News from the Doctor's Appointment

Chris had an appointment with the doctor today. We talked with him about the next steps. Basically, it's a little different than the news we were given yesterday. 

Here's what we found out:

•the cancer is contained in the kidney...it is NOT in the lining of the kidney or the tube connected to the kidney-this is GREAT NEWS!

•the surgery will be an incision rather than laproscopic. If it is done laproscopically, the doctor only has 30 minutes to work on the kidney due to having to clamp it off. It he makes an incision, he has up to three hours because he can pack the kidney in ice while he is operating. This surgery is longer and needs more recovery time, but he feels this is the best way to try to only take the top part of the kidney where it's located.

•There is a 50/50 chance he can only take part of the kidney (a little different than we heard yesterday, but that's ok) We are praying that partial removal will be what is done. It's always better to have one and a half kidneys rather than just one. :)

•Chris will be in the hospital for 2-3 days after the surgery. Recovery time will be about a week doing nothing and 4-6 weeks with no heavy lifting over 10 pounds.

•WHEN? The big question! We need to have the surgery at Methodist Germantown. The nurse said she has to schedule it with Dr. Chauhan, another surgeon who will be present, and the hospital. We asked for mid-March, but she came back and said they couldn't do it until mid-April. We asked them to look at the week of April 22. We will know next week sometime when the exact date is. The doctor said he didn't have to rush to do it but he didn't want it in 6 months, so I guess waiting 2 months is ok.

Prayers: We ask that you join us in praying specifically that the doctor is able to remove the tumor by just taking off part of Chris' kidney. Please also pray that Chris will continue to live normally and pain free until the surgery date.  We can't thank you all enough for your support and prayers.