10/05/2024
I wrote this on September 30th while waiting in pre-op, but never got to post. The picture was taken by my daughter a couple days later. I’m still in the hospital; surgeries went well, but some minor complications. I’ll post a more detailed post-op blurb shortly.
After five months, I’m finally here at the hospital awaiting the much anticipated surgeries. I know I’ve been somewhat cryptic about what is going on, especially on social media posts, but here is the run down….
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 today.
