Cancer!

 I've known  for thirteen years that I would end up needing surgery at some  point to sort out my kidneys. It is interesting how the medical professionals played it down for a couple of years despite me having to go for tests every three months. They called it anything but "cancer" until I got a doc to cut the crap! Thirteen years ago a major proceedure was described involving a massive cut, innards placed to one side to get at the kidney and a possibility of the kidney being removed. Luckily; techniques and technologies have improved in thirteen years and I was in and out of hospital in three days. The surgeon used a robot to do the cutting etc and it was all done by "keyhole surgery" which left me with four small holes and a body cavity with excess gas (carbon dioxide?) which they pumped into me to make room for the camera and robot slicers to work. It was very painful getting rid of that gas- the worst part of my recovery. I have never had any symptoms from the cancer itself that I could notice, but the treatments have been quite uncomfortable so far.

I didn't have one of those epiphany moments about being near to death or anything, but then I HAVE been expecting this for a long time and the way various medics have downplayed my condition I didn't feel worried... well, not for long anyway. 

I was the only Black patient I saw and I felt a couple of moments where I questioned the professionalism of my carers. Since the murder of George Floyd I have been more sensitive to things I have habitually filtered out about the way I have been treated in relation to my ethnicity. I was pleased to be back home, despite being sore and VERY tired. It was three weeks before I was able to walk the third of a mile to the local shops. I had primed the lodgers to buy food they could cook themselves- the freezer became full of microwave meals. I got into sleeping in a BIG way! 

I didn't tell one of my close friends that I was going into hospital. We see each other every week, but I predicted (accurately) that they would fuss and "advise" and generally make it all about them which is something they do all the time. I felt that would give me more stress than the surgery. LOL it sounds like I don't have much of a friendship with this person in reality which isn't true, but one can have friends who frustrate the butt right off you!

I'm pretty much fully recovered now- energy levels are low but possibly simply because I have done next to nothing for six weeks. I didn't even lose any weight which is annoying- and perplexing as my food consumption dropped drastically and I was forcing myself to eat. 

When I was still in hospital, I asked my surgeon if they had got all of the cancer? He said that they had. Later I became annoyed when I realised that there is no way that they could know if all the cancer had been removed at that stage. Why do they lie? They then put back my telephone (!) consultation by a month. I am very grateful to have been operated on and treated pretty well during a global pandemic.