Continued Pain and Infections 1 year Partial Nephrectomy

Hi Birdie, 

I can't imagine what you are going through, with reoccurring infections the kidney will be struggling to heal properly. I am surprised your surgeon regards this as a simple UTI, as the infection seems ongoing, it would appear the antibiotics are not effective enough to completely address the problem. If I were you I would definately push to see an Oncologist anyway, one that specialises in Kidney Cancer. I learned to my cost not to to be swayed on that one. I was constantly told I didn't need an Oncologist, when the exact opposite was found to be true. 

In any event if I were in your shoes I would definately seek a second opinion. My cancer was considered run of the mill but things can become more complex in a heartbeat. This may not be a big deal to the Surgeon, but remember when things go wrong they are left with a fleeting look of surprise, you are left with the long term consequences.

I sincerely hope you can find help with this so you can heal well, and be in the comfort you so deserve. You have been through enough trauma already.

Djinnie x

Djinnie said:

Hope you find a new Doctor quickly!

Hi Birdie,

You can't believe this is normal because it is not! When your gut tells you something it is right to trust it. I am so glad to hear your GP is working with you to find another Doctor. Let us know how you get on, and don't despair once you have the right Doctor on board things will look much better.

 

Djinnie x

 

If you have read any of my posts from 3 years ago, you will find that I consider Yale to be a very special place. Several other oncologists and facilities told me I was going to die. Yale/New Haven/Smilow cancer hospital saved my life. It would be worth the trip. IMHO.

rbirdie said:

Hospital Choices

It was not Yale that I have been going to for my follow up. I didn't go there for my surgery either (Norwalk). The doctor I wanted to go to within Yale was booked for months, because they are that good.

The doctor I am currently working to get into works with Yale/Bridgeport hospitals. They are all connected now. They are part of Smilow also. Thank you for the heads up though!!!

 

I am finding that a good doctor is hard to come by. 

rbirdie, if it is not too far for you to travel, consider Dr. Paul Russo at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NYC.  I had an open partial nephrectomy performed by Dr. Russo in July of this year, and he is superb.  And MSKCC is superb too.  APny on this forum also went to him, and I think she will agree with me. 

rbirdie said:

Thank you

Thank you for the heads up. I will look into them - I am hoping to find some answers soon. I really appreciate the support everyone!!!!!

Totally agree with Dr. Russo. I would definitely contact him and set up an appointment. Wishing you the best, rbirdie!

todd121 said:

See at least 1 more urologist

You need another opinion. It should come from someone unrelated to your first urologist and hopefully someone with some guts to take a good look at what's been done without shying away from finding a problem with what was done.

I have a friend that had a partial that had an ongoing problem with it for a year. His first urologist was unwilling to admit there was a problem. He found another urologist that took care of the problem. Partials are tricky.

I don't think you should be having these problems this far out. Hope you can find another good urologist to give you an opinion. I'd even see a third if you continue to have problems and neither one is helping you. Try and get the opinions from unrelated docs if you can. (2 of my opinions when I was researching getting adjuvant therapy in a study were from doctors where one had trained the other one. Fortunately, they disagreed with each other, so I didn't worry about them being so closely related.)

It might help to get the appointment by not stating you think there's a problem with what was done by the first doc. Instead phrase it in terms of your ongoing problem and that it's not getting solved. Docs can be touchy about patients that quickly point the finger at the doc. I'm not suggesting you lie, just that you stick to your issue of what's wrong. If they ask why you aren't seeing your other doctor, then you can say you've seen him X times and the problem isn't getting resolved. Leave it at that. Let the other doctor do the blaming (or not). The important thing is not blaming the first doctor, the important thing is getting you fixed! Keep that in mind. I think if your focus is that way, it will help you get it taken care of.

Best wishes to you.

Todd

Be careful to pick someone with good experience with partials. You want someone better than the first doctor (or at least as good) with regards to doing partial nephrectomies. I say this because there are quite a few urologists out there that don't do partials at all. It would probably not do you much good to see one of those docs. You want someone experienced with the possible problems associated with partials.

Todd