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My Story

Since I really couldn't find anything about what I was about to go through, I wanted to document it for others.

First, a warning. When people find out that I lost a kidney due to cancer, the first thing they always ask is "How did you know?" The answer (and the warning!), I had blood in my urine. The red flag for my doctor was that there was no pain. So, to reiterate, blood in the urine and no pain could be very serious. If you can think of a clever poem, I'll post it. Something like, "blood in your urine, that cat ain't purrin'" Email me with your creativeness.

At that first visit, they did a sonogram. They couldn't even make out the shape of my right kidney. Not a good sign. My doctor wanted me in the next day for a CT scan but I couldn't because of a business trip. It had to wait a week. The longest freakin' week of my life. So the following Tuesday I had the CT scan and after inspection, I was scheduled for a radical nephrectomy on the following Monday. Imagine what it was like: Week one, big warning. Week two, surgery pronouncement. Week three, under the knife. The following is from my medical records:

"PROCEDURE: The patient was prepped and draped in the right modified flank position. An incision was made between the 9th and 10th rib interspace and extended to the midline. The coastal cartilage was divided along with the remainder of the flank and abdominal musculature. A Buchwalter retractor was placed for exposure."

And it goes on. Suffice to say, they cut a 12 inch hole in my side, pulled out my guts, and cut out my right kidney. Luckily, the tumor was encapsulated and no cancer spread. I stayed in the hospital for four more days and then was dismissed. Another 10 days at home and then I went back to work. (Luckily, I have a desk job.)

Just a few things to think about if you have to go through major surgery:

1. If you drink a lot of caffiene, you may be in for trouble. I had serious withdrawals (meaning a headache that even the morphine couldn't kill). Tell your doctor.
2. They are going to try to get you up walking as soon as possible. Try not to get mad at the nurse! It really is good for you.
3. Pain killers are addictive. Period. Nobody will tell you that the hardest part of recovery is trying to battle the withdrawal symptoms. I had an awful time.
4. It's been a year, and I still haven't fully dealt with the emotional aspects. I wish I had some good advice, but I don't.
5. Your doctors will really watch you closely for a while. If they tell you that everything is fine, believe them.

I actually have pictures of my kidney. It's the size of a small football and really gross-looking. (A normal kidney is the size of your fist.) They are very gross so look at your own risk. I have the pictures because during my stay in the hospital, my doctor was a guest speaker at a conference. I'm a star!

For what it's worth, my tumor is called "Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma". They tell me it's pretty rare.

I found a cool site at the University of Michigan. Check it out.