Life Changes In an Instant – I had my kidney removed

Thank you so much for sharing!

Well, December did not go how I planned. Not in the slightest. It’s crazy how in an instant your whole life can change. We’ve all experienced this to some degree, but it happened to me last month in a way I couldn’t have predicted. I wanted to share a bit about what’s going on, and where I disappeared to these past few weeks.

whoa.

I will spare you all the little details… but moral of the story is that on December 5th, we discovered a mass on my left kidney. That was a terrifying phone call from my doctor. My husband and I immediately reached out to some close friends and I was able to get an appt with a top urologist here in L.A., less than 48 hours after knowing the diagnosis. After seeing the scans, our surgeon thought it was most likely cancer. Surgery was scheduled for the following week and I had my left kidney, the mass and 2 lymph nodes removed. I thank God everyday for how quickly my surgeon took action on this issue. My overwhelming thought was to just “get it out.” I didn’t want to wait a moment longer. After the surgery, we waited a nerve-wracking 5 days to get the pathology back…the tumor was benign.

There are still some questions to be answered and doctors to visit because even though it was benign, it was a rare kind of benign.

Grateful

Overall, I will make a full recovery. Well, as much as you can recover from a situation like this. I feel like I dodged a bullet in a sense though, so my outlook on life is going to be a little different I think. To be honest, I’m still processing all that has happened. I’m just grateful. Grateful for how quickly it worked out. Thankful that it was not cancer. Gratitude for our family and friends who have surrounded us with love, flowers and meals over the past month. Amazed that my husband was able to be with me every step of the way. And I’m grateful for all of you. I have the best community who has showered me with kind messages on my social media since I first shared a few details. You have kept coming to my blog and YouTube channel which means that my income has stayed steady even though I have been in bed most of the last few weeks. I appreciate that more than you know.

I’ll be back soon, once my kids head back to school and I get a little more energy back. I am sharing little bits over on my Instagram (melaniekham) if you’d like to keep up with me there. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and have many blessings for 2019!

Love,

Melanie