Surgery Monday, wish me luck!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

As mentioned in a previous thread, after many, many ordeals with my kidneys, mostly my right kidney, on Monday morning I am being hospitalized for a nephrectomy-complete removal of my right kidney. Not only has it been nothing but trouble for the past five years or so (producing stone after stone, infection after infection), but now, it harbors a very large stone that is harboring an infection. The infection will not clear up for good until the stone is gone. The kidney is so atrophied (and only functioning at about 10%) that they really can’t get the stone out without chopping up the kidney. And they don’t want to. The damned thing has gotten to the point where it’s doing more harm than good.

So, on September 14th, at 10AM, my urologist will remove my right kidney.

With luck, I’ll only be two nights in the hospital. I should be home some time late Wednesday. My husband has arranged for a week off to help care for me. After that, I will rely on my support network, and fortunately, I have a good one!

So, wish me luck, say a prayer (if your heart is in it), send good vibes, whatever.

I’ve had probably close to a dozen major surgeries over the years, and you’d think I’d get ho-hum about them after a while, but I don’t. If I give myself time to think about them, I freak out.

I had all my pre-op testing today: renal scan, chest X-ray, EKG, all the necessary blood work (except for the type and cross, which will be done Monday morning). And I can use all the good vibes you have.

I’m told it’s 6-8 weeks for a full recovery.

2

Surgery shmurgery. People live through surgeries all the time. Hold my beer and watch this… Okay maybe I can’t recreate someone living through a surgery, but still. :stuck_out_tongue:

You’ll be fine and posting on the SDMB before you know it. I’ll pen you into my schedule as “Send Good Vibes to norinew.” :slight_smile:

3

OK, I’ll hold your beer, but, fair warning: if it’s good beer, I may drink it while I’m here! After all, beer is good for flushing the kidneys, and mine need all the help they can get! :wink:

Thanks for penciling me in! :cool:

4

When I had my last surgery, I asked the doctor when I could resume having sex. He suggested that I wait until I was out of the recovery room.

Good luck. This one may be a pisser. ::rimshot::

5

I’m not actually a beer drinker, so you can have it. If I hand you a can of Dr Pepper on the other hand, every single drop better still be in it when I retrieve it or you’ll be having more than just a kidney removal surgery.

And you’re not actually pencilled in, I use Google Calendar. :cool:

6

We expect pictures!

OK, maybe not.

Good luck.

7

Good luck!

(Sorry, I can’t think of anything pissy, er… pithy to say.)

8

Best wishes are headed your way! I’m sure you’ll keep us posted.

9

Y’all have some awesome doctors.

10

Best wishes and hefty prayers!

{{{norine}}}

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I will indeed add you to my prayers and to the intentions of the entire congregation. Here’s my wish that you are back and posting soon and that this illness is nothing but a memory from here on!

12

No fun! Sending out a wish for a safe operation and a speedy recovery!

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Body fluid humor just gets me all hot and bothered! But then, you knew that, didn’t you? ;):smiley:

I may actually have to have at least some kind of sex in the recovery room. My surgeon is awfully cute! http://www.baltimoresun.com/media/photo/2009-03/45333484.jpg My doc is the guy standing up, and believe me, that pic is not a flattering one. He’s a cutie. A charmer, too! The fact that we’re both happily married shouldn’t stop us; after all, it’s not like either his wife or my husband will be in the recovery room. :wink:

Covered_In_Bees, you can have your Dr Pepper. But if you don’t drink beer, you’d probably pick a piss-poor one (see, y’all aren’t the only ones who can make pee jokes! :stuck_out_tongue: ); I’ll have a Sam Adams Boston Lager, please!

runner pat, if they’d let my hubby in the operating room, he’d watch! And if they’d let him bring his camera, believe me, you’d get your pictures! Bleah.

BiblioCat and Scarlett, thanks for the good wishes. I’m not sure when I’ll feel up to checking in again, but as soon as I can, I’ll make at least a brief post to let y’all know how it’s going. Of course, I hope to be under the influence of lots of good narcotics, so I don’t know how coherent it’ll be. . .especially if I wash the narcotics down with the Sam Adams!

kopek, thanks! The more prayers the better!

Khadaji, of all the posters on this board, I feel a certain kinship with you because you’re the one poster I know of who gets hacked on maybe even more than I do! Thanks for the good wishes!

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STOOPID ROTTEN KIDNEY. I wish you a s-PEE-dy (sorry:)) recovery Hon. My prayers go with you hugs

15

Not really. My last surgery was an orthopedic procedure on my right hand. I didn’t get any for 3 weeks. :mad:

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Good luck and hope you have a speedy recovery!

I’ve had a couple of kidney stones but nothing compared to the trouble you’ve had over the years. At least the darn thing won’t be able to cause you any more trouble after this.

Oh, and once they give you the drugs, you’ve got an excuse to flirt with the doctor. You can always blame it on the anesthesia later!

17

Kidney, shmidney. If it’s trouble, then I’m glad you’re getting rid of it. Hope things go quickly and easily and you’re up and around in no time. I’m sure you’re in good hands.

Surprised they didn’t toss the type and cross in with the rest of the blood work. Did they say why?

18

Norine, did the doctor tell you that you’ll wake up in a bathtub full of ice?

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All my best thoughts norinew. You deserve to have this over with.

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Thanks for the good wishes, but I don’t for a minute believe you’re sorry for the bad joke! :stuck_out_tongue:

That’s really the bottom-line reasoning behind this surgery. At this point, the kidney is doing more harm than good. Hopefully, even though my left kidney produces stones, too, after this, I won’t be sick as often.

I like the way you think! :wink: Unfortunately, lying on the recovery room table, hair up in one of those silly little caps, devoid of any makeup, cologne, nail polish, etc. (all of those things are a no-no going into surgery; I can’t even use deodorant that morning!), ‘sexy and flirtatious’ is not how I’m feeling! I’m more likely to turn on the charm to whoever I think is most likely to give me more morphine! :smiley:

For reasons I don’t understand, a type and cross has to be done within 72 hours of the surgery; I had my blood work yesterday, surgery’s not 'til Monday. So, missed it by 24 hours! Ugh. Oh, well. The nurse at my surgeon’s office said they’ll probably just draw the type and cross through the IV line after they get the IV going. And fortunately, there’s a particular nurse in surgery at that hospital who seems to have a gift for getting an IV started on me (I can be a ‘hard stick’ sometimes). I always ask for him by name!

VunderBob, now, what kind of question is that? I mean, part of the whole ‘waking up in a bathtub full of ice’ thing is the surprise factor. If he told me, it’d ruin the whole effect! And frankly, if there’s enough morphine involved (or IV Dilaudid; that’s good, too), I don’t give a damn how much ice I’m in! :wink: