Robotic Surgery March 3rd

cjhawk38

I will be having my first ever surgery (not bad for 55 years)  on March 3rd for a 2 cm tumor on my right kidney.  I am a snow bird that lives in Michigan in the summer and Florida in the winter and after going to the hospital in Florida for pain in my left kidney the mass was discovered.  Because I have lipomas I chose to have a biopys to verify that it was cancer and it is.  My surgery will be at Dr Phillips Hospital in Orlando.  My biggest fear is I think what everyone is afraid of waking up during the surgery because I did once during a bladder scope.

 

I had a hard time getting a password for the site but after several emails and 2 live chat sessions I finally got one to log on.  I have been reading all your posts and am encouraged by what I have read.

 

Cindy

icemantoo

Surgery

Cindy,

 

Not fun being told you have Cancer and than surgery right out of the gate. Been there. Done that. Mine was at age 59, 11 and 1/2 years ago. Fay across the street is 83 and her surgery was 19 years ago.

I wish I could make the surgery go away, but it is necessary to get rid of that little bugger.

At 2cm everything should be fine and you probably will not need anything further except scans.

 

Icemantoo

Djinnie

Robotic Surgery!

Hi Cindy,

Welcome to the site, sorry to hear you have cancer. The good thing is they have caught it early while the tumour is small. This being your first surgery at 55yrs is very good going. I had a partial nephrectomy by robotic surgery, it leaves very few scars. Are you having a partial? I shouldn't worry yourself about waking up during surgery, you will be in deep slumber the anesthesiologist will make sure of that. The amount of anesthetic given for a bladder scope is minimal in comparison.

If you need any advice or just support you have come to the right place. Good luck with your surgery, stay in touch:)

Djinnie

GSRon

Djinnie said:

Robotic Surgery!

Hi Cindy,

Welcome to the site, sorry to hear you have cancer. The good thing is they have caught it early while the tumour is small. This being your first surgery at 55yrs is very good going. I had a partial nephrectomy by robotic surgery, it leaves very few scars. Are you having a partial? I shouldn't worry yourself about waking up during surgery, you will be in deep slumber the anesthesiologist will make sure of that. The amount of anesthetic given for a bladder scope is minimal in comparison.

If you need any advice or just support you have come to the right place. Good luck with your surgery, stay in touch:)

Djinnie

Yes, the fear is far worse

Yes, the fear is far worse than the reality..  the waiting will play havoic with your mind...  But we all made it OK... scroll down and read Commuter Mom's story... she just had her surgery and was back here posting the same day..!

Good Luck..!

Ron

CommuterMom

Hi Cindy,
I'm 48 and I had my

Hi Cindy,

I'm 48 and I had my surgery on 2/13/14. It was for a 1.6 cm complex cyst. The surgery was pretty easy. I was up and about that night and home the next day. Today is my second day out and I haven't had a pain killer all day. It was way easier than I imagined. Good luck and feel free to ask questions 

-Diana

sblairc

Hi Cindy, 

 

My husband had his entire kidney/tumor removed using the robotic surgical procedure. His surgery was 5 hours long due to the position/size of the tumor and most of his recovery initially seemed to be coming out of the anesthesia. The pain from the surgery recovery was a piece of cake compared to his 4 days of pain waiting for the surgery.

With laproscopic surgery and the small size of your tumor (yay!) you can probably expect small incisions which is great for recovery. The nurses will probably get you up and walking right away whether you like it or not, so be prepared for that aspect of recovery. I'm not sure that my husband was prepared for that part, but he was certainly motiviated. They brought him a walker and he started out with small "laps" and gradually moved to walks around the recovery ward. Evidently having a bowel movement will be a big deal and they won't let you go home until you do. This was "our" biggest issue and probably why he stayed around in the hospital for 5 days post surgery (Tuesday was surgery, Sunday he went home)

Good luck, it sounds like your tumor was caught early and that is wonderful news. 

 

Jan4you

Hello and welcome Cindy! Glad

Hello and welcome Cindy! Glad you were persistent and got on this site. There are wonderful, helpful and very supportive folks on here.

I know its a bit of a shock to hear the word cancer! This was my 2nd robatic surgery (already had two other abdominal surgeries) and again, so thankful for the expertise and training these surgeons go through to learn Robatic technique. It was hardly painful at all. I too was up and walking, but had trouble with pain meds. Because of only one kidney now, and my other kidney disorder I don't tolerate most pain pills. They made me goofy, confused and I kept hallucinating..which was kinda fun actually!! LOL

Know that we'll walk this journey along side you. Ask any questions.

You'll get through this, you will!!

Warmly, Jan

cjhawk38

Thank you everyone for your

Thank you everyone for your support.

cjhawk38

How long after surgery are

How long after surgery are you allowed to drive?

Djinnie

cjhawk38 said:

How long after surgery are

How long after surgery are you allowed to drive?

Driving!

Hi Cindy, I was advised to wait a couple of weeks, any sharp jolts such as those caused by breaking suddenly could potentionally cause an issue at the surgery site!

 

Djinnie

Jan4you

cjhawk38 said:

How long after surgery are

How long after surgery are you allowed to drive?

The big issue with driving or

The big issue with driving or lifting over 10 lbs is bursting those internal stitches and healing. I saw my surgeon 10 days after my surgery and he lifted the no driving ban. But insisted I didn't exercise on my Giselle for 30 days~ So it may be around 1 week or whenever YOUR surgeon tells you.

I was more concerned about being able to get out of bed and up from furniture. I did add a side railing as I already have spasming muscle issues from my MS and that is a God-send.

After both my robatic surgeries I wore this lumbar wrap with velcro home from the hospital. I asked the surgeon who said it was fine.  This wrap is for bad backs. I also wore that at home and stuck this dry ice pack inside of it to help with slight swelling/discomfort for about a week or so, and hardly needed any pain meds.

I asked for ice while in the hospital and the RN looked at me, like I was crazy since I had pain meds ordered. But the PT gal went and put some ice cubes inside a cloth face mask for me to hold against the 2-3 inch incision which was the largest. The other incisions 4-5 of them were so small, about an inch at the most. They have this special "glue" to hold them shut so no staples.. yeah!!

You'll be fine. As Ron said the fear is the worst part. So try not to use up your energy worrying about things you have no idea how it will be. But if you are like me, I want to know it all so I am prepared and not scared. What I was NOT prepared for was all the attention I got from family and friends because of the word cancer.

F.E.A.R = False Evidence (that) Appears Real

Warmly, Jan