Hi everyone,
About four weeks ago I got a phone call out of the blue by a Dr telling me that an MRI scan I'd had done on my lower back (I have a bulging disc) had shown up something unusual with my kidneys and could I go for a CT scan so they could determine what it was. I had the scan within a week and a few days after that I was called into my local hospital. The Dr explained that I had a very large cyst on my left kidney and also 3 small ones on my right kidney, he said that the left one and one of the ones on the right where in fact cancerous, I got a letter through the post a few days later confirming that I had Renal Cell Carcinoma. I then had to have a meeting with the surgeon who explained that he was going to remove my left kidney by robotic laparoscopy and that the right one would just be 'monitored'. To complicate matters I have a long standing blood disorder (APS) that means I'm on blood pressure meds and also Warfarin, as such they're making me stop my warfarin 5 days before surgery and also one of my blood pressure meds on the day of surgery. I'm going in for the surgery on Monday and I'm not afraid to say that I'm terrified, I've had dozens of surgeries over the years but nothing as major as this and the APS only complicates the matter as I'm already at risk of blood clots, Don't suppose anyone's had this surgery with a clotting/blood disorder?
