Anyone had a kidney tumor biopsy?

LKidd

Mimir said:

Biopsy

I  had a biopsy done (NIH clinical center). The doctors I talked to said that it used to be the view that biopsies could spread cancer and where bad, but the cutting edge studies show that there is  almost no risk from a biopsy. For my biospy I was awake lying on my stomach with a light sedative and some local anesthesia on my back. They used a large needle and took some samples.  For me, the  disconcerting  parts of the procedure were the clicking sound  the large needle made as it took samples, and blood trickling down my back. There was a bunch of bleeding but nothing that worried them.  After the biopsy you generally would go to thhe day hospital for observation(making sure there is no internal bleeding). The spot is sore for a few days, but after a week you should be fine. 

One of the main arguement against  biopsies is that different parts of the tumor can return different results. They told me that they were going to take 3 samples from diffrent parts of the tumor to make sure they got an accurate result. 

I would recommend getting the biopsy if, and only if, the procedure could significantly alter your treatment path.  SInce I am 18 years old, the docotrs thought I  might have a wilms tumor. The treatment for wilms tumor is chemo and surgery.  If the tumor had been wilms there would have been a good chance the doctors could have saved part of my kidney.  The small risk of the biospys was offset by the better outcome of knowing what type of tumor I had.

In other words, if you are going to get surgeyr to remove it either way, there might not be sense in getting a biopsy. If you still have doubts, bluntly ask your doctor what the difference in treatment would be with and without the biopsy.

I hope everything goes smoothly!

Biopsy

Mimir - Hi, a couple questions about your biopsy - Aside the clicking noise, did it hurt? Painful? And afterwards how do they confirm there is no internal bleeding? Also, they are saying I will be on fetynal and versed (sp?), was that what you were on? If so, were you fairly sedated. When you went home, able to walk around and be normal, just sore? Or did your kidney/side hurt at all. I know you said you were sore, but how much? I had versed before and was very combative on it, a few times for a few endoscopies. I am concerned about how it feels, them damaging my kidney because my tumor is so thin (3/8" thick), how I will react during the procedure while sedated, I am sure you have to stay still, not sure if I will react and not stay still, the bleeding risk and how it feels afterwards. Wow, so many questions, but any more insight would be appreciated. Thanks so much again, to all who are posting, but since you have gone through it your experience will be helpful, and anyone else with the experience.

Texas_wedge

LKidd said:

Update

Awesome Mike! Positive movement. As others said, please do rant and rave, and celebrate too here with us. Everyone is in different stages of this roller coaster. I am glad you got your appointment, I hope it goes well. Keep us posted.

My biopsy is Monday. I am worried. I hope it goes well. I got some feedback but not sure completely what to expect really. I hope that goes well also. Concerned about risks of bleeding, how I will feel afterwards, concerned because my tumor is flat and small and only 3/8" thick, how are they going to get some of it without damaging my kidney etc. etc. too worried. I will update of course. If anyone else has experience with biopsy it would be great to hear about it.

Thanks to everyone for the support!

Biopsy

I'm afraid I can't speak from personal experience (there was no doubt in my case, so I just had two open ops).

However, may I make a suggestion?  You are plainly very anxious and, even though you are getting some reassuring feedback here from folks who have had a biopsy, your situation is a little different with your special wafer lesion.

In your shoes, I'd be asking the questions you're putting to us here directly to the experts - the people who will be conducting the biopsy.  They will have done numerous such procedures, they're aware of your unusual tumor (?) and will know how they intend to proceed.  Now would also be a good time to alert them to your past combativeness so that they can accommodate that, if they need to.

I think you are worrying more than you need to and all will be fine but to hear that from the experts will be a lot better and I'm confident they will be able to answer all of your questions with complete and comforting answers.

All will go fine on Monday and we'll await the next instalment of the mystery story with interest, reckoning there will be a happy ending quite soon.

MDCinSC

LKidd said:

Update

Awesome Mike! Positive movement. As others said, please do rant and rave, and celebrate too here with us. Everyone is in different stages of this roller coaster. I am glad you got your appointment, I hope it goes well. Keep us posted.

My biopsy is Monday. I am worried. I hope it goes well. I got some feedback but not sure completely what to expect really. I hope that goes well also. Concerned about risks of bleeding, how I will feel afterwards, concerned because my tumor is flat and small and only 3/8" thick, how are they going to get some of it without damaging my kidney etc. etc. too worried. I will update of course. If anyone else has experience with biopsy it would be great to hear about it.

Thanks to everyone for the support!

I will think of you on Monday!

With you getting your biopsy; me meeting my urologist for the first time.  I'll be sending warm fuzzies your way (plus a prayer or two if you'd like it) while I'm in there with MY Doc!

Bon Chance!  Mike

LKidd

Texas_wedge said:

Biopsy

I'm afraid I can't speak from personal experience (there was no doubt in my case, so I just had two open ops).

However, may I make a suggestion?  You are plainly very anxious and, even though you are getting some reassuring feedback here from folks who have had a biopsy, your situation is a little different with your special wafer lesion.

In your shoes, I'd be asking the questions you're putting to us here directly to the experts - the people who will be conducting the biopsy.  They will have done numerous such procedures, they're aware of your unusual tumor (?) and will know how they intend to proceed.  Now would also be a good time to alert them to your past combativeness so that they can accommodate that, if they need to.

I think you are worrying more than you need to and all will be fine but to hear that from the experts will be a lot better and I'm confident they will be able to answer all of your questions with complete and comforting answers.

All will go fine on Monday and we'll await the next instalment of the mystery story with interest, reckoning there will be a happy ending quite soon.

Biopsy

Thanks TW, yes, as you noted anxious. I do plan on posing all these questions to the docs. I agree, they have done a lot of these and can likely accommodate and hopefully it will be fine. I have my list of questions ready to go! Thanks again, my mystery "wafer" as you call it which is hilarious by the way, better be ready. I so appreciate the feedback.

LKidd

MDCinSC said:

I will think of you on Monday!

With you getting your biopsy; me meeting my urologist for the first time.  I'll be sending warm fuzzies your way (plus a prayer or two if you'd like it) while I'm in there with MY Doc!

Bon Chance!  Mike

Monday

Yay, thanks MDC. Crossing fingers and ready to nix this thing. Good luck with your Urology appt.

garym

LKidd said:

Monday

Yay, thanks MDC. Crossing fingers and ready to nix this thing. Good luck with your Urology appt.

Piece a cake...

You'll breeze right through it and I'm sure it will be a whole lot easier than your imagination makes it out to be.  Try and relax this weekend.

MDCinSC

LKidd said:

Monday

Yay, thanks MDC. Crossing fingers and ready to nix this thing. Good luck with your Urology appt.

Meet back here for a drink!

LOL Lets celebrate by meeting back here Monday night!  I'm pouring Single Malt.  Any takers?

 

Of course my appointment notification just arrived.  What I thought was a Urology Appointment turned out instead to ne an "ONCOLOGY" Appointment.  Wow, the power of one little word!

 

Still, the single malt is on me Monday night!  Bring your favorite scotch glass!  I can take whatever they dish out! LOL

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean."

(William Shakespeare; Henry V Act III)

LKidd

Kidney biopsy done, update

Update:

Procedure yesterday went fine as far as I know. I did have a lot of questions for the Radiologist up front, written down. He also concurred with the Doc and says by the looks of it they all believe it's benign and an Angiomyolipoma. I really really really hope they are right. He also said due to the size, location and flatness of it, the biopsy would be more difficult and I might be in more pain after.

He was right. It was tough. Awake the whole time, following instruct. They tried to go in horizontally so they took only samples of the mass and not my kidney, although he told me he might take part of the kidney anyway cuz' the tumor is so thin and the needle so long that it might be unavoidable. Because of how small, they ended up taking 8 samples, 4 with a fine needle, 4 with a core biopsy needle that takes larger pieces. They went through my 11th and 12th ribs to get there. They had some trouble getting a clear pic of the dang thing in the beginning, but finally with some special guide light they brought in, got it. The 2 pathologists, anesthesia gal, the Radiologist, Ultrasound gal and the head Radiologist of the clinic were all there for this. Apparently this little friend of mine is challenging.

Went home in a lot of pain, painful all last night and couldn't get around much. My husband and friend were there and helped a lot. Today is much better. I can get around a lot better. The main pain like last night is gone, but it feels like a bunch of people stood in line and took shots at my kidney. Like punches. So doing much better, but getting around slowly. Slept sitting up, so kind of tired. Other than that I am doing well today.

I will find out the results this week. I will let you all know. Whew, glad that is done.

LKidd

Mystery Tumor Biopsy Result

Hi all - Well the mystery is over. The results from my biopsy on Monday 3/4 are in, I received them Thursday 3/7. My biopsy was done at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. They have their own pathology lab so the turn around is very very quick. My two month + journey and mystery about my tumor is over. It is a benign Angiomyolipoma. A fatty smooth cell tumor, it generally poses no complications and you just live with it. Or it growns extremely slowly and still poses no risks or complications. If it grows to a size of 6cm-8cm it can become dangerous as it can bleed/hemorrhage or rupture. So now I need to do a repeat follow up scan in one year to establish the growth rate. Once established, we will determine how often I need to scan the tumor to monitor it and make sure it does not grow too large. If it ever gets to 6cm-8cm, I will need to have the tumor removed.

I am elated and feel very lucky. I joined this site and am grateful to have received a lot of help, information, support and shared experiences. I was extremely scared, surprised by the tumor finding, and didn't know what to do or what to expect at all. My tumor ended up being unique and was not recognized by any Urologists which scared me more. It became a mystery. I went through all the tests and procedures to find out, which took a little over 2 months. It seemed like forever! But aside the help, information and support, what helped me most and put me at ease was the ability to read and talk to people on here about similar experiences with what they were going through, tests etc. It helped me know what to expect and how to handle it. It also took a lot out of the "What's going to happen" out of it. I am completely grateful for all of that, and all of the people on here who contribute. I also feel lucky and happy about the outcome of course, but also sad and somewhat guilty as I have been able to read stories on here that have had bad experiences, are going through terrible illness, or that are struggling with this awful disease. I just hope I can be as much help to others regardless of their status as everyone was to me, and maybe even shed some hope to someone in a similar situation. This site is invaluable.

Read full experience under LKidd

 

Texas_wedge

LKidd said:

Mystery Tumor Biopsy Result

Hi all - Well the mystery is over. The results from my biopsy on Monday 3/4 are in, I received them Thursday 3/7. My biopsy was done at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. They have their own pathology lab so the turn around is very very quick. My two month + journey and mystery about my tumor is over. It is a benign Angiomyolipoma. A fatty smooth cell tumor, it generally poses no complications and you just live with it. Or it growns extremely slowly and still poses no risks or complications. If it grows to a size of 6cm-8cm it can become dangerous as it can bleed/hemorrhage or rupture. So now I need to do a repeat follow up scan in one year to establish the growth rate. Once established, we will determine how often I need to scan the tumor to monitor it and make sure it does not grow too large. If it ever gets to 6cm-8cm, I will need to have the tumor removed.

I am elated and feel very lucky. I joined this site and am grateful to have received a lot of help, information, support and shared experiences. I was extremely scared, surprised by the tumor finding, and didn't know what to do or what to expect at all. My tumor ended up being unique and was not recognized by any Urologists which scared me more. It became a mystery. I went through all the tests and procedures to find out, which took a little over 2 months. It seemed like forever! But aside the help, information and support, what helped me most and put me at ease was the ability to read and talk to people on here about similar experiences with what they were going through, tests etc. It helped me know what to expect and how to handle it. It also took a lot out of the "What's going to happen" out of it. I am completely grateful for all of that, and all of the people on here who contribute. I also feel lucky and happy about the outcome of course, but also sad and somewhat guilty as I have been able to read stories on here that have had bad experiences, are going through terrible illness, or that are struggling with this awful disease. I just hope I can be as much help to others regardless of their status as everyone was to me, and maybe even shed some hope to someone in a similar situation. This site is invaluable.

Read full experience under LKidd

 

Mystery solved

Great news!!  As you know, I believed that the mystery story would have a happy ending and that your wafer tumor would be unmasked and turn out not to be a villain after all.  

We all love the good news, especially when we've just had very sad news, like Karen's.

You've provided a good example of why we shouldn't panic the moment we get potentially bad tidings - often it turns out not to be as bad as we feared.

garym

LKidd said:

Mystery Tumor Biopsy Result

Hi all - Well the mystery is over. The results from my biopsy on Monday 3/4 are in, I received them Thursday 3/7. My biopsy was done at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. They have their own pathology lab so the turn around is very very quick. My two month + journey and mystery about my tumor is over. It is a benign Angiomyolipoma. A fatty smooth cell tumor, it generally poses no complications and you just live with it. Or it growns extremely slowly and still poses no risks or complications. If it grows to a size of 6cm-8cm it can become dangerous as it can bleed/hemorrhage or rupture. So now I need to do a repeat follow up scan in one year to establish the growth rate. Once established, we will determine how often I need to scan the tumor to monitor it and make sure it does not grow too large. If it ever gets to 6cm-8cm, I will need to have the tumor removed.

I am elated and feel very lucky. I joined this site and am grateful to have received a lot of help, information, support and shared experiences. I was extremely scared, surprised by the tumor finding, and didn't know what to do or what to expect at all. My tumor ended up being unique and was not recognized by any Urologists which scared me more. It became a mystery. I went through all the tests and procedures to find out, which took a little over 2 months. It seemed like forever! But aside the help, information and support, what helped me most and put me at ease was the ability to read and talk to people on here about similar experiences with what they were going through, tests etc. It helped me know what to expect and how to handle it. It also took a lot out of the "What's going to happen" out of it. I am completely grateful for all of that, and all of the people on here who contribute. I also feel lucky and happy about the outcome of course, but also sad and somewhat guilty as I have been able to read stories on here that have had bad experiences, are going through terrible illness, or that are struggling with this awful disease. I just hope I can be as much help to others regardless of their status as everyone was to me, and maybe even shed some hope to someone in a similar situation. This site is invaluable.

Read full experience under LKidd

 

Wonderful...

LK,

We don't get near enough good news around here and even less fantastic news like yours, you must feel like you've won the lottery!

Congratulations,

Gary

LKidd

Texas_wedge said:

Mystery solved

Great news!!  As you know, I believed that the mystery story would have a happy ending and that your wafer tumor would be unmasked and turn out not to be a villain after all.  

We all love the good news, especially when we've just had very sad news, like Karen's.

You've provided a good example of why we shouldn't panic the moment we get potentially bad tidings - often it turns out not to be as bad as we feared.

Indeed Solved

You are right. It's hard not to panic, and i got two diagnosis and recommendations that were completely opposite. So it seemed to drag and likely was going to be one extreme or another. In the face of cancer, so much goes through your mind and you think of so many things. It was nice to have your insight and support. Specifically yours since you are so knowledgeable about this. It helped a lot. I am just healing from the biopsy which was a bear, they took 8 samples so getting back is taking longer. But I'll take that outcome any day, it was worth it in the end. Thanks again TW. You nailed my little friend!

LKidd

garym said:

Wonderful...

LK,

We don't get near enough good news around here and even less fantastic news like yours, you must feel like you've won the lottery!

Congratulations,

Gary

Thanks - The big winner

Thanks Gary. Indeed, a good way to put it, the lottery. I felt exactly like that. Thanks for the congrats, Like I said, still feel a little guilty. I thought my outcome was going to be different and I have read so many stories on here and learned so much. I feel great but feel sad that this kind of news couldn't happen more often to others. Thanks for your support.

Texas_wedge

LKidd said:

Thanks - The big winner

Thanks Gary. Indeed, a good way to put it, the lottery. I felt exactly like that. Thanks for the congrats, Like I said, still feel a little guilty. I thought my outcome was going to be different and I have read so many stories on here and learned so much. I feel great but feel sad that this kind of news couldn't happen more often to others. Thanks for your support.

A winner

We'll be sorry to see you go but we're all glad you don't belong here as of right, and hope you never do need to join us here on a more permanent basis.  

It was good to learn that your little friend wasn't a bad one after all. Go and celebrate life with a new insight and enjoy it thoroughly on behalf of those who aren't as lucky.

foxhd

Texas_wedge said:

A winner

We'll be sorry to see you go but we're all glad you don't belong here as of right, and hope you never do need to join us here on a more permanent basis.  

It was good to learn that your little friend wasn't a bad one after all. Go and celebrate life with a new insight and enjoy it thoroughly on behalf of those who aren't as lucky.

negative

Wonderful news LKIDD! I am starting my day with a nice big smile! A victory for one is a victory for us all Now stay healthy!!!!!!!!!!

foxhd

Texas_wedge said:

A winner

We'll be sorry to see you go but we're all glad you don't belong here as of right, and hope you never do need to join us here on a more permanent basis.  

It was good to learn that your little friend wasn't a bad one after all. Go and celebrate life with a new insight and enjoy it thoroughly on behalf of those who aren't as lucky.

negative

Wonderful news LKIDD! I am starting my day with a nice big smile! A victory for one is a victory for us all Now stay healthy!!!!!!!!!!

MDCinSC

foxhd said:

negative

Wonderful news LKIDD! I am starting my day with a nice big smile! A victory for one is a victory for us all Now stay healthy!!!!!!!!!!

Well said Fox

I couldn't have said it any better myself!  I'm very pleased and excited for you Lkidd!

 

Mike