Middle age health thread for fatties

[Mimi]

My brother (he’s 2 years younger than me) lives in the downstairs apartment from me. We found out at the beginning of December that he had cancer in one of his kidneys. After about a dozen trips to the hospital for tests, he had bypass surgery to have the kidney removed on Jan 31. Then 6 days later, he had another surgery to drain fluid from around his heart. He was in the hospital for 11 days total before they sent him home. He put on a ton of water weight after the surgery, and they gave him pills to drop most of it. Going in today for blood work and to have a needle shoved in his back to drain fluid around his lungs. Ugh. Gonna be several more months before he’s fully up and around. Right now his left kneecap is the size of a football for some reason. My father (who’s 75 and in great shape) and I just got him into the car so my parents could take him to the hospital, and it took half an hour to move him 50 feet, down 5 steps, and into the car. His leg was in agony the whole time and he can’t bend it so we had to move him standing up and it was slow going. He really could have used a stretcher to get him out. Thankfully the snow had melted off the driveway and it has warmed up to 36F. No idea how we’re going to get him back in the house when they get back. I’m hoping an ambulance brings him back and some professionals stretcher him back in. I was up until 2am changing ice packs for him periodically, and got about 3-4 hours of sleep. I really wish this shit was happening to me and not him because unfortunately I inherited all the pain tolerance in the family.

This is awful. I feel so horrible that he has to go through this.

[Flex]

So sorry for your brother, K, hope he finds some peace and relief (and you as well).

[gkbill]

Hello,

I'm sorry too learn of your brother's illness and issues. You should definitely check with insurance about having professional move your brother when he's ill and incapacitated. If any injuries or issues occur when you move him, that could get expensive - unfortunately, that's the kind of language insurance companies will consider.

[Dr. Medulla]

Very sorry to hear about your brother's ongoing health problems and the challenges in the immediate future for all involved. I'll echo what gkbill said about checking with insurance and having professional assistance with the move. People with experience in this kind of things can minimize the chance of something going wrong in the process.

[revbob]

Sorry to hear about your brother's poor health Kimmelweck. Hope things can turn around soon.

[Kory]

Sorry to hear about this KW, hope it starts to clear up for you guys.

[Kimmelweck]

Thanks everybody. Also, sorry to unload a bunch of shitty family news here. Wasn’t thinking straight after this morning I guess. It hasn’t been all bad news though. The cancer was apparently all removed with the surgery and hadn’t spread, which is great. The last 3 weeks my brother had been recovering, sitting more or less comfortably in his recliner, and watching college basketball and game shows, which isn’t much different than what he would do before his surgery. He’s had a nurse visiting 4 times per week and had been walking short distances on his own for over a week. His doctor even told him he could drive but his nurse (and my mom) said f*** that. Professional assistance with moving him wasn't really a thought until he was in the car already, as this was the first time the knee’s been an issue for him. It turns out it was a bit of a freak infection from an overall weakened immune system. Anyway, he left the hospital earlier, had the knee drained at a clinic, and is back to a different hospital for the night after a brief stop at home to pick up a few things. We’ll get through it. Thank you all for your kind words though.

[Marky Dread]

That's some positive news buddy. All the best to you and your family. And feel free to offload here anytime that's what mates are all about.

[Sparky]

My brother (he’s 2 years younger than me) lives in the downstairs apartment from me. We found out at the beginning of December that he had cancer in one of his kidneys. After about a dozen trips to the hospital for tests, he had bypass surgery to have the kidney removed on Jan 31. Then 6 days later, he had another surgery to drain fluid from around his heart. He was in the hospital for 11 days total before they sent him home. He put on a ton of water weight after the surgery, and they gave him pills to drop most of it. Going in today for blood work and to have a needle shoved in his back to drain fluid around his lungs. Ugh. Gonna be several more months before he’s fully up and around. Right now his left kneecap is the size of a football for some reason. My father (who’s 75 and in great shape) and I just got him into the car so my parents could take him to the hospital, and it took half an hour to move him 50 feet, down 5 steps, and into the car. His leg was in agony the whole time and he can’t bend it so we had to move him standing up and it was slow going. He really could have used a stretcher to get him out. Thankfully the snow had melted off the driveway and it has warmed up to 36F. No idea how we’re going to get him back in the house when they get back. I’m hoping an ambulance brings him back and some professionals stretcher him back in. I was up until 2am changing ice packs for him periodically, and got about 3-4 hours of sleep. I really wish this shit was happening to me and not him because unfortunately I inherited all the pain tolerance in the family.

Very sorry to hear about your brother Kimmelweck, hope everything is going to be OK.
Saw your update, good news regarding the cancer being gone.
Hang in there, I'll be thinking about you and your family.

[amj241]

Thanks everybody. Also, sorry to unload a bunch of shitty family news here. Wasn’t thinking straight after this morning I guess. It hasn’t been all bad news though. The cancer was apparently all removed with the surgery and hadn’t spread, which is great. The last 3 weeks my brother had been recovering, sitting more or less comfortably in his recliner, and watching college basketball and game shows, which isn’t much different than what he would do before his surgery. He’s had a nurse visiting 4 times per week and had been walking short distances on his own for over a week. His doctor even told him he could drive but his nurse (and my mom) said f*** that. Professional assistance with moving him wasn't really a thought until he was in the car already, as this was the first time the knee’s been an issue for him. It turns out it was a bit of a freak infection from an overall weakened immune system. Anyway, he left the hospital earlier, had the knee drained at a clinic, and is back to a different hospital for the night after a brief stop at home to pick up a few things. We’ll get through it. Thank you all for your kind words though.

So sorry to hear that your brother had to go through all of that but glad for the good news of no spread! Hope he’s feeling 100% soon!

[revbob]

That's some positive news buddy. All the best to you and your family. And feel free to offload here anytime that's what mates are all about.

Yeah I think most of us have done this either publicly on this board or in side channels with other members. I know Ive done both. Better for me than any professional therapy Ive ever had.

[BostonBeaneater]

Me, jumping.

so, you're posting this while waiting for the helicopter to arrive and pull you out of that crack?

I was tempted to make this a last post ever but I wanna keep up with the LoLputee news.

[Kimmelweck]

Well, little brother finally got home today, after 5 nights (!) in the hospital. Got the knee situation resolved and he was able to walk in the door on his own. Much better than he was 5 days ago. Recovery continues, but he’s coming along.

[revbob]

Well, little brother finally got home today, after 5 nights (!) in the hospital. Got the knee situation resolved and he was able to walk in the door on his own. Much better than he was 5 days ago. Recovery continues, but he’s coming along.

Good news.

[Mimi]

Well, little brother finally got home today, after 5 nights (!) in the hospital. Got the knee situation resolved and he was able to walk in the door on his own. Much better than he was 5 days ago. Recovery continues, but he’s coming along.

Awesome.