Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Maverick on June 08, 2019, 12:35:32 PM
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Hi there. It seems when I have a life changing event I end up talking about it here on the O’Club. I mentioned more than 20 years ago when I was getting engaged, then married. I also talked about the cancer my wife had and was fighting shortly thereafter. I also announced that I was leaving the game in 04 because of the cancer and that our someday was right freaking now, not in the future. I then let folks know when we settled down in TX in 17 and continued monitoring the board.
Now got another event. Last week I left to go to the funeral of a good friend, fellow Motor Officer and Private Pilot. He made a mistake on his bike on the way back from DC where he attended the annual Law Enforcement Memorial activities. This time the mistake, like many we all make when driving cost him his life.
Last Tuesday I headed back home a 2 day drive. I no longer do 12 hour marathon drives. I spent the night but woke up with a disturbing situation. Blood in the urine, a lot of it. I decided I had even more motivation to get home so got a quick breakfast at a truck stop and hit the road. I stopped at the first rest stop to off load the coffee. That’s when I had an even more disturbing issue. The plumbing, MY plumbing, wasn’t working anymore. Made the next exit and returned back to the city (El Paso) and hunted down the first ER I could find. The doc there heard my story and installed a catheter (Foley) and drained me. He looked at the results and told me this was an indicator of nothing good. What was in the bag wasn’t pink, it was dark brick red. He agreed that I was good to go to get home but said I need to be in an ER ASAP. Getting a catheter installed while you are conscious is no freaking fun at all especially if you have scar tissue from a previous surgery like I do. Having a couple younger pretty nurses do it was no help either.
The drive was uneventful other than being rather painful. It’s hard to sit in a confined firm chair for 7.5 hours with a tube RIGHT THERE. When I got home I crawled out of the car and ate a sammich the wife made for me. Then we headed for the ER. We got there at about 7PM. We left at 1 AM. The Doc there ordered a cat scan and came back telling me I had a mass on the left kidney. She had consulted with a Urologist who told me to call his office in the morning. I slept maybe 2 hours and called him as soon as the office opened. Saw him the same day. He looked at the cat scan and confirmed a mush ball sized mass on the left kidney. He said it had been there for years and was likely why my previous doctor had given me a diagnosis of chronic disease (microscopic amounts of blood in urine over time).
He ordered another cat scan with dye contrast. He also flushed out the bladder removing over a couple table spoons worth of blood clots so I could have the catheter removed. It was necessary as when it was removed earlier I plugged up again and had to have it installed all over again. Oh joy. So far so good, no plugging up.
I get the result of the new cat scan next Tuesday and the confirmation of the treatment plan. He is semi confident it has not spread but that is why the new dye cat scan was ordered. He is optimistic we can remove the mass, and almost certainly the kidney it grew from and get it all out. This is not related to the prostate cancer I had, it’s a totally different one.
My purpose in mentioning the details is to advise y’all (TX thang ya know) to pay attention to any traces of blood in the urine and or kidney pain. The blood is the most common way this kind of cancer is found but it does require a cat scan. If you get advised you have trace amounts of blood in the urine during a physical talk to the Doc about the possibility of a cat scan to find out why, stones or other reason for the bleeding.
I ain’t dead yet and plan on fighting like hell to kick this cancers bellybutton just like I did the last one.
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Good luck. Will keep you and yours in our prayers.
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You and yours are in the thoughts and well wishes of me and mine.
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Mike,
Very sorry to hear this news. I will pass it on to Otto.
As far as the kidney cancer, be positive and optimistic. As you know, I had my bout with kidney cancer in late 2004. I'm still here. My operation was hand-assisted laparoscopy which at the time was a bit forward thinking. Beats hell out of the 12" cut and remove operation. Probably by now there's no need to hand assist. I did go to MD Anderson as I figured for something like that you go to the Pros. Can't say that it won't hurt but you will recover.
I will add you to the list of people that I ask to be healed. Keep me informed. Call if you want to talk about it.
One suggestion I got that I think is very valuable is to keep a journal. Write down the contact info of the Docs you talk to, the dates of appointments and a summary of what was done and what was learned. You're going to be pretty busy and you're going to do a lot of scans and get a lot of advice/prognosis. It all runs together and after a while you can't remember who did/said what. This really helped me as the medical journey progressed.
Good luck, squaddie! Keep us informed.
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Sorry to hear of your new battle, will add you to the prayer list. Just remember the Master has the master plan. :rock :pray
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Hey my friend. I'm sorry that it took this to say hi but I think of you often and the fun we used to have. There's no reason why we should be as healthy as we were when we were 20, but still, it doesn't make it any easier. I just want you to know that you're loved and that you have real friends out here that care about you. I have strong faith in God and I will ask him to be with you and give him peace that passes understanding and more importantly, healing. if you feel up to it, give me a call at 913-208-3807 anytime you want to talk or just catch up. I love you buddy and while this world has little to offer, God is faithful.
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God bless!
I had a cancer scare, though nothing this serious, per se. Just a bone headed, hamfisted diagnosis that didn't last a thorough exam, blood test and ultrasound, though a pretty rough few days.
I wish you a speedy recovery.
Boo
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:pray 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏For a speedy, complete recovery.
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I am sorry to hear this. Kick its ass.
Also, diddly cancer.
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It's me R :saluteude
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Saw the Doc yesterday. The new cat scan showed more details and still indicates no spread. We will know more once he gets inside. The tumor was a bit better defined in the scan and he updated the size to just about football shaped. He is hopeful that he will be able to save the gall bladder but told me to be prepared for it to be gone since it is right up against the sucker. He is still optimistic that removal will result in a "cure" but only time and continued checking, like the prostate cancer situation was 10 years ago, will tell. I will worry about it after wards. I am positive and plan on kicking this thing.
Surgery was set for next Tuesday. So there won't be a prolonged wait and that is fine with me. This freeloader has trespassed long enough and I want it evicted.
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You don't need that gall bladder. Best to get rid of it anyhow. Here's to a clean bill. :cheers:
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Good luck Mav!
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Man! Lots of depressing news :(
Pulling for you to kick it in the butt and get a clean bill of health!
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Hang in there Mav. I have been going through some stuff myself so I know just how you feel. Had a little procedure 2 weeks ago...LOL ya 2 weeks thats the ticket!
I set some goals,something to look forward to and plan for,seems to be helping me.... :old:
:salute
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Update on Mav:
Surgery this morning. Here's the report. Maybe when he gets up and around he'll post pics.
"Mav's out and in recovery, then icu. Doc says it went well and sent pictures of freddy the freeloader for Mav to see. It was huge. Mav will have abig scar on his front under his ribs. Tumor was football size"
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Wow.... glad he is doing ok. Thanks for the update.
Let him know we are all thinking about him.
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Mav is out of ICU into a regular room. The docs disconnected the epidural medications and he's on regular old pills now. Says the folks at the hospital are very nice.
So, looking good so far.
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They gonna let him keep the football in a jar?
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Put it in a jar and mark it Abby Normal.
:D
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Tumors, both football or basketball size, still amaze me. I'm glad it went without a hitch. More and more, I'm hankerin' for another pub meet-n-greet with fellow AHers. I'm jealous of those Finns!
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Mav
Best of luck to you, being another one of the old AW survivors :old: I sadly see too many posts like this these days and wonder how old "internet" friends are doing these days, I started back on aol with strings and sticks I think...
Too many stories of us people getting sick, I found out myself Type 2 diabetes has been lurking without my paying too much attention... I am learning I am no longer invincible..lol...
I wish you well and hope for your recovery to go easy,
NwBie
(Lurking on the boards still :) )
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Hey there folks. I R back. Just got home yesterday afternoon (Sun) and spent the rest of the day just enjoying being out of the hospital. It was a nice place but happy to be out. MY recliner is a hell of a lot better than the hospital version. Mobility sucks still. I can walk a bit but that is about all. Just now the pain is pretty tolerable with a pill 3 times a day. I expect to be cutting them back shortly.
So nice to be able to sit at my PC desk now with my security pillow over the incision. I hope to be able to sleep in my bed later on in the week. Just too darn painful to try and twist and turn in the bed for getting in or out.
I do have a couple pics of Freddie the freeloader. I can send them to Toad to be uploaded here. I don't have much in the way of picture software and none for online storage anymore. The fist pick is the tumor as removed with a ruler for scale, What is left of the kidney looks more like a nipple at the bottom compared to the rest. The second is kind of cut open. I'd say I have been living with one kidnewy for quite some time already so transition to a single unit won't be a big deal.
Not up to doing much walking yet and every phone call means a walk across the house to where the cell phone will work. gotta get a signal amp asap I guess.
Catch up with y'all later on. Had breakfast, time for a nap, sigh....
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:aok. Outstanding! Congratulations on escaping the hospital. There’s nothing like being home, and being able to sleep more than 20 minutes at a time, if that.
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I agree with Puma (which isn't an oddity).
:cheers:
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Glad you're back Maverick. :aok
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Great news!
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Gentlemen, the pics are not for the faint-hearted.
I don't have a pic hosting site at present. I'll have to go set one up.
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Gentlemen, the pics are not for the faint-hearted.
I don't have a pic hosting site at present. I'll have to go set one up.
Imgur. Its free.
https://imgur.com/ (https://imgur.com/)
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LOL...just did that! Let's see if it works.
OK, not sure how to get the image to display but here's the link. Any tips on making it show as an image appreciated.
https://imgur.com/a/oiSHjCb
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Here you go...
(https://i.imgur.com/jZIcQN3.jpg)
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test
Passed ... I think.
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OK, got it figured out. Just need to resize.
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(https://i.imgur.com/nNKmQzl.png)
Lawdy! That is indeed one helluva Tumor!
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(https://i.imgur.com/lVXvvxX.jpg?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/00Y2sbu.jpg?1)
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Yep.
Thanks, guys. I'm slow but I get there eventually!
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Erg. That kidney looks pretty messed up.
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What's left of the kidney is the dark red shiny part at bottom of the big photo. Wasn't much left of it. Bastage hid itself slowly eating the organ until there was almost nothing left and that was when I got the symptom, significant blood and clots in the bladder.
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Oh! I needed further context. Holy moley!
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Great googlymoogly! Glad you made him get out and walk. Hoping for a speedy recovery!
Eff cancer.
Wiley.
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Wow! :salute
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Holy freaking crap! Glad they got to it in time!
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:cheers:
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Wow Maverick, it's incredible how large that thing is. Could you feel that inside you at all, other than a generalized feeling of something being wrong?
Hope you heal rapidly, and feel much better after having this surgery.
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Gman, surprisingly not really. Once Freddie was identified, yeah I "could" kind of feel it but not really. Keep in mind this had been growing over several years, likely about a decade I'd guess. Slow growth like that just doesn't give you any feelings. I mean how many of you feel your spleen or gall bladder as long as it works and isn't having major issues? It wasn't until the cancer ate into a blood vessel and cause bleeding, again painless, that I knew anything about it. In retrospect I am fairly confident this was the cause of the GERD symptoms I had been having. Those really ramped up the last year or so. Freddie was displacing the stomach and other "gut area" organs. My gastro doc and I will have to talk about it next month when I see him. My surgeon (urologist) said he's be happy to take credit for curing that issue as well.
Going to get the RR removed (staples) in about an hour or so today and will have another chat with the surgeon.
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Here’s to a quick recovery! Glad you are up and running, Maverick. :aok
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Thanks for the response Mav. One more question if you have time - were the docs able to see it with a regular xray, or did they find/identify it with a CT or MRI?
Again, it's great you're feeling better already and on the mend. I truly hope this will be all behind you very shortly, and that you'll reap the benefits of going through this surgery.
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Gman, It showed up on a cat scan and even better on a second with dye contrast. I am fairly certain SOMETHING would have seemed out of place on an X-ray but not too many folks get an abdominal x-ray. I have had my belly palpated during physicals routinely and no one clued into the presence of the tumor and I had no pain to help out in diagnosing it.
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Great to see you on the upside Maverick!! :cheers:
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Sitrep. Now doing most every day tasks again. Still some residual pain and I am weaning my self on the pain meds. Now down to 1/2 tablet in the morning and at night. I figure to be off of them in a day or so, maybe an OTC Tylenol if needed. Still kinda weak and taking things easy. Looking forward to being off the heavy T10's entirely so I can drive to the range and pop some caps. The light at the end of the recovery tunnel is definitely in sight.
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Great report! 👍🇺🇸
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Nice to hear.
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Thanks for the response Mav, great to hear you're on the mend so quickly.
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Hey Mike, just read your story, I ve not been on much due to resettlement in MT and spotty internet when we were campground hosts.
Glad you on the positive track now.
God bless ya man!
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Hey Mike, just read your story, I ve not been on much due to resettlement in MT and spotty internet when we were campground hosts.
Glad you on the positive track now.
God bless ya man!
WOW Howdy Rip... hope all is going your way!!