Tomorrow is the big day

daisybud said:

Thanks everyone!

l got home yesterday and on my way to recovery.  I did end up with a partial robotic of right kidney.  I am hoping that being this exhausted is normal.  I feel wide awake for a short while think have to sleep.  Came home on vicodin, the only med that didnt make me sick.  Maybe that why I get so tired!  I am trying to be really careful surgeon said the location made it hard to get at and normal way to close up the kidney didnt work with me.  Of Course!

I have been keeping in touch with Laurie and we seem to on the very same path with a lot of things! Thank you Laurie, my new buddy, for updating everyone for me. I really appreciate it

Donna, the little bottle and not eating for 3 days was definitely not fun.  Hopefully, I loose a few pounds! Right now I feel so swollen though.

foxhd, I am seriously watching for that beanie in the mail!

 icemantoo, there is no way I will be wearing a bikini, lol.  The lap spots look bad enough but I was allergic to the adhesive in the tape and when it came off, so did chunks of skin.  Now, I have those yucky things too.

hardo718, I will wear those extra bellybuttons proudly!

I could go on and on about how you all have helped me through this.  I truly appreciate all the prayers and hugs!

Funny thing, need a little laugh now, yesterday when I got home I sat on the sofa.  I couldnt get up and had to get husband to help. Not funny at the time, wanted to cry.  Now, I can laugh because honestly I felt like a turtle rollled over on its shell!!

Love and hugs to everyone,

Kim

 

 

 

Hey Kim, the worse is over for sure! I needed help rolling out of bed and off the couch for a couple of weeks and got pretty good with the turtle maneuver when I had to get up on my own. We bought an electric recliner on Craigslist that was the only way I got up on my own! I stopped pain meds after a week and it made a huge difference in my awakeness. I preferred the twinges of ouch when I moved over the groggy haze of pain meds. On the other hand, sleeping with meds makes time pass faster!  I hit the 4 week point last Wednesday and that very day, it seemed my wounds were suddenly healed and I could use my abdominal muscles freely. For you, it may be a week earlier because I had that abdominal hematoma complicating it. So, in a few weeks you will be yourself again, just needing naps when you do too much. Laugh at yourself, but be sure to use a pillow or binder when you do I am still 10 pounds lighter than I was a month ago so maybe this little diet will work for you too, LOL! I hope to never have to have another partial nephrectomy again, but for those of you with one coming up, it really isn't so bad when I look back at it and I personally feel blessed to have cancer gone with no chemo involved. Make sure you get up and walk a lot between naps Kim! -Laurie

Jan4you said:

YAAAY Kim its over.. and on

YAAAY Kim its over.. and on to recovery!

Trust me it WILL get better.

I HIGHLY recommend wearing that lumbar, velcro wrap around your abdomen.

It will support thos aching, sore muscles. I even woreit to bed so I could get UP.

It assists you in gettingi up from chairs and beds. Plus I already have a handle on side

of bed to pull up. Yes, roll to side and PUSH UP with hands.

This is when a reciiner is helpful. I didn't have one.

Remember, you had mucho meds to keep you under with general anethesia and it takes

awhile to get those effects out of your system PLUS they have you on oral pain meds on top of it.

Once flushed out (lots of water) you'll start to awaken and feel much better, less fatigued.

Yet you ARE allowing sore muscles, tissues to recover and they swell up in the beginning.

THAT is why I put DRY ICE inside my lumbar wrap over the incisions and it really helped with

reducing pain. ICE IT!

REST and glad you let us know how you are doing hon

Gentle hugs, Jan

So glad to hear they were able to do the partial. Now it's over and just focus on recovering. Wishing you the best!

foxhd said:

GSRon

When GSRon went through this, he told a story of being embarassed...at first....about being asked to pass gas, and then proudly responding to the requests. Especially the time he was in his room with the doors open. Across the hall was a nursing staff meeting. They also had the door open. Funny story. Making leomonade when dealt lemons. He had a great attitude looking at the funny side of our cancer trip. Lessons learned.

Be kind to yourself & take it easy. Soon enough you'll be back in the saddle again & this will all be behind you.

Donna~

hardo718 said:

Thank God it's over!!!

Be kind to yourself & take it easy. Soon enough you'll be back in the saddle again & this will all be behind you.

Donna~

See?  Surgery is in the past now!  Take care of yourself and listen to your body.  Don't forget to walk all you can without doing more than what your body tells you and rest as much as needed.  Speedy recovery!

daisybud said:

Thanks everyone!

l got home yesterday and on my way to recovery.  I did end up with a partial robotic of right kidney.  I am hoping that being this exhausted is normal.  I feel wide awake for a short while think have to sleep.  Came home on vicodin, the only med that didnt make me sick.  Maybe that why I get so tired!  I am trying to be really careful surgeon said the location made it hard to get at and normal way to close up the kidney didnt work with me.  Of Course!

I have been keeping in touch with Laurie and we seem to on the very same path with a lot of things! Thank you Laurie, my new buddy, for updating everyone for me. I really appreciate it

Donna, the little bottle and not eating for 3 days was definitely not fun.  Hopefully, I loose a few pounds! Right now I feel so swollen though.

foxhd, I am seriously watching for that beanie in the mail!

 icemantoo, there is no way I will be wearing a bikini, lol.  The lap spots look bad enough but I was allergic to the adhesive in the tape and when it came off, so did chunks of skin.  Now, I have those yucky things too.

hardo718, I will wear those extra bellybuttons proudly!

I could go on and on about how you all have helped me through this.  I truly appreciate all the prayers and hugs!

Funny thing, need a little laugh now, yesterday when I got home I sat on the sofa.  I couldnt get up and had to get husband to help. Not funny at the time, wanted to cry.  Now, I can laugh because honestly I felt like a turtle rollled over on its shell!!

Love and hugs to everyone,

Kim

 

 

 

Glad that's over with.

Good luck in your recovery!

Todd

donna_lee said:

Glad for good news

Daisy-so happy to hear you're home and resting.  I think we do that more because we don't get the deep and refreshing sleep when we're supposed to.  And we definitely tire more readily.

Todd-I wouldn't want to have to do a "scar down" contest, but I'm right up there with you. After 2 kids delivered the regular way, I decided to get my tubes tied-Lap #1 beside the navel.  When I started having "female" problems, Lap #2 was done for diagnostic purposes, same area but much more invasive as they were looking for endometriosis, which was in all sorts of places.  A month later, I had a total abdominal hysterectomy, uterus, tubes, ovaries, and appendix, which left the bikini line scar.  A year later, I tore ligaments in my knee while skiing-a kid ran into me and crossed my tips-and had to have the MCL sewn back together horizontally and longitudinally.

Wait some more years and develop cancer.  Yeah, we've been there !!  14 inch line starting just below the navel and up to ribs, then across to just below armpit. Ribs were cut and separated to get to everything-kidney, liver, gall bladder and set of nodes.  That's where I began my collection of precious metal, with a plate and screws to hold the ribs together while they healed. 

Took a fun vaca from Oregon and while visiting relatives on the East Coast, wanted to see Fort Sumpter.  Charlestown is a lovely place, with cobble streets, high sidewalks that kept the Inns out of the water, etc.  But stepping down was a bit**, as I caught my heel on the narrow step to the street and dislocated my left foot and broke the tib-fib (tri-maleolar fracture)...two days before departure.  Bumpy ride in the ambulance driving on cobbles, with me cussing under my breath the whole way to the County Hospital.  No ortho's there, so was driven to the University teaching hospital.  After a long time, they had a large enough crew around  and got my conscious sedation consent (always get that last-it makes the patient sooooo happy) and were able to pull my foot back into alignment.  No dr. and no OR there till the following week, so I flew home with a temporary cast. (It was put on too tightly and had to be recasted at an all-night walk in clinic near Hartsfield in Atlanta).  I called a friend who was an Orth PA at home, and he got me an appt. the day after getting home.  Had to wait a week for surgery because it need to be done within 24 hours, or wait a week for the swelling to recede.  So 7 weeks on crutches, a steel plate and screws in the fibula and screws in both heads of the tibia, all left me to develop a trigger thumb from walking on crutches so long.

That gave me 3 1/2 months to wait for my next CT, which found cancer again.  This time the incision began with the lower 2 inches of the first cancer surgery and went down 2" below the navel.  Later that fall, I had day surgery to remove the node that had developed on the MCL of the right thumb; and it still has a permanent kink at the distal joint.  I wasn't especially happy the following spring when cancer was D'xd again, but I knew the routine.  He added to the length of the scar by extending it another 4" toward the pelvis.

And yes, it has faded to almost un-noticeable in color, although it/they still itch sometimes.  And yes, I finally lost all the yo-yo veight gains that seem to accompany stess and surgery.  And for you, Daisy, YES, I bought a couple of bikinis when we were in Mexico and wore them proudly.

And you may wonder why I know the names of things in the body.  My first venture out of University was as a PE and Health Ed teacher, and a sub in the biology and general science classes.  So now I help run a family owned construction and rock trucking business.  Go figure.

If you can sit at the computer long enough to read this, you are doing OK.  Just keep on getting better....a little at a time.

Take care and feel the hugs being sent your way.

donna_lee   have to do that now we have another Donna on the board

 

 

I am helping you, donna_lee to your pedastal!

Patron saint of surgeries, illnesses and accidents!

YIKES! Be blessed ...ENUFF!

Hugs, Jan

hardo718 said:

Todd & Donna_lee

Love the "knife fight", cracked me up!!  

Donna_lee......good God!   And I will happily go as #2 if you'd rather go as #1, cause you were here first & you're the tops!!  Lol

D#2~

Because I'm falible.  Just  goes with getting older.  Although I did get off to a slow start, with only tonsils and adenoids removed when I was 11.  Also left out the 2 breast biopsies...the heck about gravity and aging is they are both a little longer/wider than they started out to be.

Although I stress out a bit, once it is met head on, I deal with it and get on with life.

Let's focus on Daisy getting better and having a normal, uneventful recovery, since she is the one who started this post.

We love Daisy!!

donna_lee