What I thought was food poisoning during my Africa trip in April, turned out to be a large kidney stone obstructing my right kidney. During imaging in preparation for surgery to remove the stone, doctors found a mass on my left kidney and the C word was bantered about. I also started suffering from what I thought were leg cramps on my right leg, and went in for a sonogram and another CT scan. Minutes after leaving the radiology lab on May 10th, my doctor called and told me to immediately get to the ER. The new CT scan showed that I was suffering from a pulmonary embolism from blood clots originating from my right leg. I was hospitalized for three days in May (the first time I had to be admitted for an overnight stay in a hospital since I was 11 years old and had my tonsils removed.). I spent a total of three nights at Hoag Memorial in May.
Because of the blood clots, I was put on blood thinners and told the surgery on both kidneys would have to be delayed at least a couple months. In the interim, the CT scan raised concerns about a large number of gallstones. I’ve known about these for a couple of years, and given my travel itineraries, my primary doctor had previously recommended removal of my gall bladder since it was a ticking time bomb that could be dangerous if I suffered an obstruction while traveling in undeveloped countries. The CT scan also showed that I had a significantly enlarged appendix, so that was added to the anatomy removal list.
I had to cancel my trip to Kazakhstan and the other four central Asian “stan” countries in May & June to allow the blood clots to dissolve. Due to the fact that I had just been put on blood thinners and I would have to be off them to have my surgery, it was decided that the left kidney surgery, gall bladder and appendix removal would be done simultaneously, but I would first have to have the surgery to remove the stone from the right kidney and ensure that kidney was working properly before the surgery to remove either a portion or the entire left kidney.
I had surgery to install an IVC filter to prevent blood clots from getting to my lungs at the end of June in preparation for the kidney stone surgery on my right kidney which occurred the first week of July. I did travel to Alaska at the end of July with both kids and family friends and then to Japan from August 29 to September 15. Another CT scan revealed scarring on the tubes of my right kidney from where the stone had been removed in July. Since it was possible I would lose my left kidney in today’s surgery, a stent was reinstalled in my right kidney during an outpatient surgery on 9/23 in preparation for the major surgeries on 9/30/2024.
Post-op update: Two separate surgeons operated on me on September 30th; one removed the kidney tumor and another my gallbladder and appendix. The last 2 surgeries went without a hitch. The renal oncology surgeon was able ro remove only 40% of my left kidney, leaving me with 1.6 kidneys when all is healed. While the pathology confirmed the tumor was cancerous, the margins are clear and all signs are that I’m currently cancer free. Waking up from the seven hour surgery was like a horror movie scene: I was in agony and couldn’t move with tubes and wires coming in and out my body everywhere. The nurses quickly put pain killers in my IV which helped tremendously even though I was in a perpetual daze. Within two days the pain had subsided to a tolerable level and I could actually get out of bed.
The complication was that I ran a consistent low-grade fever, and some small amount of urine was leaking from the reconstructed kidney. Last Monday, the renal surgeon went back in and installed a stent and catheter in my left kidney to direct all urine out of the bladder. After 11 days in the hospital, I was discharged on Thursday. I’m back at home but I have a drain connected to the kidney wound site and a Foley catheter which aren’t fun. Home health care nurses are supposed to visit me (one so far). Hopefully, the catheter and drain will come out later this week as Im weary of appearing like a handyman’s plumbing project.
