage One, 7.8 cm, and contained. Doc says there were no signs that it had spread, and my survival rate is 90%. Sounds a little low to me!
Must have CT scans every 6 months, and to me, that long an interval is a good sign as well.
I thought by now cabin fever would have set in, but so far it has been OK.
Still believe that a positive attitude makes a huge difference in how you handle it. Not that it is easy at times, but I've also had great support from my wife.
Thanks to all who have posted on here, you are helping so many people who might not otherwise know where to go....
Roll Tide!
Mike

Great
Mike,

It's great to hear how well you are doing. I'm almost 7 weeks post-op and am feeling 95% back to normal.

Had a ct of brain a few weeks back and everything was ok!! Will have a 3 month ct of lungs and abdomen the 27th. I think if all comes back good on those test I'll breath easy for a little while. Seems like all we do here for while is wait for something. Also waiting to go to Orlando with family for the New Year.

Again glad you are doing good, it just takes a while to get back to your old self. I say that and am thinking that we will never again be our old selves, but we will be someone that will be vigilant of our health. I feel we will be more active in the decisions we make with our doctors.

I hope you and your family have a safe and blessed Christmas and New Year!!

Doug

foxhd

robert_douglas_smith said:

Great
Mike,

It's great to hear how well you are doing. I'm almost 7 weeks post-op and am feeling 95% back to normal.

Had a ct of brain a few weeks back and everything was ok!! Will have a 3 month ct of lungs and abdomen the 27th. I think if all comes back good on those test I'll breath easy for a little while. Seems like all we do here for while is wait for something. Also waiting to go to Orlando with family for the New Year.

Again glad you are doing good, it just takes a while to get back to your old self. I say that and am thinking that we will never again be our old selves, but we will be someone that will be vigilant of our health. I feel we will be more active in the decisions we make with our doctors.

I hope you and your family have a safe and blessed Christmas and New Year!!

Doug

NED
Good for you!!!! Hang around and help advise other newbies. It will be appreciated.

garym

foxhd said:

NED
Good for you!!!! Hang around and help advise other newbies. It will be appreciated.

90%...
Hi Mike,

Good to hear everything is on track and you are on your way back to "normal" again. I got the 90% story at my first follow-up too, now at 2 years my Doc says its moved into the high ninety's, that's more like it.

Enjoy the holidays,

Gary

flatlander

garym said:

90%...
Hi Mike,

Good to hear everything is on track and you are on your way back to "normal" again. I got the 90% story at my first follow-up too, now at 2 years my Doc says its moved into the high ninety's, that's more like it.

Enjoy the holidays,

Gary

Glad it worked out
As I come down to the final days before surgery its good o see you made it through.

braswelm

flatlander said:

Glad it worked out
As I come down to the final days before surgery its good o see you made it through.

Hey flatlander
Make sure you read some of icemantoo's posts. He is the "old man" of the board.
One thing he will tell you is there no way to sugarcoat the surgery, or the first week of recovery. It can be rough, but you will be OK. I found that a positive attitude helps a lot.
But once you turn the corner, you will be feel much better.
Just don't try to overdo things, let the healing take it's course. I am 22 days out now, and though I feel much better, I still have to be careful not to try too much. When I get tired, I take a nap. Each day gets a little easier. Do a lot of walking. Don't try to lift anything.
Keep us posted on the surgery when you feel up to it.
Got you in our prayers.
Mike

cww71964

braswelm said:

Hey flatlander
Make sure you read some of icemantoo's posts. He is the "old man" of the board.
One thing he will tell you is there no way to sugarcoat the surgery, or the first week of recovery. It can be rough, but you will be OK. I found that a positive attitude helps a lot.
But once you turn the corner, you will be feel much better.
Just don't try to overdo things, let the healing take it's course. I am 22 days out now, and though I feel much better, I still have to be careful not to try too much. When I get tired, I take a nap. Each day gets a little easier. Do a lot of walking. Don't try to lift anything.
Keep us posted on the surgery when you feel up to it.
Got you in our prayers.
Mike

Stairs
Hi All,

New here, just posted my story under "just joined the club". I am scheduled to have my left kidney removed 1/17/12. I live in a 2-story house with my bedroom upstairs. Will I be able to make it up there when I return home?

garym

cww71964 said:

Stairs
Hi All,

New here, just posted my story under "just joined the club". I am scheduled to have my left kidney removed 1/17/12. I live in a 2-story house with my bedroom upstairs. Will I be able to make it up there when I return home?

Stairs...
cww,

You should be able to make it up and down the stairs slowly, but most of us have found that a good recliner works better than a bed for at least a week or so once you get home. Getting up from a prone position can be near impossible not to mention finding a comfortable way to lay.

Good Luck,

Gary

braswelm

garym said:

Stairs...
cww,

You should be able to make it up and down the stairs slowly, but most of us have found that a good recliner works better than a bed for at least a week or so once you get home. Getting up from a prone position can be near impossible not to mention finding a comfortable way to lay.

Good Luck,

Gary

Stairs
Don't rush it. I moved my recliner upstairs to the bedroom before surgery. Keep a pillow handy to hold over your abdomen when getting up or down.
And I milked it a little too. Convinced my wife I needed a big screen TV for the bedroom!
Mike

braswelm

garym said:

Stairs...
cww,

You should be able to make it up and down the stairs slowly, but most of us have found that a good recliner works better than a bed for at least a week or so once you get home. Getting up from a prone position can be near impossible not to mention finding a comfortable way to lay.

Good Luck,

Gary

Stairs
Don't rush it. I moved my recliner upstairs to the bedroom before surgery. Keep a pillow handy to hold over your abdomen when getting up or down.
And I milked it a little too. Convinced my wife I needed a big screen TV for the bedroom!
Mike

foxhd

braswelm said:

Stairs
Don't rush it. I moved my recliner upstairs to the bedroom before surgery. Keep a pillow handy to hold over your abdomen when getting up or down.
And I milked it a little too. Convinced my wife I needed a big screen TV for the bedroom!
Mike

I agree with every one. A recliner is the best thing. Second best is your remote control.

robert_douglas_smith

braswelm said:

Stairs
Don't rush it. I moved my recliner upstairs to the bedroom before surgery. Keep a pillow handy to hold over your abdomen when getting up or down.
And I milked it a little too. Convinced my wife I needed a big screen TV for the bedroom!
Mike

Luckily I had an electric recline that stand you all the way up that was left over from my late mother-in-law. It was a life saver.

Doug

robert_douglas_smith

braswelm said:

Stairs
Don't rush it. I moved my recliner upstairs to the bedroom before surgery. Keep a pillow handy to hold over your abdomen when getting up or down.
And I milked it a little too. Convinced my wife I needed a big screen TV for the bedroom!
Mike

Luckily I had an electric recline that stand you all the way up that was left over from my late mother-in-law. It was a life saver.

Doug

robert_douglas_smith

braswelm said:

Stairs
Don't rush it. I moved my recliner upstairs to the bedroom before surgery. Keep a pillow handy to hold over your abdomen when getting up or down.
And I milked it a little too. Convinced my wife I needed a big screen TV for the bedroom!
Mike

Luckily I had an electric recline that stand you all the way up that was left over from my late mother-in-law. It was a life saver.

Doug

braswelm

robert_douglas_smith said:

Luckily I had an electric recline that stand you all the way up that was left over from my late mother-in-law. It was a life saver.

Doug

milestone
Well, another milestone. I have returned to work, for at least 4 hours per day to start....
Still building stamina, so not going to push it. Went to Wal-Mart with my wife yesterday, and after about 30 minutes, had to find one of those motorized carts. Just could not go any longer.
Got a new golf bag for Christmas, and am shooting for Feb 1 to return to the course.
May have to travel for work in a few weeks, so wondering how that will play out. Flying is usually tiring for me, and I never sleep as well in a hotel.
But, overall, it's good to be getting into a "new" normal routine.
Thanks to all...

Mike

Boomersdad

braswelm said:

milestone
Well, another milestone. I have returned to work, for at least 4 hours per day to start....
Still building stamina, so not going to push it. Went to Wal-Mart with my wife yesterday, and after about 30 minutes, had to find one of those motorized carts. Just could not go any longer.
Got a new golf bag for Christmas, and am shooting for Feb 1 to return to the course.
May have to travel for work in a few weeks, so wondering how that will play out. Flying is usually tiring for me, and I never sleep as well in a hotel.
But, overall, it's good to be getting into a "new" normal routine.
Thanks to all...

Mike

Key hole removel
Very first post so go easy on me,Staffordshire ,UK,I have read a lot of these posts and I was wondering have all the above kidney removels been via key hole surgery, Im going into hospital on Staurday 7th Jan 2012, to have my left kidney removed I only had a sore back 2 weeks ago but they found I have a growth the size of a tennis ball, Im haveing key hole via two cuts in my rib cage and a 3inch cut in my stomach area to remove it ,any surgestions will be very welcome, Thanks Errol

myboys2

Boomersdad said:

Key hole removel
Very first post so go easy on me,Staffordshire ,UK,I have read a lot of these posts and I was wondering have all the above kidney removels been via key hole surgery, Im going into hospital on Staurday 7th Jan 2012, to have my left kidney removed I only had a sore back 2 weeks ago but they found I have a growth the size of a tennis ball, Im haveing key hole via two cuts in my rib cage and a 3inch cut in my stomach area to remove it ,any surgestions will be very welcome, Thanks Errol

Good luck
You will do great. My son had his out 11/16. We were told they had never had anyone w no fat and thus they had to go into the ab wall to get a good margin. Yet he still did great. He too had the key hole technique and a cut to extract. You will do great!!

Gail mother of Cody 21
diagnosis 8/10/11 unclassified RCC
8/16 checked into NYU as emergency surgeon concerned head skull tumor was closing ventricle to brain
8/17 embolization via femoral artery to bone lesion on skull 7 hours
8/18 repeat
8/19 10.5 hour surgery to remove skull mass (about 45% right skull)
8/20 began a vegan(from an animal product standpoint) gluten free low glycemic diet; no casein but we do eat ocean caught fish and org chicken; org green drink every day
9/4 titanium skull inserted
9/29 begin sutent 25mg 2 weeks on one week off; then 37.5 2 weeks on 1 week off; then 50mg for 3 weeks then off 5 days (preop tests show 3 tiny liver lesions shrinking) Also Xgeva injection. No lymph,lung or brain involvement
11/16 full neph of lft kidney 5.5 tumor (started at 6cm but sutent was working!!) Still unclassified 
12/1 begin sutent again at 37.5 to work into it
12/8 sutent to 50mg for a week then off a week and continue cycle of 50 2 weeks on 1 week off until next scans (due in late Feb)
12/12 began radiation of remaining skull mets Monday and Thursday for 3 weeks high dose (already noted necrosis of tumor after one dose)

Texas_wedge

myboys2 said:

Good luck
You will do great. My son had his out 11/16. We were told they had never had anyone w no fat and thus they had to go into the ab wall to get a good margin. Yet he still did great. He too had the key hole technique and a cut to extract. You will do great!!

Gail mother of Cody 21
diagnosis 8/10/11 unclassified RCC
8/16 checked into NYU as emergency surgeon concerned head skull tumor was closing ventricle to brain
8/17 embolization via femoral artery to bone lesion on skull 7 hours
8/18 repeat
8/19 10.5 hour surgery to remove skull mass (about 45% right skull)
8/20 began a vegan(from an animal product standpoint) gluten free low glycemic diet; no casein but we do eat ocean caught fish and org chicken; org green drink every day
9/4 titanium skull inserted
9/29 begin sutent 25mg 2 weeks on one week off; then 37.5 2 weeks on 1 week off; then 50mg for 3 weeks then off 5 days (preop tests show 3 tiny liver lesions shrinking) Also Xgeva injection. No lymph,lung or brain involvement
11/16 full neph of lft kidney 5.5 tumor (started at 6cm but sutent was working!!) Still unclassified 
12/1 begin sutent again at 37.5 to work into it
12/8 sutent to 50mg for a week then off a week and continue cycle of 50 2 weeks on 1 week off until next scans (due in late Feb)
12/12 began radiation of remaining skull mets Monday and Thursday for 3 weeks high dose (already noted necrosis of tumor after one dose)

Key-hole surgery
It would be wrong to say you don't have anything to worry about but it's probably a lot better than you're fearing. It's been a bit of a whirlwind for you so keep reading all you can about these things. You'll find lots of helpful information on all of the various message boards here about kidney cancer. Get any important jobs you want to done before you go in because it will be a few weeks before you're able to do any hard physical tasks for a few weeks after surgery.

I'm about 300 miles north of you and had my right kidney removed four weeks ago together with a tumour roughly double the size of yours. They wanted to do my surgery in the way you describe - that's best if it's possible. Unfortunately for me (and the surgeons) they eventually had to change to open surgery in order to finish the job so I had the 3 small cuts but then one about 10 inches long to get everything out intact. I'm 69. Now I'm feeling fine and planning to get back to a lot of golf, rowing and weightlifting fairly soon - next few weeks, I hope, depending on the expert advice I'm given after assessment of my readiness for it. We've had 100mph winds yesterday (NE Scotland) so I didn't go out but I've been walking most days with my Wife. We walk for as far as she can manage and have got up to 5 miles a day, after doing it for a week and a half.

The first couple of days after the op. are painful - there's no denying that. Take all the painkillers you need (the hospital will ensure you don't have more than you need, so don't be afraid to ask for more if you need to). As soon as you can, start walking and do as much walking as you can for the next few weeks. If you do you'll greatly speed up your recovery and feel as right as rain before you know it.

Good luck.