Medical stuff

J

JustinR32

New member
I haven't posted a lot lately, I've had some things on my mind, been going to a lot of tests.



I've been diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma.



If I didn't tell my friends, they wouldn't know. Online friends are every bit the same as face-to-face friends, and I could no more just stop posting here any more than I could stop calling on my local friends. At the least I think I would need to let you all know. Whenever I've met online people, I feel the same as I have when I've developed the friendships face to face; we always take up right after the last conversation, except that it was online.



The good news is that we caught it early. Tumors less than 2cm are not considered malignant; this one is about 2.5cm.



The bad news is that I'm going to lose my left kidney. A partial nephrectomy isn't possible because of the location of the tumor, on the inner side of the meat of the kidney extending into the urine collection area. Losing a kidney in my case is a bit more problematic than it would be for someone else, because I'm diabetic and I am a frequent kidney stone former.



The cure for renal carcinoma is 100% surgical. There is no radiation or chemotherapy, because those treatments have no effect on this type of tumor. The flip side of that coin is, if the tumor metastasizes radiation and chemo won't help you. I have absolutely no signs of metastatic disease.



My urologist says that I'm not going to die from it; his words were more or less, "I've been diagnosing these for 17 years and everyone who I thought was going to die from kidney cancer has.... but no one else has. You're not going to die from this."



We caught it through luck. I was having bad heartburn and my family doctor scheduled an ultrasound of my abdomen with concentration on the gall bladder area. The technician decided to ultrasound my entire abdomen, and she saw the tumor and spent an extra 10 minutes getting a better picture. Two CAT scans and an MRI later, here we are.



Surgery is tentatively May 16th, I'll be out of commission for 2-4 weeks then. I'm not worried about what's going to happen, but I think that's because I have no idea what it's going to be like on the other side of that surgery.



Not the best news, but a hell of a lot better than it could be.



Don't forget to hug your family and loved ones.





Tom
 
As you pointed out, the good thing is you caught it early and acted decisively. Losing a kidney is drastic but the alternative seems to be worse. You'll be around to watch your children continue to grow. I wish you and your family the best of luck and strength to make it through. Keep up the positive attitude. Take good care. All the best.
 
Good luck Tom!



I know you probably have no idea who I am because I am still very new around here compared to the "old schoolers" but I have made it through some trying medical conditions myself and understand what you may be up against.



I had a double lung transplant in October 1995 and could not have pulled through it without the support of my family and friends.



I wish you the sincere best and some advice I can offer would be to keep your positive outlook because the mental aspect of recovery will get you through any issues you face.



We are here for you man!



:up
 
Tom,



Sorry to hear that. I hope everything goes well for ya. I know you will be around for awhile, who else can I discuss beer with, LOL
 
Tom, I'm glad that you were diagnosed in a timely fashion. It has already been mentioned and I'm sure no one knows this more than you, losing a kidney is no small matter. Though there a lots of folks who live with only one, or only one that is fully functioning so we know that a quality lifestyle is still possible. If it were me, the toughest thing right now would be the waiting. I hope that they time passes swiftly for you and your family. I hope for you skilled surgeons and post surgery personnel. Best of luck to you and your family during this period.
 
Good luck with this, I work in an Emergency Room and its tough at times so on one level I do understand what you're going through. My prayers are with you.
 
You will be in my family's prayers.



You've always been one of my favorite posters, because of your thoughtful and practical nature. I wish you a speed recovery and you and your family the strength to go through this and grow closer and stronger for it.



Sam
 
Tom- While I already expressed myself over at MOL, I'm thinking that in a short while we'll all be celebrating your complete recovery. This'll be behind you before you know it.
 
As many have mentioned, a positive mental attitude is the first thing to focus on. Ironiclly, I just emailed a nephrologist friend of mine some info on self-hypnosis because he wanted to explore the possibilities it may offer. I have been doing self-hypnosis now for about 12 years, and it has helped me through some trying times. The mind is a very powerful tool and many think we only use about 8-12% of it. Self-hypnosis MAY be a way to unlock passages not used. The reason I bring this up to you is that many know and believe that the mind can control many facets of bodily functions, from every day function to recovery from disease and trauma. Many use it as a way to control pain and reduce stress. If nothing else, it may be useful to you to relieve the anxiety that your diagnosis will bring with it. The basic self-hypnotic state is just a deep relaxing meditation in which you empty your mind of all thoughts. From there, the possibilities are endless. Post-hypnotic suggestions and affirmations are very powerful. Very often, If I have an important event that I need to be awake at a certain time for, I will do self-hypnosis before I fall asleep and tell myself I will wake up five minutes before my alarm goes off. It rarely fails. Falling asleep after a self-hypnotic trance provides a quicker passage to REM sleep and a better rest over all. They say that a half hour of deep hypnotic trance is equivalant to five hours of REM sleep. Whenever I am having trouble going to sleep, I do a quick relaxation through self-hypnosis. I can literally be asleep in a few minutes anywhere- anytime. Like anything, the more you practice at it, the more you become proficient at it. I have never had to overcome something such as what you are facing, but I sincerely believe that self-hypnosis could only benefit you. Self-affirmations such as "I will overcome this, I will heal quickly, I will feel little pain" could go a long ways in your recovery. Please don't pass this off as some witchcraft mumbo-jumbo, because it is far more than that. I have personally hypnotized a couple people and have seen the memory power of the brain when unlocked. If you or anyone is interested in how I learned of self-hypnosis and my experiences with it, shoot me a PM and I'll tell you about the people I hypnotized. I am putting a link below this that has a basic explanation of the relaxation steps of hypnosis. There are a bunch on links on the left side of the page that have more on hypnosis and ways to use it. The next time you see your doctors, ask them about hypnosis and its powers. My guess is many won't know much about it. I have a group of young physician friends, some practicing and some still doing residency programs. Not one knew anything about hypnosis and a few of them discounted it as being 'not real'. Trust me, its very real!

I wish the best of luck to you and your family and Godspeed your recovery. - Matt



www.bcx.net/hypnosis/induct.htm
 
Sad to hear about your Renal Ca, Tom.

It seems as though you have a good grasp of the situation and thank goodness the tumor was only unilateral and no mets.



Wish you well with the surgery, stay strong and keep an eagle's eye on you diabetes.



Good skill (no luck involved with good surgeons) and keep us up-dated on you progress.



Above all stay positive. :xyxthumbs
 
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