From My Mind to....

Medical Results

Some of the information cited below may be disturbing to read. Proceed with caution.

Background. See "Some Results Still Pending" 

My surgery was a radical Nephrectomy completed using robotic surgery techniques. Robotic surgery is less invasive than opening a person up using four small 3/4" incisions and one 3-4" incision near the belly button to remove larger items. This type of surgery assured an easier recovery period. The surgeon removed my right kidney, the tumor about the size of a small fist and a lymph node. He told me the following day that the surgery was a success, and that he expected a good prognosis from Pathology, which may take a week.

I was encouraged to know that my surgeon had only one kidney having donated one to his sister many years ago. I figure I had two kidneys for 70 years; I could do the next 30 (or so) with one kidney.

Yesterday, I received a call from my surgeon's nurse with the pathology results of my surgery. I had gone online and read the results but could make no heads or tails of the med-speak. My results are good in that I can expect to live normally. One thing she said surprised me. My condition ensured I was eligible for immunotherapy (Oncology Dept.).

That surprised me as I had been scheduled for immunotherapy before my surgery. This therapy is not chemo or radiation, but uses a curated drug designed to shrink the tumor so it might be surgically removed safely. As the tumor was attached to my right kidney, there was a possibility it may have invaded the inferior vena cava, which carries blood from the lower part of the body back to the heart.

A chest x-ray was ordered to see if the cancer had spread into my lungs. It had not. Thus, my Urology Team and my surgeon decided surgery was the better option initially followed by the immunotherapy to ensure the cancer is completely removed. That meeting with Oncology will be next week.

I am encouraged.