Hi. I'm new here

Mickei

I hade a partial nephrectomy to remove a cancerous cyst in my right kidney.  Fortunately it was only 1 cm in diameter, and the doctors said that the inside was cancer the border of the cyst wasn't; so it didn't spread.

I still will have to have bi-annual tests.  My recovery is slow.  I hade the robotic surgery and was told that it was ok to take 10 days of from work (since my job is working in front of a computer).  However I was told later that I should have taken at least 2 months off.  I don't have that much vacation time, and if I took that much time off from work, they would put me on disablility; which is no pay and cancellation of insurance.  That would mean no funds to take of myself and no insurance to have followup appointments.  So after the ten days (vacation time)  I had to go back to work.  Had to take another week off because of a blood clot in my urinary tract.

Recover is slow, and changes have happened.  Before this, the last time I needed help with doing #2 was when I was a  child.  Now I have to take Benefiber just so I can go.  My body is still trying to get used to living on 1.8 kidneys.

But the worse is having no family or friend support.  I out-lived my relatives over 10 years ago, and never really had any friends.  Dealing with this alone is hard.  No one visited me in the hospital, had to have a taxi take me home when the hosiptal wouldn't let me drive home after the surgery, no help when I was home recuperating.  It's rough. 

So I googled cancer support, or something like that, and found this.  Anyway, Hi.

icemantoo

Rough at first

Mickel,

 

Welcome to our club which no one in their right mind wants to join.

 

Ten days is much too soon to return to work , even at a desk job.

 

It is going to take a few more weeks to get your strength back.

 

Barring complications you will start feeling normal in a few weeks, albeit a little sore.

 

Icemantoo

madzoon

wow

Ok Hello back,, I am really sorry you are going thru this yourself. but yet glad you found this site. I also am new here about a week new. i have my urology appointment this morning infact in one hour. to get CT Scan results and surgery date?  but the people in this group is very friendly and very helpful please keep this book marked and even if its just to vent please do so, it does help.

God Bless you

 

Madzoon

aamdsi

hello and so sorry

That you are here...and that you are going through it all alone. 

But at least now you have found "us" and we are here for you, even if for just virual hugs. 

APny

aamdsi said:

hello and so sorry

That you are here...and that you are going through it all alone. 

But at least now you have found "us" and we are here for you, even if for just virual hugs. 

I am sorry you are going

I am sorry you are going through this alone. It's not easy even with support and help, never mind on your own. The people on this forum are the nicest and most helpful, so I'm glad you find it. I agree that 10 days is way too short and one of the issues most of us had was with # 2. It takes a while for your body to recover. One thing that helped me was walking a lot. Since it was winter I did it indoors, walking around my house for 5 minutes every hour. And drinking tons of water. Hang in there; it'll get better and easier.

Laura76

Welcome Mickei, your not

Welcome Mickei, your not alone!!!

 

Feel free to inbox me if you need someone to talk to.

 

Best wishes for you!! :-):)) everything will be ok!

SusanB2014

So sorry

That you have to go through all this alone! It also sucks that you had to go back to work so soon after surgery because you would lose your insurance and not get paid if you went on disability. I am from Canada and that is totally illegal here. But we're not here to talk about politics...  I too am a newbie. I had surgery July 8th and am just making arrangements to go back to work next week. I took what will be 8 weeks off and am only going back half days to start. I do hope that you are feeling better and am glad you found this site! I can attest to the fact that everyone here is very helpful and supportive! I wish you the best of luck. Keep on using this site as I know it has helped me.

Positive_Mental_Attitude

Hi Mickei, you are not

Hi Mickei, you are not alone.  You have us!  Anyway, 10 days is a little soon to go back to work.  Maybe since you work in front of your computer, you can work from a home a little bit?  I was fortunate that our office is set up to remote into our desktops, as I was more comfortable working from a recliner at home than sitting upright at a desk.  Anyway, keep us up to date on your recovery, and we hope you are feeling better soon.

DSFrey

I can relate

You are not alone in being alone with cancer. But hey, at least you got to take a taxi. I was practically held hostage by the hospital until I could get someone to take me home and they would not allow me to leave via taxi. Also much like you my tumor was small, just 2.5 cm, and I was initially told I'd need semi-annual scans for first year then annually for another 4 years. However after my first post op scan they completely changed their stance and told me I wouldn't need any more scans at all since they "got it all" and I was cured. I'll take their word since I can't afford to get a second opinion, or actually even any more scans period so the point is moot. I've learned to just take each day as it comes. I try not to think about my brush with cancer. And that includes even using this resource. I still peek in once in awhile but I rarely post on here anymore. For the most part its because it doesn't feel right to me to lend a word or an ear when I feel so unqualified, perhaps wrongly, to do either. It was rough going, I'll admit to considering drastic measures to resolve my lonliness and still do from time to time. When I get to feeling that way I just tell myself, not today. I have to remind myself my life can mean more than living only to work and pay bills. I just haven't found that meaning yet. But you said something that moved me to respond, and I will. Hi!

Melliebean

Hi

Hi Mickei and welcome!  Sorry for the circumstances however!

Eims

Mickei you are definitely not

Mickei you are definitely not alone.  You could have lots of people around you and still feel alone.....does that make sense??  You have come to the right place......their are lots of lovely people here to help.  You can and will get through this it just takes time.

 

Eims x

APny

Eims said:

Mickei you are definitely not

Mickei you are definitely not alone.  You could have lots of people around you and still feel alone.....does that make sense??  You have come to the right place......their are lots of lovely people here to help.  You can and will get through this it just takes time.

 

Eims x

Meaning of Life

“I have to remind myself my life can mean more than living only to work and pay bills. I just haven't found that meaning yet.” 

DSFrey, don’t want to get all new-age on you but the meaning of your life is in all the other lives you’ve touched. And whether you know it or not, yes, you have touched more lives than you can imagine. Even if it’s just a simple smile and a hello that may have made someone's day but you’ll never hear of it.