Brian (BREwing) had RPLND today!

[amorgan74]

It's good to hear he's been able to come home so soon. April

[Mom]

Terrific!!! What a difference a week makes! Dianne

[Kev332]

Wow, thats great that he's home already!!! So happy to hear that things went well. Sounds like he's well on his way to recovery.

Take Care,
Kevin

[Chris'Mom]

So glad to hear Brian is home.....Mary Ellen

[DianeE]

Brian was discharged from the hospital last night around 6 pm.
He has a mild bladder infection from the catheter, but
everything else seems to be OK. He's slowly getting his appetite
back, and he was walking pretty well when we were leaving
the hospital. I hope to help out his wife as much as possible as
she has a lot to deal with, an infant, a toddler and Brian
She's tough as nails, but it is a lot to handle.

Hopefully, Brian will be on within a few days and can give you all
a first hand account of his experience.

A very special thanks to Rusty009 who took time to pay
a surprise visit to Brian in the hospital. It was such a nice
gesture and was very much appreciated by Brian and his
family. Thanks Rusty009!!

April, we did have a very good experience with this surgery. It
was only a week between the initial consultation with the surgeon
and the discharge!! We're very lucky that everything ran so smoothly.

Ryan, Brian had the BIG cut for his surgery. You could probably get info
on the LRPLND from Scott the moderator. Good luck with it.

Hi Mary Ellen, so nice to hear from you. Thanks for your good wishes.

Diane

[Chris'Mom]

Just read your post and am so glad everything went well...it seems like chris's RPLND at Sloan was yesterday and it is almost a year....take care and keep us posted...Mary Ellen

[ryan296]

Laparoscopic RPLND?

Was your sons RPLND done laparoscopically? I'm scheduled for one 5-6-06 and was trying to get an idea of how common it is for it to be done laparoscopically. Thanks.

[amorgan74]

Ms. Diane, Glad to hear the surgery went well. Maybe now he can get on to total healing and be better in no time. We are 10 months post chemo (Wesley's surveillance thread). If anything else happens the RPLND would be his next step so it's good to hear when TC patients have a good experience with the surgery. I hope everyone in your family is doing well and you guys get home from the hospital soon. April

[DianeE]

Loretta and I saw Brian today. When we got to his room,
he was sitting in a chair. The nose tube was removed this
morning and the catheter and epidural will be removed at
4:00 tomorrow AM. No idea why it will be at that time!!

After he spoke with the pain Doc, the three of us took a walk
up and down the hallway. Brian said it felt good to walk
and also said he was hungry, which I thought was a good
sign. He can't have anything but ice chips until he passes
gas, then he can have liquids. Didn't help when he saw the
Pizza Hut commercial on TV!!! When he was in high school,
he worked at a local Pizza Hut and remembered how he
used to make the Pizzas!!

We're keeping our prayers in high gear for Brian and everyone on
this board. We have different roads to travel, but the destination
is the same.

Dadmo, yeah!! We live close to Dianne. We will meet for sure!!!

Diane

[rusty009]

Glad it went well. Speedy recovery, Brian!

[Scott]

I'm so glad to hear that surgery went well. May Brian recover quickly!

[dadmo]

Congratulations. I don't even know how to express how relieved I feel when this operation is done. Enjoy your son and I hope we can meet soon. Nancy and I have decided we would like to meet as mant tc families as possible. My only question is it for us or them. Again many hardy congratulations.

[DianeE]

Brian and his wife Loretta came to our house at 5 AM today
and we got to the Hospital of University of Penna around 5:45AM.
It is a wonderful hospital!! They cater to the waiting family members
as much as they do to the patients.

We were paged a couple of times during the surgery so we could
be told when the procedure actually started and when Brian was
being "closed up" and Dr. Malkowicz came to the waiting area around
11:45 AM to let us know everything was great and the surgery
went without any surprises. Dr. M said he held the lymph nodes
in his hand and none of them appeared or felt swollen, but they
would have to go under the microscope to see if there was any
invasion. Loretta and I felt much better after we
spoke with him. We had to wait about 2 1/2 hours while Brian was in
recovery and by that time, my husband John joined us and we went
to Brian's room. He actually looked better than we expected and
said he had no pain from the incision, but the catheter was bothering
him a little. A resident checked it for him and made sure there was
no problem. Although he was very sleepy, Brian actually smiled a couple
of times and remembered a joke I had told him on the way to the
hospital. We got him set up with a television and phone and left him
in the able hands of the HUP staff and ESPN.

As you all can imagine, we are soooo relieved that the surgery is
over and the lymph nodes don't seem to be loaded with cancer.

Thanks for all the support so far. I'll keep you up to date on
his progress. Now, I'm going to have a LARGE vodka and
Chrystal Light!!!! Good Night!!!

Diane