Met the surgeon today... 30hrs 'till I begin Kicking Cancers **** ;)

Hi RhondaMae,

By the sounds of it you have very little to worry about other than the inconvenience of surgery.  Caught early, small tumor, partial, I'd say the odds are strongly in your favor.  The surgery is not fun and you'll be out of commission for a few weeks, but that sure beats the alternative.  If you start exercising and hydrating today and continue doing so post surgery your recovery will be shorted and easier.  Stick around we'll help you through it.

No worries,

Gary

Hi RhondaMae and welcome to the club. Your right you've already beat the odds and sounds like you will continue to. I had a radical nephrectomy of my right kidney  two years ago. I also had many surgeries prior to my nephrectomy and like you the thought of having to remove something from my body worried me. However in hindsight  I'm glad that they were able to get that sucker out of me without delay. I'm sure you'll feel the same way after surgery. God bless good luck and keep us posted please .

garym said:

Hello there...

Hey Darryl,

Great to hear from you again and glad all seems to be going well.

We've missed you,

Gary

Hi Gary thanks for the welcome back. Been alittle busy with  dailysis , but  thank God I'm alive . Hope to share more with you and all the other wonderful people on the site .  P.S. how you doing guy? 

RhondaMae said:

It's been a few days.....

I just wanted to thank you all for the encouragement, warm welcome, and support...... At this point, I have stopped looking things up. I think I have read some of the same articles 5 and 6 times. It's best I just stick to reading things on this dicussion board. Besides I am running out of combinations of words about this situation to throw at google.... LOL... I am going to walk 2 miles every night until surgery and hopefully life will be busy enough to make the time pass fast 'cause right now it seems slow as heck... I will keep everyone posted as I learn more from the VAMC in Albany, NY... PEACE

hi rhondamae,  i had the same as you but they decided to take all the kidney in the end.  mine was a T1a and stage 3 so i will have a ct scan at 6 months and then ultrasound every year thereafter!!  yep it is frightening but garym is right the alternative is worse.  just look after yourself and it will be over in no time.  its not easy but you will be fine and take you time to recover.

eims x

RhondaMae said:

It's been a few days.....

I just wanted to thank you all for the encouragement, warm welcome, and support...... At this point, I have stopped looking things up. I think I have read some of the same articles 5 and 6 times. It's best I just stick to reading things on this dicussion board. Besides I am running out of combinations of words about this situation to throw at google.... LOL... I am going to walk 2 miles every night until surgery and hopefully life will be busy enough to make the time pass fast 'cause right now it seems slow as heck... I will keep everyone posted as I learn more from the VAMC in Albany, NY... PEACE

Rhondamae,

The whole process is mind-numbing from the first hint of the diagnosis until you wake up from surgery with a smile on your face and the realization the invader is gone.

In spit eof all the brave faces, the idea of what is going to take place is terrifying.

Look at all the people on this board who have been exactly where you are now!  There's a bunch of us.  We all had the same fears, nightmares, anxieties, lurking doubts, and depression you are dealing with now.  We pulled through in great form!  You will too! 

For me, I personalized the growth!  I called it names and I circled the date on a calendar.  I would tell it how many days hours and minutes it had left to terrify me and do damage to me. I let it know, out loud, that it could not win and I was looking forward to getting rid of it.

Look forward to this. It is a life changing experience certainly, but it is also a life giving experience! Embrace it and keep moving forward.

Michael

Hello RhondaMae,

The people on this forum have a wealth of information from their experiences. I stumbled onto this forum after reading all the scary stuff on the internet. I got a tremendous amount of relief in my anxiety and stress and you will too.

I am 5 days post op for laproscopic right nephrectomy. The operation went well, and aside from 4 days of stomach gas it went quite well for me. Pretty much exactly what our friends here told me.

Dan

I'm a 47 year old female and I had a hand assist laproscopic radical nephrectomy almost a year and a half ago.  I can't really speak much about an open surgery as mine was laproscopic, even though I did have about a 6inch incision in my lower abs for the hand assist part where they take the kidney out.  The worst part of the surgery recovery for me was the air build up in the abdomen.  With a lapro they actually kind of inflate you with air so the can see better and get around better.  That air gets trapped in there for a  few days and that was very uncomfortable.  Of course getting up and down is a tricky business for a while but it is extremely important to get up and get moving around so things start working as usual again.  My nurses practically threw me a party when I passed gas the first time- hey I wasn't embarrassed- I was thrilled!!  I don't know if they do the inflation thing with an open surgery, but you might ask about that just so you're prepared.  

You said your're "affraid the odds aren't in your favor" but I think you've been on a lucky streak!  It sounds like it was found early since you're able to have a partial instead of losing your whole kidney and that's great!!  Even if they decide to take the whole kidney and adrenal after all just try to remember that it's a great thing it has been found now rather than later.  You sound like a very strong lady to me and I know you'll come through this with flying colors!  

Sending good thoughts your way!

KrisY

RhondaMae said:

Thank you ladies for the input.....

I would like to thank you ladies for your input....

I did not mention this before but I am 45 and a 100% disabled veteran of the US Navy. I am a single mom of to wonderful teenagers, Jewel (14) and Myles (16). They are acting very stoic and seem to be much more at ease about the whole situation then I am. I don't let them see my anxiety but it is there....

I am a bit of a tomboy, I wear jeans/ shorts , tee-shirts, and polo's ... I very rarely dress up and need to waer pantyhose, so that wont be an issue.. lol... I will make sure I have a good supply of comfy elastic waist band shorts. Hopefully I will be able to get a big tee-shirt on and off. My last operation was a hysterectomy so, I don't think I will have too big of a problem with those kind of problems either. I sure do appreciate all the input. It is very helpful...

I meet the surgeon this wednesday, I will ask him who will visit me.. That's a GREAT qustion. My sister is coming with me. She is a bit of a bulldog and will make sure our questions are answered (remember we are dealing with the VA Hospital) I will Keep you all posted on what was said... Thanks again for EVEYTHING..... Peace

Hi RhondaMae,

     My name is Brenda and I have had my right kidney and lower right lung removed.  I had no problems with either surgery, and was pretty much back to normal within or less then 6 weeks with both surgeries.  I was happy that both were done laproscopy (excuse my spelling), but recupe time was pretty fast.  Oh, yes I guess I should tell you that I am 55 years old so it wasn't like I was some young thing that just bounced back.  I was very lucky and healed nicely and quickly.

     My anxiety level for having kidney cancer was through the roof.  And, then I found this site, these are the best people to talk to!  They have been through it all, and have taught me to let yesterday go, live for today, and not to worry about tomorrow! Be prepared, but try not to dwell on what "may" be.  Good luck to you, best wishes and prayers I will be sending your way.   Keep smiling!

CR1954 said:

Encouragement...

Hi RhondaMae.  One of the first things that I can tell you is when I developed breast cancer 5 years ago, I terrified myself by going online and reading about my type of breast cancer.  I know now that many of the things I read were just plain wrong.  We all thirst for knowledge about our particular cancers, but we must be careful about what we read...in my opinion.  Frankly, it is better to ask your doctor or to come here, CSN, and ask questions.

That is exactly what I did when I found I had kidney cancer three months ago.  I came here because I knew how supportive the folks on this site can be.  Knowledgeable and compassionate,  Always a soft place to land when we are afraid or confused.

At any rate, anyone here will "tell it like it is," but serve it up with a dose of encouragement.  I remain encouraged that I will be around for my grandkids for a very long time yet!!  One just has to keep on keepin' on and live life as well as we can!  We all have courage and we all are survivors......we rock!

CR

Going into surgery in 2006, it had been my understanding that a Radical included removal of the adrenal gland.  But when all was finished, they had only removed the 1 kidney, lymph nodes behind it, and the left half of my liver...all with cancer; and a defective gall/bladder bile duct.  I had been concerned that the adrenal gland loss would affect me; and then pleasantly surprised that it was still in place.

I guess you need to check with the surgeon to find out specifically what he intends to remove.  If the adrenal gland on that side is not involved, there should be no reason to remove it.

Advocate for yourself and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Donna

Vivaldi said:

Wait and see

I was also diagnosed with stage 1 kidney cancer.  Seven weeks ago today I had an open partial nephrectomy, with a tumour in the upper pole.  They had planned on taking the adrenal gland as well, but they ended up being able to leave it.  Last week I got my pathology and it was an oncocytoma.  Yes, the odds were small, and I am never on the good side of the odds.  With multiple cases of kidney cancer in my family, nobody expected it to be a benign tumour, they can't tell before surgery.  So until the pathology comes back, there is always a chance for better news.  There are two of us in the last month with that result and I am hoping you are number three.  Yes, the surgery is tough, but if you know that ahead of time, then you won't push yourself so hard.  The people here are very comforting, honest and helpful.  I wish you all the best with your surgery and I hope you get to be in the five percent,

Please forgive me if this sounds crazy, but i keep seeing people say after surgery they were waiting on path reports or waiting to see if its benign.  Is this because no biopsy was done prior, or once kidney is out they do something more. I had my biopsy last week and stated i had RCC grade 2, could it be something more after surgery?