1st meeting with Urogolist

Iggyrip

Hello all,

   I met with my Urologist yesterday. He told me the tumor was 6cm, a little bigger than my Oncologist said. Still, it is what it is.  He also told me my tumor is on the top of the Kidney in a bad place, and he recommends taking it out. He believes it may be Stage one, maybe two; but as I learned on this site, they need to take it out to Stage it.

I believe surgery will be scheduled within a month or so. In the meantime, I am trying to keep calm, and getting mentally ready for all that is ahead. 

 

Thank you all for your advice, and support. It means a lot to me at this time.

 

Iggyrip       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

todd121

Staging

They really can't tell much until they get it out. You're right. I believe 7 cm is the cutoff between Stage 1 and Stage 2. However, they can't even tell what kind of cancer is it until they do the pathology. Are you a candidate for a partial nephrectomy? That might save some of your kidney function. I had a 6.9 cm tumor but I was not able to have a partial because of the location of the tumor.

Hope it goes well for you. There's always a chance it's something benign, or something not so serious. It happens. Living with the unknown is something we struggle with in this situation. You're not alone.

Hugs,

Todd

 

Footstomper

Good luck Iggy

Get that thing out as soon as you can. Surgery aint a problem, it largely involves going to sleep and letting professionals get on with their jobs. You'll wake up surrounded by other professionals who will look after you. Then you'll go home when they think youre ready.

What is there to worry about?

icemantoo

Think about the World Series

Iggy,

Beats thinking about the surgery which we all have such fond memories of. WTF.The surgery is not something to get excited about unless you look at it positively like saying I HAD Cancer afterword and hopefully it wil never return.

 

 

Icemantoo

hardo718

When you say...

....he recommends taking it out....are you referring to the mass or the kidney? 

Donna~

JerzyGrrl

"...A bad place..."?!

I'm not sure what exactly your physician meant when he said it's "in a bad place," but as has already been mentioned, you get to snooze, the professionals get to do the hard work, then you wake up and other professionals take care of you. You do realize that removing a kidney mass that's "in a bad place"gives your surgeon an opportunity to have a bit of a challenge before calling it a day? It's what they do. 

All the best --

duster10

Surgery

wasnt as big of a deal as I thought it would be.  Dont get me wrong, its major surgery and you need time to recover, but I am now 2 weeks post-op, and I am doing remarkebly well.  First 4-5 days is a little bit of a struggle, and it can be a challenge getting into a comfortable sleeping position, but in hind site, it wasnt the end of the world.  Has it been discussed if this is open surgery?  Anything about the adrenal gland?

foroughsh

Hopefully it's stage one. A 6

Hopefully it's stage one. A 6 cm confind to the kidney tumor is stage one and that's the best we can hope for. Nefrectomy isn't a walk in the park but we've all done it and survived. Some weeks with pain, tiredness, difficulty but at the end it's out of you and you're free of it. So stay positive and get ready for a long life to live.

Forough

stub1969

Specialist

Hi, Iggy!  Maybe you've mentioned this in a post that I've missed.  If so, please disregard.  Does your Urologist specialize in RCC?  One of our members on this board (medic1971) works as an ER nurse and states that many Urologist work with under 6 RCC patients per year.  You need to find a Urologist that works with many more RCC patients than this.  If your Urologist does not specialize in RCC, many on here would advocate for a 2nd opinion.  In your case, you might find a person that is an expert in partials.  In any event, a 6cm tumor is creeping up on the bigger end of an average size tumor (4 and under is considered small T1a) and should come out sooner rather than later.  I wish you the best.

 

Stub 

Iggyrip

todd121 said:

Staging

They really can't tell much until they get it out. You're right. I believe 7 cm is the cutoff between Stage 1 and Stage 2. However, they can't even tell what kind of cancer is it until they do the pathology. Are you a candidate for a partial nephrectomy? That might save some of your kidney function. I had a 6.9 cm tumor but I was not able to have a partial because of the location of the tumor.

Hope it goes well for you. There's always a chance it's something benign, or something not so serious. It happens. Living with the unknown is something we struggle with in this situation. You're not alone.

Hugs,

Todd

 

Hi Todd, I am not a candidate

Hi Todd, I am not a candidate for a partial. It's in a bad place and they need to remove it. I have realized it could have been found later. So, I count my blessings that it was discovered now instead of a year or two.

Thanx for your support.

 

Iggy

Iggyrip

hardo718 said:

When you say...

....he recommends taking it out....are you referring to the mass or the kidney? 

Donna~

Both are coming out.

Both are coming out.

Iggyrip

Thanx to everyone for your

Thanx to everyone for your comments and support. My Urologist informed me the location of the tumor made it difficult for a partial. (The tumor is located on the top of the kidney). I have thought about a second opinion, but all my doctors are under a health care system that is pretty large here in my area. They have a specilized Cancer Center that is accedited. My sister in law recently had cancer surgery there to remove breast cancer and they did a great job on her.

I asked my doctor if he did the laprosocpic surgery and he said yes. He then explaned the procedure to me and assured me that he had a lot of experience with the procedure.  He also told me I was the third person who came into his office this week with cancer. If he did not performed laprospopic surgery, I would have found a Dr. who did. The hospital where my surgery will take place has a dedicated cancer center which includes surgery and they do a lot of it.

I can get a second opinion, but right now I'm ok with my doctors and the hospital where I will have my surgery. I am also concerned with the size of my tumor and want it out ASAP.

 

Thank you all for your advice and support.

Iggy

marosa

hello Iggyrip

I had a partial neph 2 years ago this month for a tumor your size and it was sitting on the top right of my kidney. My doctor was a Professor in cancer urology but yes there were risks and I fell into that low risk porcentage.  Had an internal hemorrague 12 hours after surgery and had to be transfused.  Tough and scary recup but I got to keep 3/4 of my kidney and get 6mm of clean margins.  So far so good and feeling great!  Its important to trust your doctor.  Good luck and see you soon here doing the rest-recup bit!

Iggyrip

marosa said:

hello Iggyrip

I had a partial neph 2 years ago this month for a tumor your size and it was sitting on the top right of my kidney. My doctor was a Professor in cancer urology but yes there were risks and I fell into that low risk porcentage.  Had an internal hemorrague 12 hours after surgery and had to be transfused.  Tough and scary recup but I got to keep 3/4 of my kidney and get 6mm of clean margins.  So far so good and feeling great!  Its important to trust your doctor.  Good luck and see you soon here doing the rest-recup bit!

Hi Marosa, thanx for your

Hi Marosa, thanx for your post. I may look into a second. Scary stuff, glad you kept part of your kidney.

Jan4you

Hi there, Iggyrip! Have you

Hi there, Iggyrip! Have you ever had any abdominal surgeries? And is your surgeon trained in robatic, laproscopic? I too had to have a radical due to the position of my tumor 4.2cm near a blood supply. And I used a lumbar wrap to wear as I left the hospital, even in bed/chairs as it helped me to get up. Most folks rest in a recliner, but I didn't have one then.

I would place dry ice packs inside my lumbar wrap over the largest incision and it really helped reduce the swelling. Therefore I used less pain meds and I didn't need pain meds for long.

We're here for you for any questions or concerns you might have. Remember you will be under the medications used in general anesthesia which won't be out of your system completely for a few days, while already starting on oral pain meds AND they use that gas to pump up your abdomen so the surgeon can SEE past other organs. That gas gets trapped in weird places, usually in the shoulder. That was my worse pain, so I just kept circling my arms around to move it out.

Hang in there,  you'll be okay. BUT you must rest and not exercise for at least 30 days, even if you feel like it. You can walk though. You'll be a little more tired too for a bit. So please don't rush this return to work.

Sending  you calmness, serenity and a healing hug!

Jan

Iggyrip

Jan4you said:

Hi there, Iggyrip! Have you

Hi there, Iggyrip! Have you ever had any abdominal surgeries? And is your surgeon trained in robatic, laproscopic? I too had to have a radical due to the position of my tumor 4.2cm near a blood supply. And I used a lumbar wrap to wear as I left the hospital, even in bed/chairs as it helped me to get up. Most folks rest in a recliner, but I didn't have one then.

I would place dry ice packs inside my lumbar wrap over the largest incision and it really helped reduce the swelling. Therefore I used less pain meds and I didn't need pain meds for long.

We're here for you for any questions or concerns you might have. Remember you will be under the medications used in general anesthesia which won't be out of your system completely for a few days, while already starting on oral pain meds AND they use that gas to pump up your abdomen so the surgeon can SEE past other organs. That gas gets trapped in weird places, usually in the shoulder. That was my worse pain, so I just kept circling my arms around to move it out.

Hang in there,  you'll be okay. BUT you must rest and not exercise for at least 30 days, even if you feel like it. You can walk though. You'll be a little more tired too for a bit. So please don't rush this return to work.

Sending  you calmness, serenity and a healing hug!

Jan

Hi Jan, I have never had

Hi Jan, I have never had abdominal surgery. I don't think my Urologist is doing Robotic Surgery. He told me he will do Laproscopic Surgery. I asked him if he did Robotic, but he did not say he did.  (I am looking into a second opinion. Hopefully, I can see another Urologist who does the Robotic). I just want someone who knows what he is doing and time it ticking away. Thank you for the advice and information regarding the surgery and recovery. Right now, I am scheduled to take a Colonoscopy because they want to rule out someone they saw.  In the meantime, I wait and try to keep things in perspective.

Thank you for your time,

 

Iggy

 

Allochka

Please do not forget to do

Please do not forget to do breathing exercises after surgery, otherwise you can end up with pneumonia or similar. Those exercises are really important!

Iggyrip

Allochka said:

Please do not forget to do

Please do not forget to do breathing exercises after surgery, otherwise you can end up with pneumonia or similar. Those exercises are really important!

OK, thanx.

OK, thanx.

todd121

Iggyrip said:

Hi Jan, I have never had

Hi Jan, I have never had abdominal surgery. I don't think my Urologist is doing Robotic Surgery. He told me he will do Laproscopic Surgery. I asked him if he did Robotic, but he did not say he did.  (I am looking into a second opinion. Hopefully, I can see another Urologist who does the Robotic). I just want someone who knows what he is doing and time it ticking away. Thank you for the advice and information regarding the surgery and recovery. Right now, I am scheduled to take a Colonoscopy because they want to rule out someone they saw.  In the meantime, I wait and try to keep things in perspective.

Thank you for your time,

 

Iggy

 

Someone?

That someone must have been really tiny...

"I am scheduled to take a Colonoscopy because they want to rule out someone they saw..." Haha. Sorry. I couldn't resist.

Todd

 

myoung790

I had a smaller tumor in the

I had a smaller tumor in the same part of the kidney.  Mine was pushing up into the renal artery and vein and "disrupting the flow".  We went in with the hope of having a parial, but unfortunately, I lost the kidney.  Too big a risk of infection and urine leakage.  I'm almost 2 years post op and approaching my next scan.  I was stage 1.  Best of luck.

Ree_Maryland

Hi IGGY , I had a 5 cem tumor

Hi IGGY , I had a 5 cem tumor ,had a neph,could not save the kidney ,it has been a litle over 2yrs now and doing good. My dr speicializing in RCC so I feel confindent  that he did a good job and got it all , hope all goes well . I was out of the hospital the next day , took a couple weeks to get my energy back but feeling great now .