Friday 14 October 2016

Out damned kidney.

Well, yesterday now seems like it whizzed by.
I came straight home after we left him. And then texted and rang everyone to let them know. Did three loads of washing. Played with Freddie. Clock watched a fair bit.
I rang at three. They said he was in recovery and that all seemed well. Ring back in an hour or so.
At 4.16pm I rang back. He was fine. He was on the ward. He'd had some water. The operation had gone as planned with no complications.
We could visit.

On ICU he looked sleepy but totally fine. He looked a lot better in fact, than he had when he was waiting to go down in the morning! He was attached to monitors. He had a large drain in the wound. He had a catheter. He had an epidural machine. A normal saline drip and a morphine button.
His lips and mouth were dry. He sounded weak and eyes kept closing. But they then sat him up and he was drinking water and talking. He complained of pain in his shoulder. I told him this was normal and is actually transferred pain.

The nurse looking after him let me see the surgery notes. Findings were an upper pole large RCC with adrenal adherent amongst other things like veins and arteries. I tried to remember but haven't. The removed the whole kidney and the adrenal gland and the procedure actually only took 2hours and 45 minutes! He lost a litre of blood. No other complications. He's got disolvable sutures inside and staples on the outside.

She said to ask if I didn't understand anything.  I actually understood more than I thought I would!

Then one of his anaesthetists came to chat to him about the importance of moving and using his pain
relief for relieving the pain. Don't be brave and don't be still!

The other doctor came, the one who'd led him away in the morning. She said he looked good and that he'd done really well. I asked her about the kidney and she said it was massive. Which is why his scar was so huge. I asked her about the broken table. She said
They'd positioned him on his right side, then they 'break' the table by making a large /\ shape so his left side is stretched right out.
Found this on google images 

Looks comfy doesn't it?! So actually some pain will probably come from being in that position for so long! They said it was Hobson's Approach, something beginning with S and a word like Thunderbolt was used too. I didn't ask about these. I may do today. 

It said he could have a light breakfast the next day and be up out of bed. Moved to a ward when appropriate and then discharged when ready. 

He will go back and see Mr Cutting in four weeks time.

It was clear and we knew already that good rest is the key to recovery so we left him and came home. 
For the first time in weeks I sell through from 11pm to about 6am. 

I've just rung the ward now. He had a non eventful night and the physics were there with him helping him out of bed. OUCH! 

Thanks for all your well wishes. I think they worked! Who knew? The power of Blogger!! 

Till the next time ... 



13 comments:

  1. Here's to a continued recovery. NHS at its best.
    Best wishes.

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  2. May I just compliment HG on a fine pair of buttocks in that picture! Oh, hang on, you got the image from google so it's not him. Doh! I thought you were being very generous sharing that picture of him!

    Seriously, glad the op is done and that it went well. All best wishes for a steady recovery and for you to catch up on some sleep and, hopefully, the stress levels to start coming down. Take care xxx

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  3. Oh Rachel I am so glad it went well.
    I wish your hubby a good recovery.
    Mine goes in on Monday for his Prostatectomy-x-

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  4. Very relieved to read all this and thankful that things have gone so well. Sending love and positive, healing vibes.
    J xxxxx

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  5. Glad it all went well and that it didn't take as long as expected although I bet every minute felt like an hour to you. They have you up and out of bed so quickly these days. Makes me wonder how many people in years gone by suffered complications not from operations but lack of movement. xx

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  6. Great news. Wishing the patient a speedy recovery. Catriona

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  7. So relived for you all, just wait to you get him home, so pleased to read your post

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  8. Onwards and upwards. Sleep well again dear Rachel. X

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  9. Great news, sounds like things have gone not just as well as they might have done, but possibly even better.

    Hope you get another decent sleep tonight :)

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  10. So, so pleased to hear it went well. I have been thinking about you at school today and was hoping it would be a smiley day for you. I don't like the look of that broken table - I think my back would protest too! Still, if it makes the operation quicker and more successful, a bit of backache is a small price to pay. I hope it is all plain sailing from here on. Helen xx

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  11. So glad everything went well and that the HG will soon be home.
    Carolx

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  12. good. That is good news. Again Mrs LH, good old NHS, we might gripe at times but they're top drawer when needed. xx

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  13. Glad it's over and done, now to recover.
    I wonder if they did my kidney removal on a bed like that, looks very uncomfortable. The things I found problems with all those years ago was finding clothes that didn't irritate the sore bit, and getting up out of bed - had to roll out. Can't remember anything else.

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