Going under the knife Monday morning.
I'd be telling a lie i said that I wasn't scared. I'm flipping petrified of tomorrow, and I've had a roller coaster of emotions over the last two weeks. I am to the point where I just want it all to be over lol.
Comments
-
Not fun
Irishguy1978,
Not fun being told that you have kidney cancer and than major surgery out of the gate. As for this being done laproscopically it has to do with the size and location of the tumor and also the surgeon and whether he has had laproscopic training which is limited to the younger set of surgeons and urologists out there.
Best wishes,
Icemantoo0 -
Hi
Hi Jeremy,
First of all, I just want to say thank you for your service to our country. Doesn't seem fair that while you're protecting all of us, you have to go through this, too.
The fact that they caught your cancer early and that it's contained is great news. I'm not going to lie, the first couple of days after surgery are not great, but they just weren't terrible to me. You'll have pain meds to get you through the pain and, depending on the time of your surgery, you'll be up and walking either that day, or the next.
The worst part for me were the days waiting for the surgery and as of tomorrow, your wait will be over. I am 47, so you are a lot younger them me, so you will do fine. I have to preface this by saying that everyone is different, but I was out scrubbing the porch off and preparing for a wedding shower for my son and DIL, at 3 weeks post-op. Now I'm over 7 months post-op. I still have some swelling if I'm on my feet for too long, but nothing I can't live with.
You'll be in my prayers tomorrow and like I said, before you know it, you'll be on the other side of this whole thing. Keep busy today to pass the time quickly. Good luck to you and I'll be thinking of you tomorrow!
Blessings,
Lisa0 -
Pre surgery compared to Post surgeryLISAinTN said:Hi
Hi Jeremy,
First of all, I just want to say thank you for your service to our country. Doesn't seem fair that while you're protecting all of us, you have to go through this, too.
The fact that they caught your cancer early and that it's contained is great news. I'm not going to lie, the first couple of days after surgery are not great, but they just weren't terrible to me. You'll have pain meds to get you through the pain and, depending on the time of your surgery, you'll be up and walking either that day, or the next.
The worst part for me were the days waiting for the surgery and as of tomorrow, your wait will be over. I am 47, so you are a lot younger them me, so you will do fine. I have to preface this by saying that everyone is different, but I was out scrubbing the porch off and preparing for a wedding shower for my son and DIL, at 3 weeks post-op. Now I'm over 7 months post-op. I still have some swelling if I'm on my feet for too long, but nothing I can't live with.
You'll be in my prayers tomorrow and like I said, before you know it, you'll be on the other side of this whole thing. Keep busy today to pass the time quickly. Good luck to you and I'll be thinking of you tomorrow!
Blessings,
Lisa
Pre-surgery was a nightmare - recovering was not that difficult, it's been 6 weeks now, some pain if get stressed (family et. al, and I try - believe me)...I had some night sweats and fever for 2 weeks, which got better..
My worry is they put me at stage 3, and not giving me any options..except the warnings of 40% recurrence possibility...but if your thing is contained, you should be fine...
Surgery will go fine, leave your imagination at the door, being in the army - you have seen worst...
Raj0 -
Tomorrow morning
I'd be petrified too on the info. you've got. Maybe other folks' baseballs look that small to people in the 2nd largest State in the Union! I hope they can recognise a kidney and can tell your back from your front!
I can't believe this is army humour and someone is just winding you up. If the tumour is really only 4.5cm laparoscopic surgery and a partial nephrectomy would have seemed more appropriate. Perhaps they don't have the high level of expertise needed for that, in which case it makes more sense that they're going open and perhaps the location of the tumour suggests that route in. Can you get a bit more explanation out of your surgeon at this late stage of proceedings?
Anyway, at 33, fit and resilient, with an early stage tumour that's completely contained, you should be fine and fully functional again much more quickly than most of us. You shouldn't need any luck and I won't wish you the luck of the Irish - instead I'll wish you the very best of luck. Now I'm off to watch Ireland play France in the 6 nations rugby tournament and hope to hear from you soon what a laugh it all turned out to be! Again, best of luck.0 -
Locationicemantoo said:Not fun
Irishguy1978,
Not fun being told that you have kidney cancer and than major surgery out of the gate. As for this being done laproscopically it has to do with the size and location of the tumor and also the surgeon and whether he has had laproscopic training which is limited to the younger set of surgeons and urologists out there.
Best wishes,
Icemantoo
Maybe it has to do with the fact it was on the bottom pole of the kidney do you think?0 -
Thank youLISAinTN said:Hi
Hi Jeremy,
First of all, I just want to say thank you for your service to our country. Doesn't seem fair that while you're protecting all of us, you have to go through this, too.
The fact that they caught your cancer early and that it's contained is great news. I'm not going to lie, the first couple of days after surgery are not great, but they just weren't terrible to me. You'll have pain meds to get you through the pain and, depending on the time of your surgery, you'll be up and walking either that day, or the next.
The worst part for me were the days waiting for the surgery and as of tomorrow, your wait will be over. I am 47, so you are a lot younger them me, so you will do fine. I have to preface this by saying that everyone is different, but I was out scrubbing the porch off and preparing for a wedding shower for my son and DIL, at 3 weeks post-op. Now I'm over 7 months post-op. I still have some swelling if I'm on my feet for too long, but nothing I can't live with.
You'll be in my prayers tomorrow and like I said, before you know it, you'll be on the other side of this whole thing. Keep busy today to pass the time quickly. Good luck to you and I'll be thinking of you tomorrow!
Blessings,
Lisa
Thank you for the prayers and kind words. I was weeks from exiting the army via medical retirement when they found this out. The worst thing about everything is that (and I know this sounds superficial) but I had VIP tickets to see the band Third Day on the 23rd of march. God used their music to keep me out of a lot of valleys and also brought me from the brink of suicide during a really tough deployment to Iraq. I wanted to maybe even shake their hands and tell them that. Now I don't know if I'll be able to or not.0 -
Army humor.Texas_wedge said:Tomorrow morning
I'd be petrified too on the info. you've got. Maybe other folks' baseballs look that small to people in the 2nd largest State in the Union! I hope they can recognise a kidney and can tell your back from your front!
I can't believe this is army humour and someone is just winding you up. If the tumour is really only 4.5cm laparoscopic surgery and a partial nephrectomy would have seemed more appropriate. Perhaps they don't have the high level of expertise needed for that, in which case it makes more sense that they're going open and perhaps the location of the tumour suggests that route in. Can you get a bit more explanation out of your surgeon at this late stage of proceedings?
Anyway, at 33, fit and resilient, with an early stage tumour that's completely contained, you should be fine and fully functional again much more quickly than most of us. You shouldn't need any luck and I won't wish you the luck of the Irish - instead I'll wish you the very best of luck. Now I'm off to watch Ireland play France in the 6 nations rugby tournament and hope to hear from you soon what a laugh it all turned out to be! Again, best of luck.
I did some asking the other docs and some research (not sure how reliable) but from what i was told the complete nephrectomy was the best option for me recovery wise and gave the best prognosis. I'm actually not having army doctors doing the cutting. They screwed up a couple other surgeries and i'm having this one done off post. The guy is supposed to be really good and to correct and clarify, the 4.5 number came from the imaging tech and the baseball reference came from the doctor.0 -
Rajlivealive said:Pre surgery compared to Post surgery
Pre-surgery was a nightmare - recovering was not that difficult, it's been 6 weeks now, some pain if get stressed (family et. al, and I try - believe me)...I had some night sweats and fever for 2 weeks, which got better..
My worry is they put me at stage 3, and not giving me any options..except the warnings of 40% recurrence possibility...but if your thing is contained, you should be fine...
Surgery will go fine, leave your imagination at the door, being in the army - you have seen worst...
Raj
Thanks for the comments :-) yeah my imagination is going crazy. I've been looking all over the net to try to find video of the surgery so I'll know what they are doing. Idk maybe that's the military in me wanting to know all the info I can so I can plan for a contingency. lol0 -
surgeryTexas_wedge said:Tomorrow morning
I'd be petrified too on the info. you've got. Maybe other folks' baseballs look that small to people in the 2nd largest State in the Union! I hope they can recognise a kidney and can tell your back from your front!
I can't believe this is army humour and someone is just winding you up. If the tumour is really only 4.5cm laparoscopic surgery and a partial nephrectomy would have seemed more appropriate. Perhaps they don't have the high level of expertise needed for that, in which case it makes more sense that they're going open and perhaps the location of the tumour suggests that route in. Can you get a bit more explanation out of your surgeon at this late stage of proceedings?
Anyway, at 33, fit and resilient, with an early stage tumour that's completely contained, you should be fine and fully functional again much more quickly than most of us. You shouldn't need any luck and I won't wish you the luck of the Irish - instead I'll wish you the very best of luck. Now I'm off to watch Ireland play France in the 6 nations rugby tournament and hope to hear from you soon what a laugh it all turned out to be! Again, best of luck.
Don't listen to every one else. It is a well known secret that nephrectomy is a completely painless procedure. Most of us have had it done purely for a rapid weight loss. That and being able to get out of doing yard work for a few days. Get new batteries for your remote and relax. You'll do fine regardless of whatever technique they choose. Our bodies heal amazingly well. Good luck tomorrow.
of course, you know I'm only kidding about the first part.
Fox0 -
Painlessfoxhd said:surgery
Don't listen to every one else. It is a well known secret that nephrectomy is a completely painless procedure. Most of us have had it done purely for a rapid weight loss. That and being able to get out of doing yard work for a few days. Get new batteries for your remote and relax. You'll do fine regardless of whatever technique they choose. Our bodies heal amazingly well. Good luck tomorrow.
of course, you know I'm only kidding about the first part.
Fox
Oh yeah I figured it would be like getting a hangnail removed LMBO. jk. I have a very special lady who will be taking care of me. I'm doing my convalescent leave in OK where all my family is. They can take care of me but they just can't afford to come down here. I welcome leaving this post for awhile. It's getting WAY too crowded and I live on post think could use a break from the green machine. That and I think I will recover being around the positive and spiritual environment of my fam instead of my myself here. The wife left me a little over a year ago after her gastric bypass surgery. So I'd be on my own down here if I didn't make the trip. The doc said I'd be fine, but to just stop ever hour to stretch and move around to keep from getting post surgical thrombosis.0 -
LOL!Irishguy1978 said:Painless
Oh yeah I figured it would be like getting a hangnail removed LMBO. jk. I have a very special lady who will be taking care of me. I'm doing my convalescent leave in OK where all my family is. They can take care of me but they just can't afford to come down here. I welcome leaving this post for awhile. It's getting WAY too crowded and I live on post think could use a break from the green machine. That and I think I will recover being around the positive and spiritual environment of my fam instead of my myself here. The wife left me a little over a year ago after her gastric bypass surgery. So I'd be on my own down here if I didn't make the trip. The doc said I'd be fine, but to just stop ever hour to stretch and move around to keep from getting post surgical thrombosis.
LOL @ Fox.
Jeremy, glad you have a "special lady" to take care of you after surgery.
Note to self: Don't ever let hubby get gastric bypass surgery.
LOL JUST kidding He doesn't need it anyway. But still, that's a good note to self, just in case.
Blessings,
Lisa0 -
surgeryfoxhd said:surgery
Don't listen to every one else. It is a well known secret that nephrectomy is a completely painless procedure. Most of us have had it done purely for a rapid weight loss. That and being able to get out of doing yard work for a few days. Get new batteries for your remote and relax. You'll do fine regardless of whatever technique they choose. Our bodies heal amazingly well. Good luck tomorrow.
of course, you know I'm only kidding about the first part.
Fox
Lucky you added that last bit Fox or you might have suffered an incision yourself - with an ice-pick and it wouldn't have been sugar-coated
Jeremy, the doctor may not be a baseball expert but it's good to hear you have an expert surgeon. It occurs to me that your past medical history and less than perfect operations (so much for military precision!) may explain the way this one is going to be carried out. As Fox says, you'll do fine.0 -
ConvalescenceTexas_wedge said:surgery
Lucky you added that last bit Fox or you might have suffered an incision yourself - with an ice-pick and it wouldn't have been sugar-coated
Jeremy, the doctor may not be a baseball expert but it's good to hear you have an expert surgeon. It occurs to me that your past medical history and less than perfect operations (so much for military precision!) may explain the way this one is going to be carried out. As Fox says, you'll do fine.
Jeremy, OK = UK, right? and UK = OK, right on!
By the way, it's way too crowded here too but the company is great. Oh, and here a green machine is a Vitamix.
Ireland trouncing France in Paris as I write - yippee!0 -
Open vs LaporacopicTexas_wedge said:Tomorrow morning
I'd be petrified too on the info. you've got. Maybe other folks' baseballs look that small to people in the 2nd largest State in the Union! I hope they can recognise a kidney and can tell your back from your front!
I can't believe this is army humour and someone is just winding you up. If the tumour is really only 4.5cm laparoscopic surgery and a partial nephrectomy would have seemed more appropriate. Perhaps they don't have the high level of expertise needed for that, in which case it makes more sense that they're going open and perhaps the location of the tumour suggests that route in. Can you get a bit more explanation out of your surgeon at this late stage of proceedings?
Anyway, at 33, fit and resilient, with an early stage tumour that's completely contained, you should be fine and fully functional again much more quickly than most of us. You shouldn't need any luck and I won't wish you the luck of the Irish - instead I'll wish you the very best of luck. Now I'm off to watch Ireland play France in the 6 nations rugby tournament and hope to hear from you soon what a laugh it all turned out to be! Again, best of luck.
My UCSF surgeon is one of the premier laporascopic kidney surgeons in the Northern California (he teaches it as well) but he wouldn't do my partial nephrectomy that way - he said it was too risky. He went in from the flank with about an 8" incision. The CT scan showed my tumor at 4.5cm and it turned out to be 5cm. One would expect that to be done laporascopically; but, my kidney sets a little higher than normal and the tumor was on the top of the upper pole. Just supposition on my part, but it may also have something to do with the make-up of the tumor. My tumor was partially cystic and I think there is a greater risk of spread with those than with a solid mass.
Despite the method, mine went very well and I was off pain meds in less than a week. As for healing I think I did about as well as those with laporascopic surgery. I was walking the 2nd day, functioning fairly normally within 2 weeks, and playing golf in just over a month.0 -
In the waiting roomMichael6701 said:Open vs Laporacopic
My UCSF surgeon is one of the premier laporascopic kidney surgeons in the Northern California (he teaches it as well) but he wouldn't do my partial nephrectomy that way - he said it was too risky. He went in from the flank with about an 8" incision. The CT scan showed my tumor at 4.5cm and it turned out to be 5cm. One would expect that to be done laporascopically; but, my kidney sets a little higher than normal and the tumor was on the top of the upper pole. Just supposition on my part, but it may also have something to do with the make-up of the tumor. My tumor was partially cystic and I think there is a greater risk of spread with those than with a solid mass.
Despite the method, mine went very well and I was off pain meds in less than a week. As for healing I think I did about as well as those with laporascopic surgery. I was walking the 2nd day, functioning fairly normally within 2 weeks, and playing golf in just over a month.
Waiting to go back I'll post when I can #prayers 0 -
Thinking of you!Irishguy1978 said:In the waiting room
Waiting to go back I'll post when I can #prayers
Hi Irish Guy,
It'll be over with before you know it. We're thinking of you. Just keeping visualizing yourself as strong and healthy on the other side of this surgery doing something you love.
Looking forward to hearing from you in a few days.0 -
Its been 72 hours since my surgery...Irishguy1978 said:In the waiting room
Waiting to go back I'll post when I can #prayers
Hello- First thank you for protecting our freedom!!! I had my partial open on March 2nd and am not going to lie the first 24 hours were pretty rough, they had a hard time getting my pain under control. My best advise is to stay on top of the nurses if what they are giving you is not helping tell them and make them adjust your meds the only way you are going to heal is by getting sleep and being able to get up and moving which requires your pain to be under control. I was discharged 48 hours after my surgery and am amazed at how well I feel. Don't get me wrong I still have quite a bit of pain put the oral meds are keeping it under control. I am walking around the house as much as possible and even climbed some stairs today. Stay positive and soon this will all be behind you. Stay connected to your friends on here they have been my life line. Please keep us posted when you can. You will be in my thoughts!
Katy0 -
PrayingIrishguy1978 said:In the waiting room
Waiting to go back I'll post when I can #prayers
Still praying for you, Jeremy! You'll probably be waking up pretty soon, now.0 -
Time since surgeryytak28 said:Its been 72 hours since my surgery...
Hello- First thank you for protecting our freedom!!! I had my partial open on March 2nd and am not going to lie the first 24 hours were pretty rough, they had a hard time getting my pain under control. My best advise is to stay on top of the nurses if what they are giving you is not helping tell them and make them adjust your meds the only way you are going to heal is by getting sleep and being able to get up and moving which requires your pain to be under control. I was discharged 48 hours after my surgery and am amazed at how well I feel. Don't get me wrong I still have quite a bit of pain put the oral meds are keeping it under control. I am walking around the house as much as possible and even climbed some stairs today. Stay positive and soon this will all be behind you. Stay connected to your friends on here they have been my life line. Please keep us posted when you can. You will be in my thoughts!
Katy
Since Lisa missed the opportunity, may I caution you Katy not to give Fox any more ideas with recommendations such as your suggestion: "My best advise is to stay on top of the nurses" . I suppose it's just as well that he's married to a nurse! I don't imagine your advice would lie well, so to speak, with Jeremy right now but hopefully it may not be too long before he's up to it.0
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