Waiting for my surgery

Denisedh

I am waiting for my surgery and my doctor re-assured me the tumor is small, less than 3 cm but today I noticed a slight amount of blood in my urine for the first time.  Is this common with a small tumor?  I can't wait for Aug. 25.

marosa

I know the feeling!

Hang in there Denisedh, August 25 is almost here!  Easy to say I know.  The waiting was the toughest thing I have lived thru.  Even the day I was diagnosed I ended up going to diner to a restaurant with my husband and my son... but that 32 days wait was very, very trying times to say the least!  You are almost there and your tumor is small.  Mine was twice as big!   Relax, take full breaths, try to be at ease so your body is calm and relax for your surgery.

I was soooo ready when the day finally arrived that I refused the tranquilizer pill before going in the OR.  I rembember there was a little music playing and the lights were like a spaceship... I asked the doctors team if they had any bossa (brazilian music) to put on.  I woke up some hours after with a smile on my face!

You will be fine!!!

Jan4you

Well, Denise, glad you found
Well, Denise, glad you found us, but sorry you have to go through this.

It no uncommon to have blood in urine with renal cancer, but just to reassure you, I would suggest you report it to your doctor in case you have an infection. Maybe you do maybe you don't have UTI, but let your surgeon's office know ok?

My tumor was just over 4cm and I am doing fine nearly 2 years later. Are you getting robatic/laproscopic surgery? It is less intrusive.
I also used a lumbar wrap around my abdomen after both my abdominal surgeries which helped support those muscles affected from surgery.
I would place dry ice block inside the wrap over my incision area and that seemed to help reduce the swelling, allowing me less pain meds.

Now whenever you have abdominal surgery, they do pump your abdomen up with this gas so that the surgeon can see. However, it gets trapped and often pain meds cannot reach the crevices it seems to hide in, like the shoulder. It was my worst pain, but not unbearable. Have you ever had surgery?
So for that gas pain, they recommend walking, and I did stretching with my arms over my head, then moved my arms around and around.
Eventually, that gas got out.

Ask away if you have further questions of concerns, we are here for you.

Sending you a healing hug,
Jan

Denisedh

Jan4you said:

Well, Denise, glad you found
Well, Denise, glad you found us, but sorry you have to go through this.

It no uncommon to have blood in urine with renal cancer, but just to reassure you, I would suggest you report it to your doctor in case you have an infection. Maybe you do maybe you don't have UTI, but let your surgeon's office know ok?

My tumor was just over 4cm and I am doing fine nearly 2 years later. Are you getting robatic/laproscopic surgery? It is less intrusive.
I also used a lumbar wrap around my abdomen after both my abdominal surgeries which helped support those muscles affected from surgery.
I would place dry ice block inside the wrap over my incision area and that seemed to help reduce the swelling, allowing me less pain meds.

Now whenever you have abdominal surgery, they do pump your abdomen up with this gas so that the surgeon can see. However, it gets trapped and often pain meds cannot reach the crevices it seems to hide in, like the shoulder. It was my worst pain, but not unbearable. Have you ever had surgery?
So for that gas pain, they recommend walking, and I did stretching with my arms over my head, then moved my arms around and around.
Eventually, that gas got out.

Ask away if you have further questions of concerns, we are here for you.

Sending you a healing hug,
Jan

Jan and Marosa

I did tell the doctor on call and will call my uro-oncologist tomorrow and tell him.  I am scheduled for a robotic laparoscopic procedure.  I had an open abdominal hysterectomy in May 2015 because they thought I had ovarian cancer.  My ovarian tumor was benign.  They were going to take the kidney tumor out at that time but when they found the ovarian tumor was benign, the surgeons felt it would be safer to wait until I healed enough to take out the kidney tumor laparoscopically instead of making my hysterectomy incision bigger.  Jan, I had shoulder and gas pain after my hysterectomy so I know the experience.  It was bad, but it went away.  I never had any major surgery until this year.  I also have benign tumors in my liver--everything discovered during my CT scan in April.  I have 2 kids who are still in school and I want to live.  I am glad I found you all!  thanks, Denise

Skagway Jack

Hematuria

I had gross hematuria as my primary symptom.  Had I not had that, I might still have that rascal in my body.  Dont worry too much, your day is fast arriving and youll be back to normal before you know it.  In regards to whether it is normal for a small tumor, I dont know but I would suspect it has more to do with the location of the tumor than the size.  Mine was twice that size and the hematuria was a result of vigorous excersize according to the doc.    Hang in there!

 

Jack

icemantoo

Skagway Jack said:

Hematuria

I had gross hematuria as my primary symptom.  Had I not had that, I might still have that rascal in my body.  Dont worry too much, your day is fast arriving and youll be back to normal before you know it.  In regards to whether it is normal for a small tumor, I dont know but I would suspect it has more to do with the location of the tumor than the size.  Mine was twice that size and the hematuria was a result of vigorous excersize according to the doc.    Hang in there!

 

Jack

Normal

Denise,

 

Your symptom is not only normal, but what I and many others went thru as well. Just an added perk of Kidney Cancer. As suggested above report yor findings to your doctor.

 

Icemantoo

Jojo61

icemantoo said:

Normal

Denise,

 

Your symptom is not only normal, but what I and many others went thru as well. Just an added perk of Kidney Cancer. As suggested above report yor findings to your doctor.

 

Icemantoo

I would definitely report it

I would definitely report it to your doctor....but you will be in good hands in just five days! You will feel so relieved once it is behind you.

Hugs

Jojo

APny

Jojo61 said:

I would definitely report it

I would definitely report it to your doctor....but you will be in good hands in just five days! You will feel so relieved once it is behind you.

Hugs

Jojo

Same with me. Peed pure blood

Same with me. Peed pure blood and that sent me to the urologist who fortunately ordered a CT scan. Mine was just 3.5 cm, so fairly small, yet bled like crazy. Surgeon said it's because it was close to the collecting duct. But yes, mention it just in case it's a UTI that needs to be cleared up. Wishing you the best for your surgery and recovery.

Denisedh

APny said:

Same with me. Peed pure blood

Same with me. Peed pure blood and that sent me to the urologist who fortunately ordered a CT scan. Mine was just 3.5 cm, so fairly small, yet bled like crazy. Surgeon said it's because it was close to the collecting duct. But yes, mention it just in case it's a UTI that needs to be cleared up. Wishing you the best for your surgery and recovery.

Thanks!

It turns out it wasn't a UTI or my kidney.  I think it may be related to my hysterectomy in May.   I'm going to check with the doctor about that.