Dodging the bullet once again
Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 3:32 pm
I had a kidney cancer removed on May 4th.
Around Christmas, I noticed what looked like a bit of blood in my urine for a few days. It went away by itself, so I mostly forgot about it.
In February, I had a doctors appointment about something else, and happened to mention it. He asked me if there had been any pain with it, and I said no. He said he wanted me to get a C-T scan.
And there it was. About 1.5 inches; a hard little ball of tissue that didn't belong there. A biopsy would have been about as hard to do as simply removing it, so removing it was what we decided to do.
They knocked me out Wednesday morning and removed it. I was conscious by evening; on my feet and moving between bed and chair on Thursday; walking up and down the halls by myself on Friday; off the IV and off all pain meds by Saturday morning.
They offered to send me home Saturday evening, but Eva was hosting a graduation party at home, so we opted for Sunday morning instead.![[yahoo.gif]](./images/smilies/yahoo.gif "YIKES!")
Two weeks after the operation, I felt well enough to drive over to Grand Haven for a 3-day kite festival.
I've seen the pathology report. It says it WAS a kidney cancer; that they got all of it; that no further treatment was needed; and to have a follow-up C-T scan in six months. They don't expect me to be bothered by this particular cancer again.
Very lucky: that I noticed the blood; that I remembered to mention it; that I live where there are top-notch doctors. This meant it was caught very early; I might not have noticed anything wrong until it was too late, otherwise.
Around Christmas, I noticed what looked like a bit of blood in my urine for a few days. It went away by itself, so I mostly forgot about it.
In February, I had a doctors appointment about something else, and happened to mention it. He asked me if there had been any pain with it, and I said no. He said he wanted me to get a C-T scan.
And there it was. About 1.5 inches; a hard little ball of tissue that didn't belong there. A biopsy would have been about as hard to do as simply removing it, so removing it was what we decided to do.
They knocked me out Wednesday morning and removed it. I was conscious by evening; on my feet and moving between bed and chair on Thursday; walking up and down the halls by myself on Friday; off the IV and off all pain meds by Saturday morning.
They offered to send me home Saturday evening, but Eva was hosting a graduation party at home, so we opted for Sunday morning instead.
Two weeks after the operation, I felt well enough to drive over to Grand Haven for a 3-day kite festival.
I've seen the pathology report. It says it WAS a kidney cancer; that they got all of it; that no further treatment was needed; and to have a follow-up C-T scan in six months. They don't expect me to be bothered by this particular cancer again.
Very lucky: that I noticed the blood; that I remembered to mention it; that I live where there are top-notch doctors. This meant it was caught very early; I might not have noticed anything wrong until it was too late, otherwise.
![[cheers.gif]](./images/smilies/cheers.gif "Toast"){kind=small}
