Recovery

Surgery went well. They removed my adrenal gland and kidney on my left side, along with some lymph nodes.

They took me back somewhere around noon, after giving me a sedative in the IV while in pre-op. I woke up somewhere around 8 hours later, not even realizing at first the time or that I had even had my surgery already. I have to hand it to modern medicine. They are really able to do amazing workI’ve not needed anything stronger than a Tylenol for pain. Even if I don’t take it, I’d don’t really have a lot of pain, more of a discomfort really, unless I have to cough or sneeze. I’ve spent the past several days sitting in the chair rotating between sleep, reading, or watching whatever crap happens to be on the tv. I do take walks, as ordered by the doctor, admittedly though I need to take more as a i can feel my calves tightening up the longer I sit.

The doctors have not given me any special kind of diet to follow, though Melanie and Gabriel have completely changed the family’s diet to a much healthier version of what we used to eat. I knew we needed to make these changes already as I have become more of a desk jockey and have employees doing all the work now, but it is going to take time for this adjustment to sink in. Gabriel does say he has a “Healthy” version of a pizza, hopefully it’s not a cauliflower crust kind of thing. lol.

All in all, the past couple of weeks have been a complete blur to me. On June 30 I basically peed blood. July 1 we were in our. Doctors office. July 2 I had my first CT Scan of my abdominal area and it showed a mass on the kidney and adrenal gland. Of courses this all happens during the Holiday so time felt like it was standing still. After being referred to UNC Chapel Hill Melanie was able to get me in for an appointment fast, I’m sure the size of my mass helped in that regard.

A week after July 4 on Thursday I’m getting another CT Scan of chest and being told surgery is my first option as long as the Scan comes back clear. It would probably be 4-6 weeks before there was a time slot for surgery though. I found out that that was a concern of the surgeon though because of the size for the mass. It was primed to spread throughout my body. When additional operating rooms came online, I was at the very top of the list for surgery. We got a call on Friday, a day after my first appointment with the oncology team, and was informed surgery was scheduled Tuesday. The nurse asked if I was ok with scheduling the surgery. While my head was spinning from how fast everything was happening, of course we were ecstatic to get these tumors out of my body!

My next appointment is my post-op appointment on August 20. My surgeon actually wants that moved up as he prefers I be seen 3 weeks post-op. He is out of the country that week on vacation which is why I was scheduled 4 weeks rather than 3 weeks. Full recovery is expected anywhere from 6-12 weeks. Since I’m on the younger side of kidney cancer, it will most likely be towards the shorter time frame. I’m not allowed to lift anything more than 10 lbs for the next six weeks. Luckily it’s too hot for me here in NC this time of year and I’ll have no problem being a hermit in the A/C. Lol. At the 6 week mark we will then decide on whether to do immunotherapy/chemotherapy, or some other kind of therapy. I’ll also be the subject of multiple CT Scans a year over the next 5 years to make sure the cancer doesn’t grow back..Kidney cancer has a pretty high rate of reoccurrence.

I truly believe that God has had his hand on this entire process, for more reasons than what I’ll put in this post. I believe He knew what was coming and orchestrated the past several years of our lives to put us in the position we are currently in. I was truly blessed to be able to receive, and continue to receive, care from one of the best hospitals in the country.

Love you all and thank you for all the positive comments, and prayers. It really does make a difference!

Eric