BOB JK My diary of kidney cancer (to be continued)
FormerMember
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Hi, My name is Bob and I live in Cambridgeshire. I am married with an 8 yr old daughter and three older step sons. Up untill the end of last year everything was tickety boo having recently moved to a new house which we love. Work was busy but enjoyable. I am Manager of an electrical companys maintenance department and my Wife, Linda was enjoying her job as a Nurse. The three boys are buying there own house nearby and all work locally. In November I went to my Doctors with a small "cyst" on my chest. After a couple of referals and many Xrays, pet scans, bone scans and CT scans I was told the news everybody dreads. My lump on the chest was a secondary cancer of which the primary was in my left Kidney. I was fast tracked to the Royal Brompton, under the expert care of Mr Laddas who informed a long and complicated operation would need to be carried out to remove the bone tumor and surrounding bone which involved two ribs,my collar bone and chest bone. I did not have time to panic, the operation was carried out the next day over 10 hrs. After nearly two weeks in the Brompton I am recovering well from this op but I have since been told that the Cancer is in both kidneys as well as small mets in both lungs. It seems at the moment further ops are out the question and i have been put on the drug Sutent. I am one week into this and so far so good. I do not know what the future holds but I have to remain positive.
Indeed all tubes have now gone and I will be gone tomorrow as they have said I can go home tomorrow. Although wound site is painfull , it is controlled and bearable and I can move about, unlike last time.
Im still hopeing to get home tomorrow but another infection might stop me. I certainly feel better in myself but the wound site is quite painfull, even with oramorph. There is redness around the wound so they have put me on antibiotics and marked the area to keep tabs on it. Linda and Kate have again been over and it was great to see them both. Kate has taken great delight in walking me around the ward areas to get some exercise and she has been treated as a bit of a celebrity since the nurses have seen her feature in a magazine we bought in with us. When the issue goes on line electronically I will post a link to it. Tonight for the first time I could eat solid food s and choose fish and then hated it so that was a bad choice. Tomorrow I will play safe. Care is still very good and everybody bending over backwards to make sure im ok so the moaning did a bit of good.
Guess what folks, I cannot get to sleep again. I sometimes have trouble at home so it is always worse in a hospital. I have just been to see the night nurse and got me a cup of tea and now ive resorted to watching itv 2 untill \I hopefully drop off. I think the infection around my wound seems a bit better so I am hopefull the antibiotics I am on are doing some good. Its probably a good job im in a room by myself as I have an enourmous wind problem which at least shows things are on the move., hopefully in the right direction. I think I would rather be in a ward as I am a social sort of person but as I have private healthcare with my firm I get a room to my self. Its not all its cut out to be, it gets very lonely when Linda and Kate have gone and you can still hear lots of noise through the wall. I always seem to get the room beside the person that has dozens of family staying all hours and not worrying at all about noise.
Hi, Bob, I am back now at home and so on line again, gather that you had the second op and am sending you my very best wishes for a smooth recovery now.....hope you do as well this time as you did last, but do take your time!
I have been told that I am free to go home today which is exellent news. My wound, although still a bit red , seems to be responding to the antibiotics and hopefully that will clear up soon. Linda has taken Kate to school then she will be driving up to pick me up and I hope to be home around tea time. Things are still very uncomfortable but workable. I need to make sure I have plenty of oramorph at home and all the other tablets that i have been taking during my stay in hospital. All in all a good result and await eagerly the histology report in about three weeks time and I have also been told to book a bone scan and normal ct scan.
