A Return to the BLOG

For the past two weeks I have been resting in the care of others as I am recuperating from my kidney surgery. All in all, it has been a good experience with relatively little discomfort. I have come to appreciate all the support one needs when recovering and the special demands that places on family. Last Friday Marilyn (wife) Martin (son) and I met with Dr. Thomas Takayama, my surgeon, for a follow up on the surgery. He was pleased with my progress and presented the pathology report. He removed the left kidney and surrounding tissue, the kidney vein and a tumor which extended into the inferior vena cava. Renal cell carcinoma was found in the kidney, kidney vein and vena cava. It was assessed a nuclear grade of 3 of 4 (Fuhrman's system). A few lymph nodes excised with the kidney tested positive for cancer, however a lymph node removed a little further from the site was negative. In general the tumor material is positive for malignancy while the margins, walls of the vena cava and other tested sites are negative. This seems to me to be a very positive outcome. No further treatment of the kidney cancer is envisioned at this time. There may be a further response if and when the cancer reappears. There was one negative note. Marilyn and I had scheduled an Alaska Cruise several months ago. I thought I would be feeling well enough to enjoy the cruise in a couple of weeks. Dr. Takayama had another point of view. He suggested that for five to six weeks following such major surgery there are the possibilities of complications, blood clots, etc. Should that occur, the medical resources in Alaska are simply not adequate to take care of the problem and therefore he strongly discouraged the trip. He said it would be great to visit San Francisco or Los Angeles where there are lots of specialists, but not Alaska at this time. So we will miss Alaska this time. Fortunately we bought cancellation insurance just in case some medical emergency should appear. Posted by Donel at September 5, 2004 02:17 PM