YOU HAVE TO BECOME A WARRIOR!!! Ive been happily married to Deborah Smith for 34 yrs. I have two wonderful daughters Tracy Dawn & Robyn Michelle & son-in-laws John Pennington & Robert Cumbie. I have 5 Grandchildren: Andrew, Ashley, George, Matthew & Sarah, & 2 Great grandsons Manny & Anthony. Love them all dearly. 2011-----The first of September 2011 I had been having sinus problems and was scheduled for surgery the 5th of Sept. The week before surgery, I did all the surgery pre-labs and chest x-rays for the surgery. This surgery was done as an out-patient. (The recovery from that was terrible. Didnt know so much could come from your head.) When we were about to leave the hospital the ENT doctor mentioned that the chest xray showed some areas of concern and I should have a CT scan done of my chest. So while recovering from the sinus surgery, we had the CT scan done. A few days later my primary care doctors office called and told me that there were 3 small spots on the lungs, but were so small that they were of no concern. But this scan caught a part of my abdomen and there was a concern of one of my kidneys. So we scheduled another CT of the abdomen. A few days later my phone rang and rather than one of the doctors nurses on the phone it was my doctor, David Almand. He asked me how I was doing, if I still remember my reply: I said that if I were talking to his nurse I would be doing a whole lot better. He then told me that the CT scan showed a 6.7cm mass in my left kidney and he would schedule me with a urologist. And he thought that I would have to have a laproscopic nephrectomy. On the 10th of October Debbie and I had made a two page list of questions for the urologist and his recommendation was the same as my family doctor, a total nephrectomy of my left kidney. Surgery was scheduled for Oct. the 25th. During the time before the surgery even though I had support from family, friends and my friends on CSN I was still scared to death. I finally made an appointment with my family doctor of 20 years on a Saturday morning. I guess Dr. Almond and I talked for over an hour. I didnt know before but he also is a cancer survivor of 10 years. I guess we talked medical for a half an hour but it was what he said to me afterwards that has helped me the most.He said Be where your suppose to be, do what your suppose to do, and let GOD take care of the healing. On Tuesday the 25th I went into the hospital and had laproscopic nephrectomy surgery. My Urologist thinks all of the masses was contained in kidney. The worst part was I got sick from the morphine. When they switched to loratab I was fine. Got to come home on Friday the 28th. There has really not been any internal pain only from the incisions. The worst part is the waiting and waiting..The type of cancer is multifocal chromophobe renal cell carcinoma. 2012----My second round of cts in 2012 reveled 3 small masses in my right kidney. They have been treated with a cryoablation procedure by Dr. Henry Krebs at St Josephs Hospital in Atlanta and as of December I am cancer free. Its been a trying year for me physically and also mentally. Hopefully this next year will be a lot less trying on me and my family. 2013---- My testing for this year start this week. CT scan sceduled in June 11th. Test results on June 11th showed no (NED) evidence of disease. Wound up having another round of ablation in November for two small renal tumors. December CTs showed NED. Starting off 2014 with no cancer!!!! 2014---- Update Followed Dr. Krebs move from St. Josephs to the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Newnan GA. This facility is state of the art. They are here to treat body, mind and soul. I cannot express in words how great this place is. Had my CT today (3/3/2014) and received a NED!!! Next check up in September. CTCA offers so much for you that I may make frequent use of the services they provide. September cat scan reveled a 9 mm area that will have to be ablated. Surgery scheduled for 9/22/2014. 9/23/2014 Surgery Yesterday Dr. Krebs performed a Cryo Ablation of a 9 mm tumor in my kidney. After waking up in recovery for 2 hours I felt good enough for Debbie and I to eat a nice dinner in the Centers cafeteria. This places cafeteria is like eating at a 5 star restaurant. Had a restful night at a Marriott hotel. Returned to the Center this morning for a massage then the afternoon to meet with my care team. We will return in 4 to 6 week for a Cat Scan for Dr. Krebs to make sure he got all of the tumor. We have faith he did because he has never failed us before. We would like to thank everyone for all of your encouraging words and your prayers. Hopefully we will claim a NED in a few weeks!!!!!
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 00:52:55 +0000
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