Thread: Renal Cell Carcinoma

Hi geoff,

My 89 yo mother had a kidney removed last November (keyhole surgery). They sent her home 3 days after the op, and she was quite comfortable a week later.

Hi Geoff, sorry to hear about your setback. Can't say that i know anything about this sort of thing suffice for documentaries, and shows like RPA where you see patients being given a kidney from a family member or friend. The late Kerrie Packer received such a gift from his helicopter pilot employee with whom he had become friends.

They say that the kidney donor fares worse than the recipient. So I would only suppose that you would be in the same basket as a donor, which can't be too awful or no-one would consider doing it.

Good luck with the op and best wishes for a succesful outcome.

prozac

Unfortunately, you are unlikely to have keyhole surgery when there is a cancer as the surgeon will want to have a good look around for any spread or lymph nodes involved. This means a fairly large incision and recovery is slow. You certainly will not be doing anything strenuous for a month to six weeks and will be fairly uncomfortable and relying on pain killers for at least the first week.

Chris, Prozac, Mat

Thanks for your responses.

Afer talking to a few people, I've gained the impression I could be off work for a couple of months.

I think Mat's assessment will prove to be pretty close to the mark. It's not likely to be keyhole surgery.

I'll just have to wait until Tuesday to get all the definitive info first hand from the specialist.

Cheers
Geoff

My fingers are crossed for you Geoff. Let us know how you get on.

prozac

Geoff,
I wish you all the the best, and a speedy recovery.

I had my thyroid removed and about 30 glands from my upper chest due to cancer, 2 years ago now, it took me a few months before I was ready to look at going back to work, on restricted duties. ie: computer work.

Anyway I hope things go well for you.

Hope things go well for you Geoff.
I wouldn't worryy about recovery time. Just concentrate on the recovery.
Stay positive.
Cheers, artme.

Hi All

Been a while since I last posted. Sorry about that. Have had a lot going on lately with my youngest son and his partner getting engaged, a wedding and some other happy events. Great to have had such good news.....takes your mind off other things.

My urologist referred me to a specialist urological surgeon rather than doing the operation himself. This has meant another round of visits to doctors offices and even more tests.

I've had some more CT scans to confirm that the cancer has not spread and my surgeon is confident that it is totally confined to the right kidney. Good news. Not going to mess about with it. Just going to take the whole kidney. After recovery from the surgery, I'll be as good as new as the remaining kidney is 100% OK and since we only need one, all should be well.

The surgeon has also confirmed that he can remove it via keyhole surgery which will make the recovery a bit less unpleasant.

I don't know how he's going to get the kidney out through a small incision (about 3cm I believe), but he assures me he can, providing he doesn't find anything suspicious or unexpected. If he does, it will turn into open surgery.

I'm going to have the surgery on September 8. It's been a bit of a wait since I first found out about it, but I'm assured there's no danger in waiting until then. No choice anyway, as, even though I'm going into a private hospital, my surgeon just isn't available until then and, since he's said to be the best available in Perth, I just have to wait.

Off to see the anaesthetist on Thursday and another blood test next week and that's it until the big day.

For those who are interested I'll post more as it happens.

Thanks for your good wishes.

Cheers

Geoff,
The waiting is definately hard, the mind wanders I'm sure you know what I mean.

I owe an apology to all the people who have told me of their illness in the past and who have tried to explain their thoughts and fears while I demonstrated little or no understanding.

The imagination just does not prepare one for the experience.

Best of luck you'll be right mate.

Mike

Originally Posted by Geoff Sims

...................I just have to wait.

Geoff, I know how you feel, nothing can prepare you for these kind of operations.

I'm sure you'll be in good hands and come through this well and don't worry how long your recovery takes, just concentrate on your recovery itself.

Good luck and my best wishes.


Peter.

Geoff, hope all goes well for you.

There is definitely no problem with only having one kidney.

My mother had a kidney removed as a child, went on to have 3 kids and lived to be 80.

Not that having kids would be on your agenda!