My dear friend JoAnn (CrusinFanatic) had both good and bad news last week. We met because of CC and are in touch a lot.

She's been dealt a whole host of stuff this year. Her husband, Frank, is finally recovering from some foot surgery after a couple months, they just had the baby, Matthew, which created a little stress with Juli and while she was worrying about that, she got her own share of bad news and is having surgery on the 22nd which is pretty serious stuff.

You are all so wonderful at sending good wishes, so Karen urged me to tell you all to get the power of your thoughts together and send JoAnn some good wishes for a quick recovery.

JoAnn - xoxoxoxo from me and my Frankie.

So very sorry to hear of this, JoAnn. You've had quite a mixed bag of joyous moments and difficulties.

Alan and I send loving thoughts your way for a full and speedy recovery! Please let us know how you're doing. You have lots of friends on LCT who care a whole bunch about you!

Hugs,
Denise & Alan

JoAnn, I know you have the strength to kick this rotten stroke of luck in the behind and come out of it healthier than ever.
I can just imagine how scared you are and just so you know, you have so many friends here who will be with you in spirit.
I send hugs your way and a massive dose of good thoughts, those strong LCT kind of thoughts that work miracles.

love,

JoAnn - I, too, am sending lots of hugs and well wishes your way. You are such a sweetheart and have been thru so much already. We all wish you well with your surgery and get better ASAP!!!!! :hug: :hug: :hug:

JoAnn,

Ditto to all the above messages. I'll be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers and wish you the very best for a complete and speedy recovery!

JoAnn - hope whatever's going on resolves quickly. Here's sending good wishes your way and keeping you in our thoughts!

Masaki

JoAnn, here's wishing you a very speedy recovery. You are sure in our thoughts too!

Every possible kind of positive thoughts headed your way, JoAnn!

Wish you the very best for a complete and speedy recovery!

WOW - thank you all so much, I'm packing all those thoughts in my bag to take to the hospital with me. Its been a really rough week to be honest, tempered only by Matthews birth, which allowed me to put my own issues aside for a few days (except when we had to tell Juli on Friday). Anyway, I'll just give you a brief synopsis of the situation, the fact that you are all so supportive and don't even know why is incredible and amazing.

A week ago Monday, I was diagnosed with a mass on my right kidney - most likely, according to the CT scan, malignant. Next Tuesday, I will have the kidney, and all surrounding "stuff" removed. So far there is no indication of any spread into the lymph nodes,or surrounding areas, and my urologist says he's fairly certain that this is the most common type, slow growing, self contained and if they get everything out, then it should be over. There really isn't any follow up treatment, other than yearly bone and CT scans for 5 years. Obviously none of that is 100% until they get to it, but I've talked to my own physician, the urologist, a neighbor who is a Doctor, and even the Radiologist, and they've basically all said the same thing, so that gives me a lot of hope. I've also in the last week heard from several friends who know people who've had the same thing and are walking around healthy with one kidney.

I will have Frank keep Kathy updated, she is on the email list, since I don't think the hospital has internet haha, and hopefully I will be home by the weekend.

I cannot thank you all enough for your thoughts and good wishes, it means a lot to go into this knowing that people I've never even met are out there cheering me on. Hopefully I will have a chance to meet some of you on MUSH next year and be able to personally thank you.

JoAnn, Clyde and I are sending our very best wishes to you for successful surgery and quick recuperation. You've certainly had an awful lot on your plate lately but your upbeat attitude will see you through, I'm sure.

JoAnn, I posted my well wishes on an earlier thread but here they are again...my prayers and positive thoughts for a quick and successful recovery.

By the way, you might be surprised in the hospital. When Alan's father was ill in January and in the hospital, there was internet connection (although you would have to pay extra). Hey, once you're feeling like it, what better way to raise your spirits than to log on to LCT.

Once again, my best wishes for you.

We spend a great deal of time on LCT sharing details of so many things, whether they be travel-related or of a personal nature.

When there is a reason to celebrate, we offer our congratulatory wishes. When there is reason for concern, we attempt to hold that person up and give all the support we can.

LCT is a powerful force made up of wonderful, caring, loving and concerned individuals. JoAnn, please be assured that our powerful force will be with you every step of the way.

I'd like to offer words to you that have seen me through a lot in my life.."This too shall pass."

Loving thoughts and prayers to you, JoAnn, from Alan and me.

Joanna - My positive thoughts and prayers go with you as well. Looking forward to getting good news from kathy in the near future!

JoAnn,

Lots of prayers and well wishes going your way from me and many others here on LCT. Hopefully, knowing you have a large support network will help you get through this.

I thought I would just share a bit of good news. As part of the pre surgery prep, I had to have a bone scan and of course chest X-ray. The Doctor doing the surgery just called to let me know that both were clear and normal. I have to admit I was nervous about the bone scan, but feel much better now. He told me that on the bone scan, they could see the kidney and the mass, but everything else around it looked clear and normal in the renal tract, so again, he feels pretty confident that its exactly what they first thought and that the surgery should go as planned.

Thanks again all of you - what an amazing group of people this board has.

JoAnn, I am happy about your test results and how positive your Dr. is!

JoAnn,
Glad to hear the good news about your tests. You will remain in our thoughts and prayers.

Betty

JoAnn,

That bone scan was no fun, but i know you're so relieved! Wishing you well,

JoAnn - Sending you lots of positive energy as you are undergoing treatment. The bone scan is very good news, indeed, so here's to building on that positive outcome. If there's anything we can do, just have Kathy put a note up. We will keep all of you in our thoughts and prayers. Take your time with the recovery .. easy to say but nearly impossible to do with a new grandbaby in the family! Hugs, Anne

Hooray - good news. Waiting for more good news to come!

JoAnn,
count me as one of those who knows someone who had the same thing. My ex had his kidney removed in 2003. He's walking around & doing all that he did before, same as before. So far, all follow up has been clear.
The bone scan is good news. Just keep focused on those grandbabies.
We will be pulling for ya.

Vickie - thank you so much for sharing about your "ex", it means a lot everytime I hear one of those stories - one of the people that I heard about is actually someone I know, but didn't know she had undergone that surgery - now I think I'm up to 5 "live" stories.

Again to all of you, I am just overwhelmed with your thoughts a good wishes. I just told Frank, that while I was in surgery,just to give him something to do, I wanted him to check out if there was a way to use the laptop at the hospital, as long as it was a reasonable cost, I thought Donna's suggestion was wonderful -what better way to recover than to log on to LCT and dream about future cruises and have contact with some of the nicest people I "don't even actually know, but feel like to do"!! He said he'd check that out for me. Isn't he great!!!

JoAnn - Best wishes for a speedy recovery from down under. Lee

JoAnn, somehow I missed this thread till now, as I don't check in at work. You seem to be experiencing all that life offers right now, the highs and the lows. Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. Somehow, with all this positive energy, and your optimism, this will be a "blip" on the total life experience. Good luck, and I hope you will be back to speed soon!

Hi everyone - I am reporting in as promised
I got this email from JoAnn's daughter, Laura:

just wanted to send out a message that everything went fine with my mom's surgery. Things went just as predicted by the doctor with no complications and he expects a full recovery.

We saw her a little while ago and she was very groggy, as expected. We'll be back later tonight after she's had a chance to sleep it off a little.

I know she really appreciated all of the wishes, phone calls, cards, etc

Thanks, Kathy, for updating us on JoAnn's surgery.

Lots of loving wishes and prayers are being sent her way for a full and speedy recovery! Please continue to let us know how she's doing.

Thanks so much Kathy for relaying the message. Please tell Laura that we are all still pulling for her mom.

I, too, am coming in late on this one, BUT what great news! :banana:

Rest up, and get back to our board!

Kathy, Thank you so much for letting us know the good news about JoAnn. Please let her know we are all wishing her a very, very speedy recovery and we miss her!!!

Same here. Glad to hear that the surgery went well!

Masaki

Kathy, Thanks, for the update on JoAnn. She is in our thoughts. We are hoping for a quick recovery.

Betty

I'm jumping into this thread late, too, but, JoAnn, I send my thoughts and prayers....surgery of any kind is hard to face....and worse when there's a serious concern like you have. It is SO wonderfully hopefull that all scans came out well.... and no doubt your yearly follow-throughs will produce ONLY good news!!! You'll be back on LCT in no time. My heartfelt best wishes for quick recovery go out to you.

Kathy, thanks for the update on JoAnn. The hardest part is over (especially the worry), she's had a good report from her doctor...now here's to a quick and uneventful recovery. I'll sure be thinking about her.

wishing Joanne our best.

I too believe very strongly in the power of collective thought. I'm SO glad to hear that surgery went well and things seem to be going in the right direction. {{{hugs}}}

LeeAnne

I am copying and emailing this post for JoAnn's husband or daughter to take your get well wishes her way. I didn't hear any updates. I will try to call the hospital tomorrow and I will report the latest.

I also want to add my best wishes for a speedy recovery. Glad the surgery went well.
Now build up your strength for your MUSH cruise next year.
Happy cruising,
another Joanne

Hey all - well I just got home from the hospital, its Friday night about 6:00pm our time. I am so glad to be home. As Laura said, things went pretty much as expected, there weren't any surprises, and even though the full pathology isn't back yet, it was definitely malignant, so the Dr said again tonight when he was releasing me, "some guardian angel was looking over your shoulder". I am truly grateful for that.

I want to thank all of you for all your support and good wishes before the surgery, and after. Frank printed out the emails of the thread from Kathy and I enjoyed reading them, but more importantly appreciated them so much. The people on this board are just amazing, and I have had the pleasure of being the recepient of that first hand. I truly hope to have a chance to meet many of you on a cruise one of these days - MUSH is still in our thinking and just might be the one, but we will worry that in a few months.

I am so glad to be home, and to work on getting back to normal and start planning the family beach trip and looking forward to our Voyager cruise in August. I feel pretty good and am pain free, didn't really have a lot of pain from the surgery, more from my back as a result of lying in bed for two days, but once they got me up, it was all downhill from there. Took a shower this morning, got detached from all the IV's and stuff and have been up walking around most of the day and eating soft foods.

So thats the update - I cannot thank you all enough, I was overwhelmed with all the support and I know all those positive thoughts had a lot to do with my getting home so soon, as well of course, as all those from family and friends. You are a special group of people. :) :)

JoAnn,
Welcome home. Its great to hear that you are virtually pain free & doing well. Try not to overdo when you're feeling good, just do what you're supposed to & you will continue to get better and stronger.