Surgery Success!

In the spring of 2015 I went to see a urologist for a checkup of all the parts connected to urinating.  The doctor ordered a cat scan of my abdomen and areas related to urinating. When the cat scan came back it showed a small growth in my right kidney.  It was only two centimeters long.  We decided to keep an eye on it to see if it would grow any.  We checked it 6 months later in the fall 2015 and there was no change in the size of it. However, when I went back in January of 2016 for catheter problems I had another cat scan of my kidney.  The small growth had grown a little and the urologist said it would probably keep growing at a slow rate.  Since it could be cancerous my wife and I decided not to wait and to have a surgery called Cryoplasty.  We had never heard of Cryoplasty so we searched on the internet and found out.  Cryoplasty is therapy that uses pressure and cold to freeze growths in the body.  

On February 16, 2016 I went in to have surgery on the small growth.  I'd never had surgery of any kind so all this was going to be new for me.  When the time came I transferred to a gurney and they wheeled me into surgery.  An anesthetist is a person who administers anesthetics, usually a specially trained doctor or nurse.  He leaned over me, put a gas mask over my mouth and nose and said I should take 2 or 3 breaths.  I had never been put to sleep before and all I remember is taking two breaths and I was gone. When I woke up I was taken to my hospital room where I stayed overnight and was released the next day.  The surgery didn't hurt at all and the only signs of a surgery were four little marks by my right shoulder blade.  The doctors also did a biopsy on the growth and it did turn out to be pre-cancerous so it was good I'd had the surgery!    

Two weeks ago on February 23, 2017 I went in to have another cat scan to see what was happening to my growth.  This cat scan showed the growth still in my kidney but smaller.  As I understand it the growth will continue to get smaller.  A year from now I have to go in again for a cat scan and hopefully the growth will be smaller or completely gone!  If all looks good I won't have to have another cat scan for 5 years.  All in all I have to say my surgery was a success and I was treated very well by the hospital staff.  

Scooterjon

Less Common Symptoms With MS 

Speech Problems - Speech problems, including slurring (dysarthria) and loss of volume (dysphonia) occur in approximately 25-40% of people with MS, particularly later in the disease course and during periods of extreme fatigue. Stuttering is occasionally reported as well.

Swallowing Problems - Swallowing problems - referred to as dysphagia - result from damage to the nerves controlling the many small muscles in the mouth and throat

Tremors - Tremors, or uncontrollable shaking, can occur in various parts of the body because of damaged areas along the complex nerve pathways that are responsible for coordination of movements 

Seizures - Seizures - which are the result of abnormal electrical discharges in an injured or scarred area of the brain — have been estimated to occur in 2-5% people with MS, compared to the estimated 3% of the general population.

Breathing Problems - Respiration problems occur in people whose chest muscles have been severely weakened by damage to the nerves that control those muscles.

Itching - Pruritis (itching) is one of the family of abnormal sensations - such as "pins and needles" and burning, stabbing or tearing pains - which may be experienced by people with MS.

Headache - Although headache is not a common symptom of MS, some reports suggest that people with MS have an increased incidence of certain types of headache.

Hearing Loss - About 6% of people who have MS complain of impaired hearing. In very rare cases, hearing loss has been reported as the first symptom of the disease.

Scooterjon