I’ve shared a couple other health stories over the years (www.dailykos.com/...) — (www.dailykos.com/...), so here’s a new one. I now have one kidney... . I feel like I'm in a good place right now, so let me give a little more info.
A week before Christmas, I had my regular, annual doctor's appointment. They do a full blood analysis each year, because of an issue I had a few years back. My doctor saw a couple of mildly-high numbers that are usually related to liver issues, so he had me go for an ultrasound the next week... right between Christmas and New Years. This was not a festive holiday season.
The ultrasound results showed my liver was generally fine, but the ultrasound also looked at all of my abdominal area, and saw an anomaly on my kidney. So, they scheduled a CT scan for the first week of Jan, which showed that, yup, there was a mass on my right kidney. Likely renal cell cancer. Gulp.
But the doctor was exceptionally upbeat. He said stage 1 kidney cancer is generally 96% "cureable" via surgery. It should be a great thing to hear, but is kind of disconcerting to hear a doctor use that word. I mean, yay. As far as “cureable,” when caught early and when it hasn't spread yet, it can be removed, and there is usually no need for other treatment such as chemo or radiation. There are no terms like remission or recurrence. It was there, it was cut out, it is gone.
So, the question becomes how much to cut? It was early stage, but the tumor was not small, and it was right in the middle of the kidney- so they could not cut out only some of the kidney, they needed to remove the entire right kidney to be sure.
"But you've got a good backup kidney," he said. “That’s why we have two.” Love that joke. It becomes so less funny every time I think it.
So, that is what my nephrologist (kidney surgeon) did last Thursday- a week ago. He cut out my right kidney. It went well, I stayed overnight only one night in the hospital, and went home about 1pm the next day. Two little holes on the right side of my belly, and one 4 inch slice in the middle like an exclamation mark above my belly button, lol- which seems weird because the kidneys are generally thought of as being in back. But it was an easier access route for him. Fine with me.
My prognosis is very, very good. Like I mentioned above, I probably won't have ongoing treatments, but my doctors will keep an eye on things for awhile.
Kidney cancer is a very survivable one, but has few symptoms, so many people don't get diagnosed until a much later stage, when it has already spread. So far, I am lucky that there is no sign that it had spread, and so my outlook is good. Most people can do just fine with one kidney and without even making significant dietary or lifestyle changes.
But early detection is so important. And mine was only detected early because of a great doctor. And my recovery is so much better thanks to a wonderful woman who loves me as much as I love her- and she's also a nurse, which is a wonderful thing.
See your doctor regularly. Fight to improve health insurance. Let’s find a way to make it unconnected to work. I was fortunate that I have a good employer and bosses. and generally good health insurance. But those points shouldn’t need to be related.