My Kidney Cancer Blog

Well, it was a week ago when I was laying in the ‘Recovery Room’ in the Milstein Building of the Columbia University/Urology section, on the 3^rd floor. I remember that my throat hurt terribly because of the tube that was inserted through my month to help me breathing during the laparoscopic nephrectomy. I recall saying to myself: “here I am now, a kidney cancer patient with Renal Cell Carcinoma, who just had his left kidney removed, and all I’m worrying about is my darn throat.” I�...

(Giving "The Machine" its due - a picture of the "Da Vinci" Robot - the same type that was used during the removal of my left kidney)


Time flies by, doesn’t it? I has been almost already a week ago, when I had my surgery done. Well, I’m still wearing might hospital gown. I love that thing, it’s extremely practical plus it just adds on perfectly to the whole image of a suffering patient. Hehehe, I know, I’m evil and sinister. We had actually some snow yesterday but it seems to melt away...

(Photo of my abdomen with the stitches after the surgery)

Last night I was in terrible pain for a about 30 minutes. But surprisingly, it wasn’t the abdomen that caused me such tremendous discomfort, but my right shoulder. I’ve been picking my brain since why on earth my shoulder and not my back, for instance. Because after all, most of time I’m sitting on my butt on rather cushiony stuff. That can get to your back after a while, but the shoulder? But I just received a call from my brot...

(has been waiting patiently for me to return from the hospital: Puppy Troy)

Pretty much exactly 72 hours ago, the anesthesiologists brought me into the operating room for my surgery. Ann and I talked about that very moment yesterday. She had tears in her eyes when they came to get me. I remember that - as nervous as it was for me– I was so relieved that it was me having the procedure done and not her. For selfish reasons, because I wouldn’t have been able to deal with my worries if it had ...