We will use this site to share updates on Mark's illness, surgery, and recovery. Late last spring, Mark was having symptoms that we thought were similar to an ulcer or acid reflux. He spent the summer in TN, and while the symptoms became more pronounced, we were not overly concerned. In September, Mark visited his Primary Care doc in Florida, who sent him to a GI doc; his lab work was all normal, but there was a palpable lump on his left side, which the doctor thought was a lipoma. GI doc also thought lipoma, but wanted to do a screening CT to rule out diverticulitis before a colonoscopy. Because of some insurance and scheduling delays, the CT did not occur until September 30. By then, Mark was more and more uncomfortable after eating and was having trouble sitting, standing, or walking around for any length of time. He was also getting numbness/tingling in his limbs. On October 3, with Jane at a conference in TX and Mark in FL, the GI doc called to tell him there was a growth on his kidney and that he was scheduled to see a urologist that afternoon. The urologist shared the scan results with Mark, a 12cm tumor that was on the left kidney, abutting the descending colon, the small bowel, and the psoas muscles, which surround the spinal cord. The urologist suggested that Mark come to TN for surgery and treatment at Vanderbilt. As he was already planning to come to TN that weekend, Mark decided to drive up Wednesday evening/Thursday morning. In the meantime, Jane was making calls from TX to arrange for a urologist in TN. Fortunately, we have a brother in law who is a doctor at Vanderbilt who was able to connect us with Dr. Sam Chang. We sent the CT report to Dr. Chang and scheduled additional scans and an appointment with him 2 weeks later.
The next set of scans was Oct. 9. Fortunately for us, they did not show any evidence of metastatic disease in the lungs or other organs. We met with Dr. Chang on Oct. 17. He described the tumor as "rugby ball-sized" and said that because the tumor is so large and there is evidence it is starting to necrotize, there may be a need to remove the spleen, some of the pancreas, and some of the colon in addition to the kidney. Surgeons for those organs are on stand-by during the surgery, since there is no way of knowing until there is a clear view. The size of the tumor also necessitates an "open" surgery, meaning there will be a hook-shaped incision across Mark's abdomen. The primary concerns with this type of incision are infection and blood loss. At our visit on Oct. 17, Mark also had more blood work, similar to the tests he has done every 6 months already, but also some looking specifically at kidney function. These results showed a definitive reduction in kidney function and elevated white blood cells. The surgery was scheduled for November 5 at noon.
We met with the preoperative nurse anesthetist on Oct. 28, to go over Mark's history and do more bloodwork. These results showed further reduced functioning of the kidneys and higher white blood cells.
Today, November 4, Mark does his surgical prep by eating/drinking only clear fluids (broth, jello, water, juice) and drinking a full bottle of magnesium citrate. No food or water after midnight tonight. Report to Vanderbilt tomorrow at 10am, and surgery at noon.
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