Kidney Don't Fail Me Now!

So the final pathology report was posted to my chart. I read it. I'm not going to pretend to understand what it's telling the doctors. I do know enough to see that the report is a genomic sequencing (and I thought my Biology degree was worthless!). The good news is my surgeon called to discuss the report and findings. What I have learned: Kidney cancers are classified based on cell type. The classification determines follow up treatment. The challenge: The genomic sequencing of my cancer was inconclusive.  Hmm. Just my luck. But this is exactly why when I chose my provider, I wanted to make sure that I chose a comprehensive cancer center. We are fortunate here in L.A. to have a couple of them within driving distance (albeit a long drive).  What this means for me is that my surgeon has reached out to a kidney cancer specialist - Dr. Sumanta Pal. Just happens that he is one of (if not *the*) expert on kidney cancer. And not just in the U.S. - but the world.  I've made an appo

Hard to believe it's been just over 4 weeks since surgery. If you would have asked me before last week, I would have told you that I wasn't "feeling the same" as before the surgery. That seemed to change in the last week. Or perhaps I've gotten used to what's going to be the "new normal" for me. Either way, I'm feeling really good and am ready to just chill for a couple of weeks before returning to work.  Let's see how last week's plan worked out: Wash my Car (including vacuum)   DONE. My car is nice and clean inside and out!    Cook multiple meals : DONE . My back still gets tired after standing form more than about 30 minutes, but as long as I give myself a little extra time, I'm able to get back to this hobby in earnest! Walk 20 minute round trip : DONE . Not only did I get out 20 minutes every other day, yesterday (9/19) I went for a little brisker 30 minute walk. I'll continue every other day for this week, and then target ev

This is going to be a boring update this week. Checking in on last week's goals:  Wash my Car (including vacuum) : FAIL . Keeping this on the plan for this week.   Cook a meal : DONE . As mentioned last week, standing for a long period of time is still a challenge. I just need to plan an hour to cook a 30 minute meal. First meal cooked last week were blackened tilapia fish tacos with corn and black bean salad.   Walk 20 minute round trip : FAIL . I'm pretty close, but these physical activities remain a challenge. I'm going to try to get out early this week and see how I do. Establish long term care plan : FAIL . Pathology report is still pending.   Visiting our new grand daughter : DONE . She's beautiful!  Poker session : DONE . Put in a 5 hour session last Thursday. There is more to this than playing poker - it's the ability to sit in a chair for an extended period of time and focus on a set of tasks. It's kind of like what I need to do at work (yecch!). Physic

It's been two full weeks since the operation. Time to check in to see how I'm doing versus last week's plan: Re-establish my RX regimen : Done . I'm back to my daily medication regimen. I did have an antibiotic added at my doctor's appointment last Thursday, but that's only for one week. Finish weekly grocery shopping : Done . I took Friday last week to do the weekly grocery shopping. Back on track.  Wash my Car (including vacuum) : Kind of Done . I dropped by the car wash on Friday. Intent was to wash my car and vacuum the interior. The problem? The vacuums were out of order! Keeping this one in the "In Progress" category. Cook a meal : Fail.  Some physical activities are still a bit challenging. In the case of cooking, standing for a period of time is tough because I can't engage my core to support my back. The result after a few minutes is a sore and tired back. I'm leaving this in the "In Progress" bucket and will try again toward

Staples that were used to hold the incision together were removed yesterday - essentially two weeks post surgery. There were 30 of them holding the main incision together: I was a little anxious about the possibility of pain when getting them removed, but with the exception of three or four of the staples, the removal felt more like a slight pinch each time a staple was removed. I was kind of hoping that once the staples were removed, the irritation that I had been feeling would go away, but not the case. Everything itches so much! While at my appointment, I was able to discuss a couple other things that have been concerning me: Fatigue : I've been sleeping a lot this week. Not just at night, but taking 1-2 hour naps sometimes multiple times a day. Doctor (actually NP) said this is normal and to expect lower energy level for about 6 weeks. No concern. Freezing : As I write this, OC is in the middle of a heat wave with temps in the upper 90's during the day. In fact, at 8AM, it&