Open Surgery planned

mom2two
mom2two Member Posts: 48
in Kidney Cancer #1

I have a small 1.5 cm in the upper left pole of the kidney, the urologist said that he is more than 85% positive that it is RCC. YES, I know it is fully treatable with surgery. I am not ready to jump off a brige or have a breakdown. I do have a normal amount of anxiety related to the C word and major surgery. 

I know so many have it worse than I do, and I find it difficcult to ask questions bc so many have it worse. 

Has anyone had an open partial? I have to have it open bc I have had numerous laprascopic surgerys, and I have a severe problem with adhesions. Anyone have part of the rib removed?

I had the option of cryo or surgery. I am not interested in cryo (I want it out).

 

Thanks for any input. I am wondering about recovery.

 

Thank you!

Comments

  • icemantoo
    icemantoo Member Posts: 3,361 Member
    #2

    mom2two,

    The recovery depends on your age and heath. I suspect yours may be easier than mine because you are younger than  59 when I had my surgery. Open is supposed to be a little more difficult than laproscopic as far as recovery, but it has been around for many years. A partial can be more difficult than a full neph. because of the cutting.

    Get some help with the kids. Those first few weeks are going to be rough. After the first day everything gets better day by day. Unfortunately I can not sugar coat the surgery, but it does beat the alternative.

    As far as the Cancer diagnosis, surprise us by being one of the 15% who are benign, but prepare for the fact that it might be Cancer. So what. You are getting rid of the Cancer permanently in that Kidney.

    This is not an easy club to join, but it beats a lot of the other Cancers where you do not have such a high recovery rate from the surgery alone.

     And yes I do realize that you may have bilateral RCC and may have to go thru this agan.

     

     

    Icemantoo

  • rainsandpours
    rainsandpours Member Posts: 136
    #3
    My hair stood up reading

    My hair stood up reading this!  You and I have the exact same tumor- except mine is proven RCC.  I had a biopsy 2 weeks ago that came back Clear Cell, grade 1.

     

    I'm also having an open partial.  Like yours, mine is upper pole, and deep to the kidney at the back.  RFA and Laproscopic were ruled out due to the difficulty.  I've also had 2 lappy surgeries- once just recently in May.

    My tumor is also 1.5 cm.  I understand the anxiety you're feeling.  What makes my situation unique is I also have Thryoid cancer, and am in the middle of a recurrence.  They can't treat it until after my kidney is taken care of on Oct 15th.  Plus, I'm waiting on a PET scan and bone scan to determine where all the cancer(s) are.

     

    I'll be your surgery buddy :).  When's your date?

  • mom2two
    mom2two Member Posts: 48
    #4
    rainsandpours said:

    My hair stood up reading

    My hair stood up reading this!  You and I have the exact same tumor- except mine is proven RCC.  I had a biopsy 2 weeks ago that came back Clear Cell, grade 1.

     

    I'm also having an open partial.  Like yours, mine is upper pole, and deep to the kidney at the back.  RFA and Laproscopic were ruled out due to the difficulty.  I've also had 2 lappy surgeries- once just recently in May.

    My tumor is also 1.5 cm.  I understand the anxiety you're feeling.  What makes my situation unique is I also have Thryoid cancer, and am in the middle of a recurrence.  They can't treat it until after my kidney is taken care of on Oct 15th.  Plus, I'm waiting on a PET scan and bone scan to determine where all the cancer(s) are.

     

    I'll be your surgery buddy :).  When's your date?

    rainsandpours

    Hello!

    I would love to have a surgery buddy. I am so sorry you are going through two issues at the same time. (((hugs))). The one kidney problem is enough.. My surgery is scheduled for October 3, 2013 at 8:15 am. 

    I have had numerous laporascopic surgerys with lots of adhesions so he decided to go with open. I have been told by other surgeons not to have any more laproscopic surgeries. I don't know if it was also related to where the mass is located. He said he didn't "think" he would have to take part of the rib. I am pretty anxious about that thought...yuck. 

    I have to be honest...I want to chicken out. I really don't want this surgery. I lost part of my pancreas in 2009 (precancerous cells but they were sure was cancer at the time), and this was a very hard surgery (also lost spleen). My stomach is now distorted due to the lost organ (it kind of stretches into that space). I know I can't allow this mass to grow and not treat...that would be stupid. The rationale side of me knows that it has to come out sooner or later. Just get it done so there is no risk of spreading, but I want to run and hide.

    Did your doctor tell you how long for recovery? My doc said 6-8 weeks.

     

    Keep in touch!

    Kathy

     

     

     

Discussion Boards