2nd July to 27th July At home in Port Stephens and Tamara’s Operation.

Tamara arrived back in Australia on the 2^nd July as scheduled. Had a great flight home where she had 4 seats to herself so she was able to sleep most of the way. It was a long wait for her operation which was scheduled for 19^th July. So we spent the time getting fit by walking and eating healthy food. It is important that Tamara does not catch a cold or flu and have the risk of having the operation cancelled.

The 19^th came around and all went very well. The doctor was very pleased and he managed to get all the cancer and preserve the kidney so there was no requirement for chemotherapy. Just another check up in 3 months time. We were all very pleased especially Tamara. The operation was performed with the DaVinci robot at St Vincents Private Hospital. It is key hole surgery and the recovery period is so much shorter than traditional kidney operations. Tamara spent 2 nights in hospital and 48 hours after the operation the doctor approved her discharge and commented that if only all his patients looked that good after major surgery. Goes to show the fitter you go into an operation the fitter you come out and the recovery is so much faster. 

 

48 Hours after surgery and ready to leave hospital

 

The next 4 days were spent recuperating at a serviced apartment in Coogee. I cooked all meals as again we wanted to eliminate the risk of Tamara catching a cold or flu damaging the internal and external stiches. Tamara made an amazing recovery and within 7 days of the operation was walking free of pain and without taking any pain killers. I placed Tamara in the hands of her good friend Elena at Narrabeen and proceeded back to Port Stephens to trim the garden and mow the lawns so I could depart back to the yacht on 28^th July.