Diagnosis
So in the spring of 2008 I began seeing the new Dr. He changed up my prescriptions and began a routine of visiting with me, in his office, every two weeks to monitor progress.
In the process of not being able to get blood pressure down the Dr. started looking for other things, like clogged arteries in the neck and kidneys. During one of several scans, they found something on my left kidney. Another scan and then another MRI revealed a tumor that looked cancerous So after other visits with a specialist we decided the little fella needed to come out and scheduled surgery for August - it is now June.
At that time I decided I should begin exercising. I wanted something that would allow me to push myself, but yet be easy. So I settled on bike riding. My kids all chipped in to help purchase my first hybrid bicycle. Thus began my bike riding exercise with plans of only riding a couple miles a day in the neighborhood.
August rolled around and I went in for my kidney surgery- I had no idea what was coming having never experienced any hospital time. Because of the tumors location, they made about a 12" incision in my back, packed my body full of ice, and then pulled the kidney out and turned it over to get to the tumor. In the process of cutting out the tumor, an artery was hit and 25% of my kidney died.
Recovery was 5 days in the hospital, and about 6 weeks. I still have pain in the area now almost three years hence. Oh - the tumor was cancerous but encapsulated. One year followup shows cancer free!
Two months after the surgery I began hitting the gym for a stationary bike, and some mild weight lifting. This practice lasted all winter as I awaited spring! I continued to make some improvement in weight but not a lot, nor in diabetes and blood pressure control.
In the process of not being able to get blood pressure down the Dr. started looking for other things, like clogged arteries in the neck and kidneys. During one of several scans, they found something on my left kidney. Another scan and then another MRI revealed a tumor that looked cancerous So after other visits with a specialist we decided the little fella needed to come out and scheduled surgery for August - it is now June.
At that time I decided I should begin exercising. I wanted something that would allow me to push myself, but yet be easy. So I settled on bike riding. My kids all chipped in to help purchase my first hybrid bicycle. Thus began my bike riding exercise with plans of only riding a couple miles a day in the neighborhood.
August rolled around and I went in for my kidney surgery- I had no idea what was coming having never experienced any hospital time. Because of the tumors location, they made about a 12" incision in my back, packed my body full of ice, and then pulled the kidney out and turned it over to get to the tumor. In the process of cutting out the tumor, an artery was hit and 25% of my kidney died.
Recovery was 5 days in the hospital, and about 6 weeks. I still have pain in the area now almost three years hence. Oh - the tumor was cancerous but encapsulated. One year followup shows cancer free!
Two months after the surgery I began hitting the gym for a stationary bike, and some mild weight lifting. This practice lasted all winter as I awaited spring! I continued to make some improvement in weight but not a lot, nor in diabetes and blood pressure control.