Surgery Done 4/29!!!
Hi,
Sorry for my little absence as work, school & preparing for surgery was hectic. My surgery was done laparoscopically. Under my left breast my incisions look like -__- with a - right under my breast. I was in the hospital for 2 days and didn't get the best treatment. They never worried about me having a bowel movement and I was on a clear liquid diet the entire time. I had a catheter for 1 day. The only pain I ever felt was at my incision sites and that was it. Other than that I questioned my BM but none of the nurses did a thing about it. I was sent home. About a day later I had a fever after having the absolute most horrific BM in my life & I've never been one who had issues with having a BM. Did I mention I am a nurse too? Pretty hard to be a nurse & patient at the same time. I went back to the ER on Thursday (5/2) for a fever of 101.6. I was feeling pretty terrible & thought I should go back to the hospital just in case. So I went back & my body fought the fever au natural & won! I also found out that my 5.6 cm tumor was indeed cancer. It was confined to my left kidney & my Dr took the kidney, adrenal gland & surrounding fat out. I always went with my instincts & researched all of my hospitals medical journals, to ensure that I was making the best decision for my future. When being told you have or had cancer, there are steps that one must take before getting to the next step. For the last 3 yrs (since knowing about the tumor), I lived my life as though it was benign cause I always felt it was (real dad had a kidney removed in the 60's). I am so grateful for the way I handled this process. I am almost 1 week post-op & got over the BM issues along with hemmorrhoid issues too. I do have metal staples that I expect to be removed at my post-op appt on 5/10. I haven't taken a pain med since last Thursday, other than Motrin to handle the feeling of my insides adjusting. I can not tell you that you won't have pain but I can tell you that it is managable and that you will be ok. I walk, clean my house, drive & do everything that everyone else does except I rest when I need too. I listen to my body & I will probably take the 3 weeks off work as my Dr expected. Word to the wise, if you need to cough, cough with your hand over your surgery site or use a pillow as a splint. If you need to sneeze, sneeze with your mouth open & it won't be so bad. This entire experience hasn't been easy but to be told you had cancer NOT have cancer, is a blessing! The only choice we have, is how we choose to handle ourselves. I never felt sick or had any cancer symptoms but I was tired all the time. I chalked it up to school, full time job & private life but I believe it was more than that. Since my surgery, I have had more energy than I can remember & it's only going on 1 week. I would like to offer hope to all and know that you can live successful, long lives with 1 healthy kidney & NO, your healthy kidney won't have to work for 2 when 1 is removed. Your healthy kidney will work the same as it did prior to surgery, as our body learns to adjust. So, I am back and here to stay. ;0)
Comments
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Sound adviceicemantoo said:Piece of cake
Pnmk,
Gounds line your surgery and recovery went very well.
Icemantoo
iceman, please don't ever think of trying out as a ventriloquist!
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Nice!Texas_wedge said:Sound advice
iceman, please don't ever think of trying out as a ventriloquist!
Good job Pink! It is weird being a health care provider and a patient isn't it? For me, I felt my care was good. I appreciated everyones effort knowing how busy they are. I also think that having a better understanding of patient care made my recovery easier. Not easy but easier. Of course it is going to hurt but I think we deal with it better. We've seen it too many times.
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Woo Hoo!
I should have read this before asking all my questions on the other post!
Congratulations on a successful surgery and thanks for all the post op tricks! I'm filing those all away! I hope that your life is greatly improved now that this is behind you! (I'm stick gonna hang around and watch for your posts in anticipation of the next few weeks! LOL)
Again, congratualtions!
Michael
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Thank you Foxhd!!! It was sofoxhd said:Nice!
Good job Pink! It is weird being a health care provider and a patient isn't it? For me, I felt my care was good. I appreciated everyones effort knowing how busy they are. I also think that having a better understanding of patient care made my recovery easier. Not easy but easier. Of course it is going to hurt but I think we deal with it better. We've seen it too many times.
Thank you Foxhd!!! It was so bad that my roommate complained about my care to the supervisor. I thought I was being difficult but I later realized that it wasn't the case. The surgery & recovery went so much better than I could've ever expected. I thought I would be on pain meds for a while & I haven't needed anything. I had more pain from the BM issues than from my surgery. LOL.....I totally agree with you & for some reason, I can't wait to have a TALL glass of wine & swim. hahahaha
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Thank you MDCinSC!!! It's ok,MDCinSC said:Woo Hoo!
I should have read this before asking all my questions on the other post!
Congratulations on a successful surgery and thanks for all the post op tricks! I'm filing those all away! I hope that your life is greatly improved now that this is behind you! (I'm stick gonna hang around and watch for your posts in anticipation of the next few weeks! LOL)
Again, congratualtions!
Michael
Thank you MDCinSC!!! It's ok, I totally understand. This whole process is confusing and hard to say how you will handle the surgery. It will depend on your overall health, pain tolerance & age. I am 41, never had surgery & only have Diabetes type 2 (controlled with pills, diet & exercise) & I have a high pain tolerance. I have a lot of life to live and out of all cancers, kidney cancer is probably one of the best to get. It is highly treatable with surgery & the reoccurance rate of cancer is very low. I had the mass for over 3 yrs & it grew from 2.6cm to 5.3cm without doing anything else but growing. It won't be easy but nothing worthwhile ever is. You will have to chalk this up as a learning lesson & what learning lesson will depend on you. Thank you.....
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pinkstar said:
Thank you MDCinSC!!! It's ok,
Thank you MDCinSC!!! It's ok, I totally understand. This whole process is confusing and hard to say how you will handle the surgery. It will depend on your overall health, pain tolerance & age. I am 41, never had surgery & only have Diabetes type 2 (controlled with pills, diet & exercise) & I have a high pain tolerance. I have a lot of life to live and out of all cancers, kidney cancer is probably one of the best to get. It is highly treatable with surgery & the reoccurance rate of cancer is very low. I had the mass for over 3 yrs & it grew from 2.6cm to 5.3cm without doing anything else but growing. It won't be easy but nothing worthwhile ever is. You will have to chalk this up as a learning lesson & what learning lesson will depend on you. Thank you.....
"the reoccurance rate of cancer is very low."
Where did that statement come from?!!
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Where did that statement come from?Texas_wedge said:"the reoccurance rate of cancer is very low."
Where did that statement come from?!!
Probably from me, the Iceman. The last time I disagreed with Tex he ignored me for a month.
Anyway, for what it is worth, the recurrance rate for RCC after surgery for small tumors without anything negative on the path report is very low.
Icemantoo
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Texas_wedge said:
"the reoccurance rate of cancer is very low."
Where did that statement come from?!!
Certainly not me, this is my second time around.
Djinnie
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Where did that statement come from?icemantoo said:Where did that statement come from?
Probably from me, the Iceman. The last time I disagreed with Tex he ignored me for a month.
Anyway, for what it is worth, the recurrance rate for RCC after surgery for small tumors without anything negative on the path report is very low.
Icemantoo
Leaving aside the jokes, iceman, the issue isn't about small tumors with no negative aspects - I was quoting Donna's unqualified statement that the recurrence rate of cancer is very low, which, alas, as we are all aware is very far from the truth.
In her own case it doesn't hold - her tumor wasn't small and it was highly aggressive if it grew 2.7 cm in only 3 years!
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The statement clearly cameTexas_wedge said:Where did that statement come from?
Leaving aside the jokes, iceman, the issue isn't about small tumors with no negative aspects - I was quoting Donna's unqualified statement that the recurrence rate of cancer is very low, which, alas, as we are all aware is very far from the truth.
In her own case it doesn't hold - her tumor wasn't small and it was highly aggressive if it grew 2.7 cm in only 3 years!
The statement clearly came from me. From all of the American Association of Urology medical journals that I have read, along with much research that I have done does indeed give me that conclusion. I never said it was 100% nor that no one would have reoccurance. Maybe you should re-read what I wrote or maybe you should do your own research & come to your own conclusions. Reoccurance of cancer when you are or were at a Stage 1, is relatively low. I've read the statistics till I couldn't stand it anymore and I really don't need to validate my qualifications. Me being here & having gone thru my surgery is enough qualification you or anyone else need.
Donna
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Oh dear!pinkstar said:The statement clearly came
The statement clearly came from me. From all of the American Association of Urology medical journals that I have read, along with much research that I have done does indeed give me that conclusion. I never said it was 100% nor that no one would have reoccurance. Maybe you should re-read what I wrote or maybe you should do your own research & come to your own conclusions. Reoccurance of cancer when you are or were at a Stage 1, is relatively low. I've read the statistics till I couldn't stand it anymore and I really don't need to validate my qualifications. Me being here & having gone thru my surgery is enough qualification you or anyone else need.
Donna
Donna, I didn't say you were unqualified. I said that your statement was unqualified - that is, that you expressed it as referring to all cancers of whatever stage, grade or location when you said
"the reoccurance rate of cancer is very low".
That comes over as a bit of a surprise to uncomprehending folks like me (having had recurrences in four different locations within six months of surgery).
I was inclined to suggest that you might want to take care to have adequate monitoring, since your tumor was not particularly small at 5.6 cm and it had grown exceptionally fast, which I would treat as something to pay due regard to.
Still, what do I know? I bow humbly before your superior knowledge and shall try to follow the advice you gave me that -
"Maybe you should re-read what I wrote or maybe you should do your own research & come to your own conclusions."
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Do some research Tex!Texas_wedge said:Oh dear!
Donna, I didn't say you were unqualified. I said that your statement was unqualified - that is, that you expressed it as referring to all cancers of whatever stage, grade or location when you said
"the reoccurance rate of cancer is very low".
That comes over as a bit of a surprise to uncomprehending folks like me (having had recurrences in four different locations within six months of surgery).
I was inclined to suggest that you might want to take care to have adequate monitoring, since your tumor was not particularly small at 5.6 cm and it had grown exceptionally fast, which I would treat as something to pay due regard to.
Still, what do I know? I bow humbly before your superior knowledge and shall try to follow the advice you gave me that -
"Maybe you should re-read what I wrote or maybe you should do your own research & come to your own conclusions."
"The reoccurance rate of cancer is very low" is obviously a quote from a medical journal with high impact factor. Tex, you and I have been reading and quoting "TV Weekly" magazines for too long.
Cheers,
C
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SourcesClaraW said:Do some research Tex!
"The reoccurance rate of cancer is very low" is obviously a quote from a medical journal with high impact factor. Tex, you and I have been reading and quoting "TV Weekly" magazines for too long.
Cheers,
C
I guess you're right Clara
How's the SIL?
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No offense intended to anyone, BUTTexas_wedge said:Where did that statement come from?
Leaving aside the jokes, iceman, the issue isn't about small tumors with no negative aspects - I was quoting Donna's unqualified statement that the recurrence rate of cancer is very low, which, alas, as we are all aware is very far from the truth.
In her own case it doesn't hold - her tumor wasn't small and it was highly aggressive if it grew 2.7 cm in only 3 years!
When did this place turn into Facebook?
Don't we all have enough to worry about without turning this into a combat zone?
It isn't necessary for commentary to turn snarky or pedantic.
There is already enough on our plates.
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Facts
Whether we like them or not.
Recurrence stats: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2735023/
Prognostic factors: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1471767/
Read and understand before throwing statements and starting arguments. Just a general recommendation...
/G
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I refuse to argue. I willGalrim said:Facts
Whether we like them or not.
Recurrence stats: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2735023/
Prognostic factors: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1471767/
Read and understand before throwing statements and starting arguments. Just a general recommendation...
/G
I refuse to argue. I will continue to come to my own conclusions & remain positive regardless of you or anyone else. I can't believe that I am on CSN & having to defend myself. I have much better things to do as I would think you all would too. You don't have to agree with with me but you don't have the right to come after me either. I don't even experience this behavior on facebook & it is beyond me. So please....if you have nothing nice, positive or encouraging to say then DON'T BOTHER. No one needs it, considering we are all in this together.
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