(1) Pre-Surgery: My Surgeon

It felt like forever for me to get the call from St. Joseph's, but my cell phone finally rang and I was told the surgery was scheduled for June 13, 2013.  I immediately felt like I had SO MUCH to do before the surgery.  The first thing they scheduled, was a meeting with the primary surgeon and the urologist.

Janet and I traveled to Saint Joseph's, in Marshfield, WI, to meet them on June 3rd.  Although we had researched Dr. Jessica Wernberg's professional profile online and liked what we saw, we were both a little apprehensive when learning the limited number of years she had been practicing as a surgeon.

Dr. Jessica Wernberg-Surgeon

We were both nervous going into the meeting with Dr. Wernberg, but she made all the difference in making a horrible situation seem more manageable.  It was not easy listening to her talk about my surgery, especially when she got into the specifics.   Due to the mass being attached to several organs, she said they would be removing my entire right kidney, part of my liver, part of my diaphram, areas of my chest wall, and possibly 2 ribs. 

I was not expecting the comment about removing my ribs.  I knew a part of the mass was coming between two of my ribs, but none of my doctors in Eau Claire had talked about their removal.  I have to say that I'm not sure I heard some of her following comments because all I could think about was losing ribs and what that would be like.

The next thing I heard her say was they would be consulting with a plastic surgeon to assist with reconstructing the areas of my ribs, chest wall and diaphram. She continued by saying they may have to do other removal or repairs depending on what was found during the surgery.

When I gathered myself together, I ask her exactly how dangerous the operation would be.  She said, 

"There is no guarantee, Cindy.  This is a MAJOR surgery and it is possible you could bleed out during it.  Of course, we will do everything within our power to see that it does not happen."

As overwhelming as it all was, Dr. Wernberg had a natural gift of making you feel a sense of security with her.  She delivered what she had to say with great professionalism and the perfect amount of a friendly personality with bedside manner.  She didn't candy coat the seriousness of the operation, but the meeting with her ended with confidence.

The operation would be performed with her leading a team of multiple doctors.  There would be 5 surgeons, along with many other specialists, including the plastic surgeon on standby.  In total, there would be over 20 members of medical staff in the operating room!  We left the meeting with Dr. Wernberg feeling scared but confident we had one of the BEST on our side!

Following our meeting with Dr. Wernberg, we met with one of the other primary surgeons, Urologist, Dr. J Vincent Thomalla.  He is the surgeon that removed my right kidney.  In essence, he repeated what we had heard from Dr. Wernberg.

At first, Dr. Thomalla seemed gruff and lacked showing any empathy, but as the appoinment continued, he "softened."  He began showing more of a caring personality and made me feel like he was truly on my side to give his full expertise for a successful outcome.

Dr. J Vincent Thomalla, Urologist-Surgeon