New (scared) member

Survivor29FL

I am 29 yrs old female and in December I was diagnosed with kidney cancer. On 1/13/2012 I had a partial Nephrectomy of my left Kidney. Along with part of my Kidney, 1 rib was removed. My recovery has been okay, I get feverish feeling, and sick to my stomach, and of course I am hurting but I am heeling well. When I went to have my follow up, and staples removed the doctor told me that I had stage 1, grade 2, chromophobe, kidney cancer. The doctor was confident that all of the cancer was removed, and I will return in 6 months after having a chest x-ray and CT scan. I have so many emotions going through my head I am happy to be here, and so afraid that it will return!! I have read comments about kidney cancer that state it rarely returns and comments that state it often returns much later. Also, I was told it is rare to have kidney cancer at my age, so I am just very concerned!! Any input/advise would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you!

rae_rae

Welcome
And sorry that you have had to join us. You will find a lot of support here. The good thing with kidney cancer is when it is caught early, it is usually cured by surgery. It is normal to have anxiety over a recurrence. We all have been there. I think it gets better over time. It's been over a year for me and though I still get some anxiety, it has gotten much better than a year ago. Life will slowly return to normal to for you as you heal. While it's more common for over 50 crowd to get kidney cancer, it seems like we are noticing a younger crowd here. Stay vigilant but remember to live your life and be happy it was caught early.
Rae

rae_rae

Welcome
And sorry that you have had to join us. You will find a lot of support here. The good thing with kidney cancer is when it is caught early, it is usually cured by surgery. It is normal to have anxiety over a recurrence. We all have been there. I think it gets better over time. It's been over a year for me and though I still get some anxiety, it has gotten much better than a year ago. Life will slowly return to normal to for you as you heal. While it's more common for over 50 crowd to get kidney cancer, it seems like we are noticing a younger crowd here. Stay vigilant but remember to live your life and be happy it was caught early.
Rae

MikeK703

The good news
Hi,
The bad news is you had cancer. The good news is that you HAD cancer. With stage 1, grade 2 there's every reason to believe it was caught in time. Chromophobe kidney cancer is one of the rare ones, but here's what kidneycancerinstitute.com says about it:

"The majority of studies which are currently available suggest that chromophobe renal cell carcinomas are less aggressive than most conventional renal cell carcinomas, and have an overall good prognosis when treated early. These tumors tend to remain localized even when they have grown to substantial size."

You'll do great.

Regards,
Mike

icemantoo

MikeK703 said:

The good news
Hi,
The bad news is you had cancer. The good news is that you HAD cancer. With stage 1, grade 2 there's every reason to believe it was caught in time. Chromophobe kidney cancer is one of the rare ones, but here's what kidneycancerinstitute.com says about it:

"The majority of studies which are currently available suggest that chromophobe renal cell carcinomas are less aggressive than most conventional renal cell carcinomas, and have an overall good prognosis when treated early. These tumors tend to remain localized even when they have grown to substantial size."

You'll do great.

Regards,
Mike

Scared? What do you expect
Survivor29FL,

Who wouldn't be scared when they are told at age 29 that they have Kidney Cancer and then surgery to boot right out of the gate. I sure was scared when I was told just before age 59, 9 and 1/2 years ago. Your tumor is small considering and you have two chances for a recurrance, slim and none. At age 29 I expect nothing less than a full recovery in the year to come. Down the road watch your blood pressure and kidney function numbers as these effect your long term heart health Meanwhile enjoy life.

Best wishes,

Icemantoo

Survivor29FL

Thank you!!
Thank you all for the kind words and information! I will continue to post here and read the other posts as well!! Your comments have eased my mind some and I am glad I joined this site!

p.s. After your surgery did you have a lot of nausea, and flu like symptoms? Also, a few months ago I went to an ENT because I was having pain in my neck where my gland is. Without doing any other test he diagnosed me with something call Eagle syndrome. I never went back for my follow up, and when i was diagnosed with cancer it did not cross my mind to tell my kidney dr, or my PCP about the neck pain. What are you thoughts on this and also, should I ask for a PET scan?

icemantoo

Survivor29FL said:

Thank you!!
Thank you all for the kind words and information! I will continue to post here and read the other posts as well!! Your comments have eased my mind some and I am glad I joined this site!

p.s. After your surgery did you have a lot of nausea, and flu like symptoms? Also, a few months ago I went to an ENT because I was having pain in my neck where my gland is. Without doing any other test he diagnosed me with something call Eagle syndrome. I never went back for my follow up, and when i was diagnosed with cancer it did not cross my mind to tell my kidney dr, or my PCP about the neck pain. What are you thoughts on this and also, should I ask for a PET scan?

Other symptoms
Survivor29FL,

The other symtoms do not sound related to the RCC, but check with your kidney dr. and PCP to make sure. As for the nausea that could be related to the pain medicine and the flu like symtoms could be from what else, the flu.

Best wishes in getting these little distractions behind you.

Icemantoo

girlypants

icemantoo said:

Other symptoms
Survivor29FL,

The other symtoms do not sound related to the RCC, but check with your kidney dr. and PCP to make sure. As for the nausea that could be related to the pain medicine and the flu like symtoms could be from what else, the flu.

Best wishes in getting these little distractions behind you.

Icemantoo

I am 28!
I thought I was the youngest on here, well still kinda am but dude I feel you! Mine was found by complete accident, just went to the doc for a tummy problem and bam they found a tumor. This all happened during the holidays for me. So besides it being an emotional time of the year, I had to also go through cancer. Most of my friends cant even believe it or act funny now. I had a partial right kidney nepherotomy. Lost 40% of my kidney. I am just like you with the fear of it coming back. I keep reading the statistics on it and freaking myself out. Its hard to process. Out of know where at least once a day it will just hit me, wow I had cancer. How is that possible! The emotions are all over the place, I think I have cried everyday since I found out and every day after surgery. Its 19 days post op for me. I wish you all the luck! There are others like you, young, vibrant and wanting to live life for a long time! We are fighters and nothing is going to keep up down.

lawmanmike

Right there with you
My surgery was the day before yours and sounds like it was almost identical - though mine is in the right kidney. I know you are scared and it sucks to have cancer but I hope you will find some comfort in this group - I know I have! I have met dozens of people who have gone through the same thing we are experiencing right now and the news has always been encouraging. You are fortunate to have the cancer found early and while you are young - and even more lucky to have it completely removed from your body. The upside of this particular cancer is the ability to be completely cured of it through surgery. While there is always the possibility it will return it is a fairly small possibility and if it does - you now know how to beat it! I say bring on the annual scans and let's stay ahead of this disease! Good luck with your recovery!