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OT- countdown to surgery

ESMOD's picture

Submitted by ESMOD on Tue, 07/11/2017 - 9:34am

Sad

So, after a follow up CT scan and a meeting with the urologist this morning, the most likely chance (greater than 90%) is that the lime size tumor on my DH's kidney IS cancerous.

So, the next step is surgery to remove it and a small part of his kidney. This will happen in mid August. He should hopefully be recovered in about 3-4 weeks after that. The prognosis for a successful outcome is 97-98%... so that is good. The likelihood that they will have to remove the entire kidney is very small as well. It's always a possibility, but right now, the doctor is thinks that risk is low.

The CT scan showed no lymph node activity and no other lesions in his abdomen area. So, once this is gone, his outlook is fairly positive.

Of course, financially this is difficult. Not just because of the cost of treatment, but the fact that this is going to keep him from working for at least 2 more months...and we needed him to go to work 2 months ago...lol.

Hopefully all goes as planned and he will be able to get to work in September, keeping my fingers crossed there!

Comments

Cutter's picture

Submitted by Cutter on Tue, 07/11/2017 - 10:07am

I'm glad they caught it in time. Can you tell us what his symptoms were and how it was discovered?

ESMOD's picture

Submitted by ESMOD on Tue, 07/11/2017 - 10:24am

Zero symptoms. The only way it was caught was that he was required to have an MRI for a pre-employment physical and the technician saw it on the images.

They say that he would have not noticed it until it had gotten a whole lot bigger.

Symptoms that would have started would be blood in urine.. but at that point, the staging and prognosis would not have been as good.

ESMOD's picture

Submitted by ESMOD on Tue, 07/11/2017 - 10:51am

The company has a lot of problems with people claiming injuries from the job. Having an MRI going in gives them a basis to prove otherwise.

Tuff Noogies's picture

Submitted by Tuff Noogies on Tue, 07/11/2017 - 10:42am

(((hugs))) and prayers! i'm glad it's a good prognosis, but i totally understand the financial stress. better alive, healthy, and broke, than the alternative. i'll lift up a virtual cocktail and toast him - to esmod's hubby, may the surgery be successful, and may the good karma bus speed it's way to you guys quickly by way of a cushy, profitable place of employment!

ESMOD's picture

Submitted by ESMOD on Tue, 07/11/2017 - 12:09pm

We plan on it!

In the grand scheme of things, finding out now is a blessing... even though we really needed to have him back at work. We can figure out the bill stuff one way or another.

The medical expense will be capped at under 7K.. for out of pocket maximums... so that isn't the end of the world.

ESMOD's picture

Submitted by ESMOD on Tue, 07/11/2017 - 1:31pm

A comedy of errors for sure.

My DH was actually trying to get his boat fixed up to go back to work by himself. The coast guard was being really picky and it made things drag on and he ran out of his renovation money. So, he decided to go to work for a company that had been trying to get him on board for a while. They are the ones that do the MRI's.

If he hadn't gotten delayed.. if we had sold our home in FL earlier and gotten money for him to keep going. If the coast guard had not been so particular, he would probably have never had that MRI. He would likely not have known until it was too late.

So, whatever you call it... someone was looking out for him!

jmh302's picture

Submitted by jmh302 on Thu, 07/13/2017 - 5:44am

My aunt had her kidney cancer found by accident as well. Hers was during a scan of her abdomen because she has a very large hernia.

She was able to have it basically froze off? Is how she described it. Im not sure the details.

Good luck to your family!