Well, I appreciate the kind words- I really do. I'm no hero by any stretch, but I do try to help. Personal attention? Well- I kind of brought this upon myself, didn't I? I blew the lid off it the other day in another thread, while trying to wrap my head around it. Sometimes it just helps to talk. I might just as well explain it here, because I know there's another caring member or two that I said I'd explain it to and haven't gotten around to it yet. I was feeling decent enough yesterday, and was more interested in working on my kart than typing. That's the way it should be, right?
Last weekend, I found myself in some incredible, gut wrenching pain. So painful that I couldn't speak, or barely move. I recognised this pain as a kidney stone, as I have had 2 prior stones in the past 5 years.
So, off to the hospital I went. Figured I'd get some morphine, couple tests, be told I had a stone, and move on. Wrong.
I spent 4 hours in the hospital that night, and was discharged at midnight. There was nobody available to operate the CT scan machine, so I had instuctions to come back the next morning for a scan. No problem. My parents literally live a block away from this hospital. So I crashed out at my parent's place and was awakened at 5am by that pain again. Dangit! Well- had to go to the hospital later anyway, so off I went. More drugs, more tests, more waiting. The hospital had goofed on the requisition form, and the CT scan was not expecting me, so I had to wait for hours.
Finally, I got the scan, and awaited the result. In time, a doctor came along. Told me that no stone was visible in the scan, and he wanted another one done, this time with a contrast agent (a dye, if you will) to make the results mush sharper. Hours later, scan #2 complete with dye. In all this time, I also had a couple x-rays done, and all the drugs I wanted. Yay!
Somewhere in all of this, they figured out I had pneumonia. Not a huge surprise. With all the demolition work I have been doing lately (as a result of the July 8 Toronto floods) I have been breathing a lot of undesirable crap), and had a tightness in my chest. No Big deal. I have recurring asthma, I'm used to it.
Eventually, a doctor showed up. Told me I had a "mass" on my right kidney. What? Get this- They found all the paperwork from my kidney stone 3 years ago, and found the "mass" then, too- but smaller. Yet nobody had mentioned this to me? I still don't get it. Mass? Now I'm a little scared. I was told I'd have a date with a specialist in the next day or two, given some pharmaceuticals, and away I went.
Next day, the specialist's office called, and told me to come in as soon as I was able. Wierd- usually, appointments are set and you come when they dang well tell you to! So later that afternoon I went. Here's the upshot-
The mass may or may not be cancerous. It probably is, there's a chance it's not. It has grown, and will continue to. Due to it's size, it must come out. It has already stared to mis-shape the kidney and sooner or later it will cause trauma to my other organs even if it is benign (a Harmless growth, not cancerous).
Unfortunately, it cannot just be cut out. It's location is pretty much right smack in the middle of my kidney, where all the wiring and plumbing is. Odds are good that my kidney just wouldn't be recoverable, so out comes the whole dang thing.
I've become rather attached to my right kidney over the last 40 years, I think I'm going to miss it.
Here's some interesting and fun facts of the matter.
*The pain (according to several people) isn't even my kidney- it's my lung, caused by the pneumonia. From what I have seen and felt over the last week, I believe it. You all ever had a stitch or a cramp? You can breathe in halfway okay, but if you try to breathe deeply it hurts? Yeah, like that. The big pain was wild though- stretched from my right shoulder all the way down my back.
*The "mass" may or may not be cancerous, it probably is, and I will probably never know. They aren't going to waste time with a biopsy, it's gotta go.
*Whatever it is seems well-contained. They found no evidence that it has spread anywhere else.
*My outlook and odds are very good- the expert says that there's a 90%+ chance that I will never have any further, related problems after the surgery, and all my other organs are good.
*A human can survive with 1/3 of one good kidney. I will come out of this with an entire good one.
*The freaky bit- The incredible pain I felt, I thought was a kidney stone. I told the hospital staff that, so they paid attention to my kidneys. Because the x-rays and CT scans overlapped my lungs, they discovered the pneumonia. The pain was actually caused by the pneumonia. If I didn't have the pneumonia (therefore the pain) I wouldn't have gone to the hospital etc. How much further would this thing in my kidney have gotten???
I really feel for my wife. 4 years ago, her dad passed rather suddenly of liver cancer. Only a bit over a week ago, her mother passed. Cancer. Now- she's told her husband may have it! Poor girl. I keep telling her she is NOT getting rid of me that easily!
This past week has been a whirlwind, but I can say this: My outlook is good, my attitude positive. I WILL get through this intact, I WILL survive and move forward. I AM a stubborn sonofagun, and it'll take much more than this to put me down.
Thanks for your concerns fellas! I appreciate the kind words and props. There will be periods where I'm not on as much or not posting much, but I'm not going far!
)
