dad.

is out of surgery. things went well. spent a while in recovery. left the hospital while he was still there... just talked to my mom and he's now on his way to his room. anxious to hear from her when she leaves the hospital. makes for a long day. i didn't do much, but i'm exhausted.
thankful my godfather spent the day with us. that he was nice enough to drive my parents up there this morning. and then he spent the day with us.

the details for those who may not know...
my dad retired. became a bus driver out of boredom. has to be randomly tested for drugs and alcohol. his urine test came back with blood in it. went for a check up. doctor ordered a ct scan and that's when they found the mass on his kidney. dad's always had back pain. think he might have had pain but associated with his back problems and nothing new.
when they checked how his kidneys were functioning, they found that he had an underdeveloped kidney. probably genetic. and the lesser functioning kidney was the kidney without the mass. this meant if the removed the whole kidney with the mass, and the small kidney was left and couldn't keep up, that dad could possibly need dialysis at some point. so they wanted to only remove part of the kidney. the urologist here said he could do the surgery. he does them every few months or dad could go to university of chicago where the doctor does a few each week. of course, we're going to chicago. we have such awesome hospitals so close, we should totally take advantage of it.
anywho. that's how we got to today.
as for the surgery...
took a little under three hours. they were able to remove the tumor. about the size of a plum. so he still has part of his kidney. yay! hoping his recovery is speedy and with few bumps. and like i said, anxious to hear from my mom about what happened in recovery and why it took so long to get him to a room.
awaiting the pathology reports. the other good thing: my doctor who will be dad's oncologist doesn't think he will need anything other than this surgery as treatment. he was really lucky that he had to pee in a cup. and they caught it. has probably been growing for a few years.

k. enough details. i think that's everything. could be leaving out bits. i'm tired. and sorry if i'm confusing and blabbering...

mom just callled. dad is settled into his room. said it hurts like hell. a bit nauseated. which i can totally understand. keeps me flashing back to the c section. i even think i was nauseated with my ankle surgery. anywho. hope he rests up. and feels better in the morning.

mom and i are heading back up tomorrow morning. hoping traffic cooperates again. i made it in record time! helps that i only have to go to university of chicago.

thank you everyone for all the nice emails and messages. means a lot. ;o)