June 26th to July 3rd, and again July 4th to July 8th, I was in the hospital for removal of my right kidney and some related complications. All this for what was to be a 3-4 hour operation and a 2-4 day hospital stay. Being old, obese and suffering from the complications made the hospital stays longer than planned and much worse.

My observations:

1. We have a great health care system. The nursing staff, doctors and medical professionals at Kaiser Permanente were professional in manner; competent in actions; and, had compassion for my suffering.

2. I saw so many pretty nurses at Kaiser that I could do a year’s calendar of monthly “nurse of the month.” This observation does indicate that I was not as sick as I thought.

3. Our health care system is expensive. In addition to the 24/7 nursing care, I saw almost every day doctors, lab technicians, physical therapists, housekeepers, food services, discharge planners and nurse managers. Only one home care PT visit.

4. I am worth it. And so are you.

5. If you find yourself in a hospital or facing health issues do share your concerns with friends, family and associates. Since people found out that I had kidney cancer I have been touched and overwhelmed by the expressions of good wishes, kind thoughts and prayers. I have learned of church and/or prayer groups praying for me from Washington State to the east coast. I have heard from old friends and made new.

6. I send my good wishes, kind thoughts, and prayers to the Kaiser engineer who shared that his wife had stage 4 cancer; to Dr. M and Dr. C who shared that their wives are being treated for cancer; and, to all of you.

The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.
Mark Twain