I was born with a mutant kidney: my left kidney had two ureters instead of one (for a total of three ureters). I had no knowledge of this in childhood.
Nevertheless, I started getting kidney infections in my 20s and 30s. When I was 35, I contracted a very severe kidney infection and was hospitalized for a week. It was 2005.
I need a what? My experience with laparoscopic nephrectomy
The hospital performed a CT scan and discovered my left kidney was not only a mutant with its two ureters, but had shriveled up; my right kidney had taken over its function. While in the hospital, my urologist told me I’d need to come back in a few months to have the kidney removed—otherwise it would continue to be a magnet for infection. They’d remove it laparoscopically, and he predicted I’d have no more of these infections.
And that’s what happened. I was diagnosed with “left renal dysplasia;” they eradicated the infection with antibiotics; and three months later, I underwent a radical laparoscopic nephrectomy. I had four access ports; morphine; a full recovery. The pain afterward was intense and I was again in the hospital, this time for four days.
But I’m lucky—my right kidney is robust. A “super kidney,” my urologist called it. I know he was just trying to make me feel better after the nephrectomy, but I’ll take it.
Nephrectomy evolution
Nephrectomy—the removal of a kidney—can be partial or radical. Until recently, radical nephrectomies were far more common. In a partial nephrectomy, also called “kidney-sparing” surgery, surgeons remove the diseased tissue or tumor while leaving as much healthy kidney tissue as possible in order to attempt to preserve renal function. Partial nephrectomy is generally considered to be a more technically demanding surgery.
Surgeons can perform partial and radical nephrectomy through open surgery, laparoscopic surgery, or with robotic assistance using a da Vinci system. The modern era of kidney surgery was launched in 1869 when Gustav Simon, professor of surgery at Heidelberg, performed the first planned nephrectomy on a living person. Simon’s successor at Heidelberg, Vincenz Czerny, performed the first partial nephrectomy 18 years later. Full and partial nephrectomies are now performed with both laparoscopic and da Vinci robotic surgical systems.