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

pauley13 said:

benign?

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?

The prevailing train of thought seems to be that since CT's are about 90% accurate in diagnosing RCC the slight risk of "seeding" (cancer cells escaping) during needle biopsy is not necessary.  Add to that the fact that biopsies are not infalable and you see why they are mostly avoided.  The way pathology findings were described to me is they take the tissue removed and peal it layer by layer like an onion looking for abnormal cells until they reach the mass to determine if there are clear margins.  Then they disect and analyze the mass for determination of type, grade, stage, etc.  Your path report is likely to be in line with the biopsy findings, but it will provide a much more in depth picture of what you are looking at currently and down the road.  I hope this helps.

RhondaMae said:

OM Gosh what a day!!!!

I woke up to a call from the urology scheduling lady this morning telling me that Dr. Stien (my surgeon) will not be in tomorrow and that they needed to reschedule my appointment. She proceeded to tell me that the next available appointment was July 8th..... I said, "I have surgery on the 3rd, what are they going to do change that date too?". I explained that he was doing the surgery and I had not meet him yet, she put me me on hold and I got disconnected..... Thus started my day. I spent most of the day in a slight panic not knowing what was going on and unable to contact anyone that I needed to talk to. Finally Urology called me back and said call them next Tuesday and they would get me in somehow. Thirty minutes later surgery scheduling called me... My heart sunk, thinking that they were now going to make me wait even longer. I was told that the Dr. was out of the country and would not even be in until the 1st. So, tomorrow I go do all pre-op stuff and two days before surgery I meet the surgeon.... Leave it to the government to F with your day... Ya got to just LOVE the VA......

 

So, now I will be meeting the surgeon without another adult with me. I live 2 hrs from the Hospital and I will be out of town next weekend, leaving me to stop at the VA on my way back home..... Yippy (NOT)

 

To top it all off, I am one of the few who actually has pain from my kidney. When my blood pressure rises so does the pain. So, now I am trying to breath deeply and relax. I really just want to get on with the whole thing. It is slightly torturous waiting. I am however glad
I do not have to wait longer......

OK, so here is how it went for me.  The meeting with the surgeon was also all the pre-op tests.  That included blood work and and EKG.  In my case they needed additional scans, as the initial scan had lots of potential other issues they wanted to know about.  I should say after the Path report, I was late stage 3.  I also had Renal Vein invasion, so it was a LOT worse than what average... however, no lymph nodes were affected or removed.  Same with the Adrenal gland, they saved it too..!

Keep in mind, that YOU get to sleep during the surgery.. I felt bad for all the medical staff, they had to work.. and I do think they earned their pay with me..!   I did not get cheated... I had about 8 hours worth..  Sounds like your surgery will be about half of that...

As some of us found out.. the fear is far worse than the reality..!  Keep your chin up... and let us know when the deed is done..!

Be Well

Ron

RhondaMae said:

Thank You Djinnie...

     Thank you Djinnie for answering my questions. My head is in such a spin right now I don't know weather time is going by quick or slow. It still seems like there is so much I need to get done but the 3rd can't get here quick enough...

The most terrifying part of all this is the anticipation. The actuality is far less daunting.  Your mind can take you all kinds of places that you shouldn't go.  Stay positive.

Suffice to say that getting this done is the best thing you could do for yourself this year, hell, decade!

Drink lots, get exercise, learn to hate the cancer and love the idea of getting revenge on it for all it has done to you!  Personalize it and call it names. Tell it that its parents weren't married!

You will soon be on the downhill side of this talking to other newbies here, calming them and relating your own sea stories!

You have this in the bag!

Michael

RhondaMae said:

Thank You Gentlemen fot the reassurance...

     Thank You Gentlemen for the reassurance...  I am trying very hard to just stay calm and go with the flow. Just feels kind of awkward going from .. You have Cancer.. into frightening google searches with many open ended questions... To, I might finally be able to get a few answers from the doc a day and a half before surgey... I have faith, right now it feels like a trermendous leap.  With all that said I have upped my nightly walk to 2 1/2 miles. Looking forward to being able to reassure other on the downhill side of this journey... PEACE

RhondaMae,

You are going to do GREAT!!!  You'll walk right through this, no pun intended, walking and water befor and after surgery are very beneficial to recovery, keep it up.  You'll be over the hump very soon and regailing all of us with your downhill tales, hang in there it won't be long and I promise it won't be as bad as you have imagined it to be.

Godspeed,

Gary

Rhondame

I underwent radical nephrectomy including removal of the left adrenal gland. Positive things for you.

1.It is a good news that the disease is confined to kidney. It has not spread. Once the affected kidney is removed, you are practically cured.

2.You may not need radiation or other medication to control your cancer.

3.God has given has 2 kidneys and 2 adrenals. We may afford to forgo one kidney and one adrenal. Nothing major is goind to happen.

4. As you had already undergone a few surgeries, this surgery is similar to other surgeries as far as the post operative pain and outcome.

5. I went to sleep after the premedication anesthesia before surgery and woke up to find out my surgery was over. I could not believe it. My doctor friends  advised me to ask for epidural anesthesia and it did the trick. Till 24 hrs after  the surgery I never had any pain so I did not take any pain medications. But once they took out the epidural after a few hrs and a lightening pain struck me. Then they gave me IV pain medications. Later for 2 weeks I was on oxy contin and gradually tapered off. They must have given a small dose of pain medication when they took out the epidural. Then there would not be that sudden transition. If you want to be pain free post op ask for epidural analgesia do not confuse it with epidural anesthesia. But when they take out the epidural get the IV pain medication half an hr before.

6. Never allow the pain to develope and later take the pain pill. Take  the pain medication round the clock  for  the first 2-3- days. then gradually taper off the pain medication. As I had never had  any prior surgery before my nephrectomy, I am giving my post operative pain experience.

7. Positve approach and any questions, raise it in the forum, people are there to support u. Stop googling about the disease and follow the doctor's advise.

Good luck for the surgery.

jenbuffy said:

Hi RhondaMae, I am a 47 year

Hi RhondaMae, I am a 47 year old female who had a left radical nephrectomy in Oct 2008.  The doctor also removed my adrenal gland.  Besides the pain afterwards (and make sure you get good drugs for that), your surgery will be a piece of cake!  After about 4-6 weeks, you can return to work.  You may feel some residual weird, light pains for up to a year.  The one thing I gave up is panty hose   The waistband hits on the scar.  After I could wear them again, I chose not to because I became used to the freedom lol.....

 

You will do great!  You know yours was caught early and that definitely puts the odds in your favor.  I have scans every year, and every one has been fine.  My right kidney is showing out....it has gotten bigger to take over the work load for both kidneys! 

 

 

 

Hey -

I can only speak to the surgery...  I am a 1 month post-op 32 yr old female who had a hand assisted radical left nephrectomy. I 2nd the waistband comment!! I still can't wear anything with a button either. I  bought several pairs of yoga pants to sleep in and wear around the house and a ton of running type shorts (elastic waistband) for the day time because its so darn hot outside! Maxi skirts and sun dresses would be good too depending on where you are located/weather!

Also, I slept in a recliner in the living room for the week after b/c getting up and down wasn't easy and lying flat on my back was very uncomfortable. Forget about shaving for a while too! As far as female specific questions go....if it applies.... certain aspects of "womanhood" can become very out-of-whack with this surgery. Maybe that is true for all abdominal surgeries, but I know for sure it is with this one!

One of the things I asked my doc before the surgery was who was going to visit me in the hospital. He was taken aback by this question, apparently no one has ever asked him that. But, I'm glad I asked because then I was prepared when the PA's came in over the weekend!! You may want to ask him what pain meds he will perscribe while you are in the hospital. I was on morphine but of not the drip. I was also very persistent about knowing how long he expected the surgery to take and when I would get the pathology results.

The waiting is the hardest part! Before you know it you will be wondering why you didn't milk the first 2-3 weeks of post-op more!

RhondaMae said:

Met the Sergeon today...

Met Dr. Stein today... GREAT guy!!! I feel good about him. He answered all the questions I asked him. He said he is not too worried about the adrenal gland that he would tend to be more concerned about my spleen. He said my liver  enzyems were most likely elevated due to the cancer and that he would not be surprised if after surgery they returned to normal. I am tring not to be too anxious but I do not think I will sleep to well for the next two nights...

My little vaction to Lake George went well this weekend.. God smiled on me the whole time. It was suppost to rain all weekend, but wherever I went the sun followed...

The VAMC has no internet so unless I get back on here before Wednesday, you all take care of eachother and I will let you know how things went when I get home.... Thank again for ALL the input!!! I am on my way to kicking cancers ****... ... PEACE

We've got your back, cancer doesn't stand a chance with all of us kicking it together.

Godspeed