DH in surgery- keep me company.

[BrigitsBigKnickers]

Very small malignant tumour in DH's kidney discovered totally by accident a few months ago. Very lucky it was discovered as 5 years further down the line when symptoms become apparent, cure is much more difficult.

DH (53) currently having robotic keyhole partial nephrectomy surgery to remove the tumour. Not ill at all. Surgeon very confident the surgery will get rid of it. Surgeon is top guy in the country for this type of procedure so DH hopefully in good hands:🤞

I haven't slept properly for 2 months. He is inclined to depression and feelings of impending doom which although I understand, makes it really hard for me.

I haven’t really had anyone to talk to about it and obviously can’t make my fears to him known as he is freaked out enough as it is.

I have between 4 and 5 hours to kill. Someone distract me.

I like good food .
Do you have an particular favourites ?
I like cheeses . Hate dill .

Yeah- hope to go in the October half term. DH should be recovered by then so long as they don't have to change to an open op ( as opposed to keyhole.) he should be back to full strength in 2-3 weeks so as soon as I know we will book flights.

Don't tend to go at Christmas as the DDs prefer to be at home and my elderly dad usually comes to us as my DSis skis at Christmas.

I like meat! Especially lamb and duck but have an absolute loathing for coriander- people seem to put it on everything these days including salad leaves! Yuk!

The best lamb I ever tasted was in Gothenburg, a restaurant called Fond .
It tasted a bit like Camembert. Maybe that was why I liked it so much . It melted in the mouth .

The coriander thing will go out off fashion.

My friend and her husband are both doctors. They discovered that he had a 7cm tumour in one of his kidneys last week and he had his kidney removed on Friday evening. Barely any blood loss at all and he went home yesterday and was happily taking paracetamol for pain relief only. (He admits to being a massive chicken about pain, too!) I hope that this makes you feel better about his recovery.... He is going to punch the next person who makes a steak and kidney pie joke though....

Best duck I ever had was in Germany too. But I cooked it myself. With sour cherries and brandy. Mmmmmmm..... duuuuuuck!!! I have moved back to Australia and it is SO expensive here!!!!

I used to have a colleague that went off skiing before Christmas and I was left to hold the “fort “ . Really irritated me .
Still friends but she works somewhere else .

That sounds hopeful regarding pain lou

I reckon things are going to get expensive here in UK .

Why did your DD want to do drama ?
Do you go to a lot of theatre , dance , musicals ?
Do you play an instrument?

That duck sounds lovely lou

Does your Dad stay overnight at Christmas?

Thanks Justilou Dhs tumour is only 2.5 cm so very small. He is only having a partial nephrectomy and the surgeon reckons he will retain about 80-90% function on that side.

He could have gone for an open op at a local hospital more quickly but the recovery for the robotic laparoscopic thingy is much quicker and very suitable for such a small tumour. The surgeon who is doing it pioneered the technique and has done nearly 500 of them so seems like he is very well qualified.

2 hours down now. Hope to hear something in about an hour.

These are all positives Brigit

Duck was great, but I’m one of those people that never uses a recipe so it will never happen again. SOB!!!
He will be on the good drugs when he comes out of theatre later, OP.... my friend’s hubby came out yelling out nonsensical critiques for his football team in the recovery ward. There was much smirking, and I suspect he will be quoted when he returns to work.

Oh yes !
That is so true lou

DD been involved in music theatre since she was little. She is really good and has got really close to places in the past ( 4 reserve lists and always gets through to the recall and final rounds at the top schools.)
She had a problem with her voice last year so auditioned too late- most of the places had gone. Hopefully this is her year!
She goes to the theatre a lot but not so much me.

I am actually musically trained (I have a music degree)

I play clarinet, piano, guitar and recorder! ( although don't talk about the last one much as get relentlessly teased about it! )

Prim and proper MIL threw a bag at me after her hip operation.... see how many pairs of knickers I have !
Never told her . She would be mortified.
She was on a ward and speaking really loudly about everyone else on it ... although they were probably all on the same drugs so would not have noticed. ( I hope )

Wow Brigit .
Have you played professionally?
What is your favourite piece of music for each instrument?

I’m sorry to hear about your DH but in the bright side, he’s so lucky they found it so early while it’s so small.

Recovery from keyhole is SO much better & unless his body doesn’t tolerate the after op meds he should be back to himself in no time!

My body has a complete loathing of ant medication and gave me hell last year after I had my appendix out. As soon as I ditched them I was back to myself pretty quickly

It sounds like he has THE BEST bloke for the OP!

Hope you get news soon

Oh & you should listen to Jason Fung’s podcast about kidney disease ( I know DH’s is a tumour not a disease as such but he talks bout the the food to eat and food to avoid and other stuff to best heal your kidneys!

@BrigitsBigKnickers- we’re twins! I also have a music degree! (Voice) Although I haven’t sung for years. Ended up becoming a flight attendant. Now old and studying nursing! (Recession-proof!) I bet your least-favourite recorder piece is Greensleeves! (Often attributed to Henry VIII - not sure how true that is, though....)

You can help me figure out what to wear to an industry awards ceremony if that'll help distract you?

My 84 year old FIL had a tumour the size of a cantaloupe melon on his kidney, apparently the biggest one the consultant had ever seen. He had no symptoms at all, it was discovered when he was treated for something else. The kidney had to be removed, but the cancer was contained, so no need for any chemo or radio therapy. Within a few weeks he was back to normal, he's pretty fit anyway, but you wouldn't know he'd been through major surgery. What amazes me is there is no further treatment required, that's it, he's back to normal.

Anne no not a professional- no where near good enough for that!

I love Baroque music particularly. Bach, Vivaldi, Handel etc. So graduated well beyond Three blind mice and Hot cross buns!
Problem is most people's experience of the recorder is lessons they had in primary school mainly taught by a teacher who can't bloody well play it!

There is a version of Greensleeves I quite like called "Greensleeves to a Ground" ( grade V or VI ) set of variations