Everybody in my family got flu shots. All of us got a bad case of the flu this winter. Welcome back my friends to the cough that never ends. And I got laryngitis, but my wife did not. Just call me "Lucky."
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
On January 30th in the middle of the night I discovered a massive amount of blood in my urine. I also had a pain in my side. I rushed to the ER expecting a diagnosis of kidney stones. A catscan produced other, surprising, results. I had a medium size mass on the lower right lobe of my right kidney. My mother died of metastatic kidney cancer in 1999. Luckily I had access to one of the top urologists in the Philadelphia/Southern NJ area. I was able to get an appt with him a few days later.
He reviewed the ER report and said “this is curable”. A huge relief. The downside was that I was going to lose my right kidney. Living with one kidney is actually not that unusual. While not my first choice the very real alternative was much worse.
Appointments were set up for a battery of tests, most importantly an MRI. The hospitals my doc works out of were well booked into the future. We made an appt for surgery on April 20th which was a lifetime away. In a follow up appt with the doctor he said “unless your wife kills you, you are going to live a long time”
Apart from the blood in the urine I had no symptoms. I felt fine...until I developed a urinary tract infection. This was not fun as I was unable to pass blood clots. I wound up with a catheter for 8 days and took antibiotics to clear it up. Needless to say I wound up in the ER in the middle of the night two more times.
We were able to get the appt moved up for March 13th. Surgery went smoothly. I had a lapriscopic nephrectomy. 2 small incisions and one long one. Lots of serious looking staples. The mass was completely encapsulated so the incision was made larger as to not expose it.
I spent five days in the hospital. Got home this afternoon. Totally exhausted and dealing with some modest pain but a serious case of acid reflux.
I’ll have a follow up appointment in two weeks for the removal of the staples and of course test results from the mass. Statistically these are malignant 90% of the time but indications are it didn’t spread outside the kidney.
Kidney cancer has no specific symptoms. Its typically found anecdotally. Hopefully none of you had to deal with anything like this.
I will survive...
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
-- Aristotle
Nostalgia, you know, ain't what it used to be. Furthermore, they tells me, it never was.
“A Man Who Does Not Read Has No Appreciable Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read” - Mark Twain
All the best & fast healing from someone who's all too familiar with post-op bs, Ken.
"My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"
President Harry S. Truman
Jeez,Ken, you've been through the wars! I'm glad you were able to get help, and that the outlook seems positive!
Regards,
Duncan
Best of luck, Ken. Glad to hear your prognosis (pun intended!) is so good!
I'd pray for you but I'm an atheist. God doesn't listen to atheists.
Last edited by rcarlberg; 03-17-2018 at 11:54 PM.
I'm glad that your long term prognosis is good Ken. I hope you heal quickly and fully!
A Comfort Zone is not a Life Sentence
I wish you the best, Ken.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
Get well soon, Ken.
<sig out of order>
I commented on your Facebook post Ken but I'll do it again here. Here's to a quick and full recovery, prog on.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Ken, I'm so sorry your going through this difficult journey.
Sorry to hear that Ken. I hope your recovery goes well. If it is any consequence my mother had to have one of her kidneys removed when she was 27. Other than having to watch salt intake she lived a normal life up into her mid-80's.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Ken.
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
Best wishes. Sounds like you've got this one beat.
At this very moment, I have a naked, Cuban stripper next to me.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
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