Having the Experience and Surviving Bladder Cancer Surgey
Here we in the sunshine on the water with the Cheekee Monkee racing at Ft Walton Beach, Florida, just two days before heading home, towing the Cheekee Monkee, back to Bellingham. Shane had a gall bladder attack the next day and he missed the final day of racing. We had a great time on this family vacation and I was able to relax before the my Bladder Cancer surgery scheduled on April 30th.
The Cheekee Monkee is a 31' boat that folds. We loaded it onto the trailer in preparation for a trip that would take the next five days. After we saw the family off at the airport on Sunday, Lynda and I drove back from Ft Walton Beach, FL to Bellingham, WA.
We needed to be at UWMC for final tests, blood work and lung x-rays Thursday afternoon. We left Sunday morning and we arrived in Seattle at noon on Thursday and picked up Lynda's Navigator at the airport and then drove up to UWMC.
During that last weekend of in April, I was Fasting for three days, I started the fasting that Thursday night and did not get to eat again until the following Saturday at dinner time, some 210 hours later. By Sunday night I was starting to feel a little lightheaded. Over that last weekend, on the Cheekee Monkee again, we entered and won the Whiterock Regatta.
We (Lynda [wife], Bonnie [Mom-in-law] and Tracy [Daughter] and I) drove down to Seattle Sunday evening and checked into the Marriott Residence Inn. I was scheduled to be at the hospital at 9:30 in the morning. I check in at the hospital and then we wait.
Surgery commences about 1:00 PM, it was a long but successful operation. During the surgery, Lynda and the gang were kept updated every hour or so by phone. I am out of surgery and in recovery by 9:00 PM and they saw me in ICU at about 10 PM. I can't tell you how so very good it was to see all three of them there to support me.
The next day the goal for the day was get out of bed and start coughing. That day was spent in ICU and getting out of bed I could manage but forget about the coughing, that was too painful. I was moved to a private room that night.
My recovery progressed quickly, after a couple of days, Dr. Ellis gave us the pathology results; all the cancer was contained to the bladder lining and muscle. No cancer in the lymph nodes or prostate. Very good news indeed. To hasten my recovery, I was getting out of bed several times every day and then walking up and down the halls like a zombie.
On day 7 of recovery following the surgery, they said, "go on home". We left on Tuesday morning before noon. Good to get out of there. I still have several more weeks of recovery ahead of me.
May 13th, they removed the stints that drain from my kidneys. May 31st the catheter was removed and in 3 weeks they will remove the overflow tube from my (new) bladder (final tube). By then my bodily functions should be almost normal.
More than 10 years ago, surviving and recovering from Bladder Cancer Surgery changed my life, thank you!
The Cheekee Monkee is a 31' boat that folds. We loaded it onto the trailer in preparation for a trip that would take the next five days. After we saw the family off at the airport on Sunday, Lynda and I drove back from Ft Walton Beach, FL to Bellingham, WA.
We needed to be at UWMC for final tests, blood work and lung x-rays Thursday afternoon. We left Sunday morning and we arrived in Seattle at noon on Thursday and picked up Lynda's Navigator at the airport and then drove up to UWMC.
During that last weekend of in April, I was Fasting for three days, I started the fasting that Thursday night and did not get to eat again until the following Saturday at dinner time, some 210 hours later. By Sunday night I was starting to feel a little lightheaded. Over that last weekend, on the Cheekee Monkee again, we entered and won the Whiterock Regatta.
We (Lynda [wife], Bonnie [Mom-in-law] and Tracy [Daughter] and I) drove down to Seattle Sunday evening and checked into the Marriott Residence Inn. I was scheduled to be at the hospital at 9:30 in the morning. I check in at the hospital and then we wait.
Surgery commences about 1:00 PM, it was a long but successful operation. During the surgery, Lynda and the gang were kept updated every hour or so by phone. I am out of surgery and in recovery by 9:00 PM and they saw me in ICU at about 10 PM. I can't tell you how so very good it was to see all three of them there to support me.
The next day the goal for the day was get out of bed and start coughing. That day was spent in ICU and getting out of bed I could manage but forget about the coughing, that was too painful. I was moved to a private room that night.
My recovery progressed quickly, after a couple of days, Dr. Ellis gave us the pathology results; all the cancer was contained to the bladder lining and muscle. No cancer in the lymph nodes or prostate. Very good news indeed. To hasten my recovery, I was getting out of bed several times every day and then walking up and down the halls like a zombie.
On day 7 of recovery following the surgery, they said, "go on home". We left on Tuesday morning before noon. Good to get out of there. I still have several more weeks of recovery ahead of me.
May 13th, they removed the stints that drain from my kidneys. May 31st the catheter was removed and in 3 weeks they will remove the overflow tube from my (new) bladder (final tube). By then my bodily functions should be almost normal.
More than 10 years ago, surviving and recovering from Bladder Cancer Surgery changed my life, thank you!
About the Author:
Kim Alfreds tells his experiences with Bladder Cancer at http://tinyurl.com/8dchk6y and other life milestones, in addition he is an avid sailor and loves to go Sailing.
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