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KIDNEY STONE SURGERY/LUNG SURGERY

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Posted 8/5/2024 4:22 PM (GMT -5)
Surgeon's office called to confirm tomorrow. They said I have to get a x-ray first, then go to the doctor's office. I guess the x-ray is to see what everything looks like inside as far as inside stitches and how everything is healing.

The nurse said I'll be very uncomfortable for awhile. I'll update more after I see doctor tomorrow.
Posted 8/5/2024 5:23 PM (GMT -5)
When I quite smoking I cut a straw to the size of a cigarette. I held it just like a cigarette and puffed on it like a cigarette every time I had a craving. I carried that straw with me everywhere for a long time lol. That was almost 30 years ago now! Hang in there, Michele! You can do this! I don't know if your sense of smell has fully come back yet, but when it does you will realize how stinky cigarettes are and that will help you to kick them for good.
Posted 8/6/2024 11:01 AM (GMT -5)
Just got back from my surgeon. X-ray was very good. NO cancer at all. All lymph nodes were negative. He said I do not need any further treatment. I do have to have another x-ray next month and then after that I need to get cat scans every six months for the next couple of years.

He said I'll be in some pain for awhile. No lifting anything heavy for another two to three weeks. I'll be winded and cough a bit for awhile but it will get better. As far as work goes, he said take it day by day. Once September comes, if I feel up to commuting then I can do it. If not, he will write a letter stating I still need to work from home.

If I didn't have kidney stones, I would of never knew about this. So, I'm very thankful that I did have the stones.

Thanks to everyone for all the support. I really appreciate it!!
Posted 8/6/2024 12:01 PM (GMT -5)
Michele...how did one relate to the other exactly...I don't remember nor can find the post. Timing was perfect and this was caught early...a good thing!

I'm glad you're doing well as per the x-ray report and being monitored.
q
Posted 8/6/2024 1:09 PM (GMT -5)
YAY! RE surgeon's assessment: hopefully you can get CT-scanning reduced to annual after year one. (May be too much radiation to continue every 6 mo. if you're also getting mammo screens. Eventually check what your gyn thinks about that for longer range timings.) Quincy is right RE subbing sweets for cigs! Keep some water handy and sip that instead-- better for UC remission maintenance + your kidneys. Continue taking good care 'cause you've really gone through a lot lately. <<Hugs>> / Old Hat
Posted 8/6/2024 1:54 PM (GMT -5)

quincy said...
Michele...how did one relate to the other exactly...I don't remember nor can find the post. Timing was perfect and this was caught early...a good thing!

I'm glad you're doing well as per the x-ray report and being monitored.
q

When I was doing at scans of my kidneys, the scan picked up the mass on my lung. That's how I found out.
Posted 8/6/2024 1:58 PM (GMT -5)

Old Hat said...
YAY! RE surgeon's assessment: hopefully you can get CT-scanning reduced to annual after year one. (May be too much radiation to continue every 6 mo. if you're also getting mammo screens. Eventually check what your gyn thinks about that for longer range timings.) Quincy is right RE subbing sweets for cigs! Keep some water handy and sip that instead-- better for UC remission maintenance + your kidneys. Continue taking good care 'cause you've really gone through a lot lately. <<Hugs>> / Old Hat

I will check. For now, I go for one more x ray in september. Then after the new year I get a CT scan.

My mother wants me to go to Florida in October for vacation. I told her no way am I traveling anywhere until next year. My body needs a break and from what my surgeon said, this surgery is going to take awhile before I feel 100% better.
Posted 8/6/2024 3:36 PM (GMT -5)
Wow! Other than having pain for "awhile", it is all such good news!!

Who would ever thought they'd be saying "Thank goodness for those kidney stones!" but there we are.
Posted 8/6/2024 6:10 PM (GMT -5)

Michelejc said...
So, I'm very thankful that I did have the stones.

Bet that's something you never thought you would say! It's great that you don't need further treatment and will just be monitored. Great news!
Posted 8/7/2024 6:23 AM (GMT -5)

CCinPA said...

Michelejc said...
So, I'm very thankful that I did have the stones.

Bet that's something you never thought you would say! It's great that you don't need further treatment and will just be monitored. Great news!

LOL Yes, I never thought I'd be saying that. AND I do have a tiny kidney stone that is being monitored. The surgeon that did the kidney stone surgery said that stone was so tiny he couldn't get it out.
Posted 8/7/2024 12:07 PM (GMT -5)
Michele...I know of a few people whose diagnoses for very serious unrelated health issues have been found from scanning.
It's a good plan to lay low re traveling. Is your mom in Florida?

q
Posted 8/7/2024 12:13 PM (GMT -5)

quincy said...
Michele...I know of a few people whose diagnoses for very serious unrelated health issues have been found from scanning.
It's a good plan to lay low re traveling. Is your mom in Florida?

q

My mom is in Florida. I usually go there once a year. And then I also go to Atlanta, where my cousin lives. I told my Mom I'd go there in April or May. My cousin and I will plan something for next year for us both to go to Florida.
Posted 8/8/2024 11:17 AM (GMT -5)
Michelejc,

So glad that you received great news from your doctor!šŸ˜

Ditto on the trip. Perhaps your Mom could come to you later on...or lots of video calls.

The kidney stone thing was such serendipity. What are the odds? So while the kidney stone was an issue it was a blessing in šŸ„ø disguise. I'm so glad they caught it early.

Keep up those breathing exercises until your doctor tells you don't need them any longer.

Clo
Posted 8/8/2024 12:32 PM (GMT -5)
The lung doctor wants me to see an oncologist. I said ok but my surgeon had already said I need no further treatment. Because of the size of the mass that was removed, they want me to talk to the oncologist. They said I don't need to do anything, but having a discussion would be positive. So, I told the lung doctor ok.
Posted 8/8/2024 9:25 PM (GMT -5)
Oncologists subspecialize in tumor development/monitoring so you would probably get more insights into managing your health over time post-surgery from meeting with one who understands the pulmonary growths better than other doctors, and follows or even participates in ongoing research pertaining to them. It could also be that the oncologist would like to follow your case periodically for research purposes-- so might ask you to participate in future surveys involving patients' response to questionnaires, for example. That happened to me a while back after my gastroenterologist was advised by another specialist outside the field to set up a research study on IBD patients who experienced non-GI malignancies. Funding had to be obtained for that project, then afterward I got contacted annually to submit pertinent info on questionnaires the involved researchers compiled for us subjects. Now that I think about it, they haven't contacted me during the last couple years so it might have been discontinued due to the pandemic or a different funding priority. / Old Hat *** P.S. I agree with you RE postponing travel 'til you're 100% recovered from this summer's surgeries.

Post Edited (Old Hat) : 8/8/2024 6:30:01 PM (GMT-8)

Posted 8/9/2024 5:56 AM (GMT -5)

Old Hat said...
Oncologists subspecialize in tumor development/monitoring so you would probably get more insights into managing your health over time post-surgery from meeting with one who understands the pulmonary growths better than other doctors, and follows or even participates in ongoing research pertaining to them. It could also be that the oncologist would like to follow your case periodically for research purposes-- so might ask you to participate in future surveys involving patients' response to questionnaires, for example. That happened to me a while back after my gastroenterologist was advised by another specialist outside the field to set up a research study on IBD patients who experienced non-GI malignancies. Funding had to be obtained for that project, then afterward I got contacted annually to submit pertinent info on questionnaires the involved researchers compiled for us subjects. Now that I think about it, they haven't contacted me during the last couple years so it might have been discontinued due to the pandemic or a different funding priority. / Old Hat *** P.S. I agree with you RE postponing travel 'til you're 100% recovered from this summer's surgeries.

Thank you for the insight! I have an appointment with the lung doctor next Friday so I am trying to get an appointment with the oncologist for the same day. All of these doctors/surgeons are in one place which makes it so easy when I need to see them.
I was just confused because the surgeon said I don't need any further treatment, just periodic cat scans. So when I got a call to schedule the oncologist I got a bit confused.
Posted 8/9/2024 9:25 AM (GMT -5)
Iā€™m seeing an oncologist for precautionary purposes and while initially upsetting I now find it very reassuring. (I had a highly elevated blood reading that my GI wanted consultation on initially, then a dermatology report on a nodule that indicated some further consultation). The oncologist is very nice and is running blood tests Iā€™ve never heard of. Plus there will be a ct scan. She thinks everything is fine but is just checking all the bases to be sure.

While initially a little freaked about seeing an oncologist I do feel reassured by all the checks sheā€™s doing and no longer have those underlying doubts that tend to creep in once the initial ā€œproblemā€ is gone. Itā€™s just kind of nice knowing that someone knowledgeable in the area is checking all the possibilities.
Hoping you will feel the same!
Posted 8/9/2024 10:30 AM (GMT -5)

FlowersGal said...
Iā€™m seeing an oncologist for precautionary purposes and while initially upsetting I now find it very reassuring. (I had a highly elevated blood reading that my GI wanted consultation on initially, then a dermatology report on a nodule that indicated some further consultation). The oncologist is very nice and is running blood tests Iā€™ve never heard of. Plus there will be a ct scan. She thinks everything is fine but is just checking all the bases to be sure.

While initially a little freaked about seeing an oncologist I do feel reassured by all the checks sheā€™s doing and no longer have those underlying doubts that tend to creep in once the initial ā€œproblemā€ is gone. Itā€™s just kind of nice knowing that someone knowledgeable in the area is checking all the possibilities.
Hoping you will feel the same!

Thanks for this! Other than getting an x-ray next month (per my surgeon), I don't plan to do anything else but I will set up an appointment with the oncologist.
Posted 8/12/2024 7:08 AM (GMT -5)
Finally. The pain is a little bit better this morning. Not much, but a little bit.
Posted 8/12/2024 7:34 AM (GMT -5)
Glad to read this, people tend to down play surgery sometimes, you don't need a large incision to have pain. You had internal work done.
Posted 8/12/2024 8:49 AM (GMT -5)

straydog said...
Glad to read this, people tend to down play surgery sometimes, you don't need a large incision to have pain. You had internal work done.

When I first got up this morning, the pain was less. As I'm moving around, it's getting a bit more. And you are right. While the incision is under the breast and not that big, it's the internal work that was done that needs to heal.
Posted 8/14/2024 10:19 AM (GMT -5)
I go to my regular lung doctor on Friday for a follow-up. This is the doctor that I don't like. If I still feel that I am not comfortable with him, I have another lung doctor that came recommended from a friend who is also in the same building as mine is. So, we will see how it goes.
I did make an appointment with an Oncologist for September. By then, I will have already went for a second x-ray to see how things are healing.
Other than that, taking it day by day with the pain. I'm supposed to go back into the city in September but my surgeon said if I am not ready, he will supply a letter to my job that says I have to work from home. I would like to go back to the city one day a week but I'll take it day by day. I don't want to risk getting a cold, chest cold, etc. while my lung is still healing.
Posted 8/14/2024 9:02 PM (GMT -5)
The I'net reports likelihood of our area getting some wildfire smoke from western Canada plus California fires, another reason for you not to rush back to office work, Michele. Take good care and hopefully you'll be free of rib pain in early September. / Old Hat
Posted 8/15/2024 6:38 AM (GMT -5)

Old Hat said...
The I'net reports likelihood of our area getting some wildfire smoke from western Canada plus California fires, another reason for you not to rush back to office work, Michele. Take good care and hopefully you'll be free of rib pain in early September. / Old Hat

Yes, we got some of that wildfire smoke yesterday. I'm working from home so I won't have to be subjected to that. Right now, I'm planning to go back into the city one day a week some time in September. It depends on the rib pain and if it subsides enough.
Posted 8/16/2024 1:32 PM (GMT -5)
Went to lung doctor today. He said everything looks good and he asked if I set up the appointment with the Oncologist which I did. He said because of the size of what they took out, the Oncologist might recommend one dose of Chemo but it would be entirely up to me. I'll see when I go to the Oncologist in September. Other than that, I have to do periodic cat scans. He also said I'll be sore for a few months. He said it will take time.
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