Jello and Water

Not even bread…I started the liquid diet today, which really isn’t all that difficult for me and knowing that it’s the only prep I need to do will make it a breeze. I did have a fabulous meal last night as my last pre-surgery food – we decided to visit our favorite local Mexican restaurant which has never failed to impress us and last night was no exception. Then we headed off to the city and the Pogues concert. It was exactly as I expected it would be and I’m really glad I got to go.

Yesterday I spent a few hours at Beth Israel doing my pre-surgery testing, bloodwork, history & physical, and meeting with the anesthesiology department. As with my last surgery, I’ve decided to go ahead with an epidural. I mentioned to them that I managed to knock the last one out in only a day, so they said they would make note of this in my chart and see if they could find a better placement location. Then Pat and I met with Dr. Hanto to go over the final plans for tomorrow. He’s been doing lots of research and talking over the past few weeks. He’s pretty sure that he won’t be able to place the right kidney in the lower right abdomen because of masses of scar tissue, so instead he will place it on the left side. I won’t notice anything different – however I can have some fun when I have ultrasounds and CT scans in the future if I don’t tell them ahead of time that both kidneys are on one side.

Dr. Hanto talked with Dr. Karian and got a good idea of where the tumors are in the ureter and is hoping to avoid taking any more bladder, but we know that it is a possibility. We had a few more questions which he answered and then we left feeling confident and ready for Friday.

We did take a few minutes to check out Farr 10, the floor where I will be recovering. It has some great views of downtown and we’ve already put in several requests for a private room. We’ve heard good things about the nurses and know that I’ll be in good hands.

That’s it from me before surgery. I’ll post again after I’m home. In the meantime Pat will post daily updates, probably late in the day.