Why is my son waiting for Kidney surgery so long?

Michealusa

My son was diagnosed with Stage 3 Kidney Cancer about 2 weeks ago. Been thru all the tests, scans and MRI. Schedualed for  Full kidney removal surgery May 30th.

He is in constant Pain, Night Sweats, Cold at night and eating very little.

Medication is Hydrocodon with Tylenol every 6 hours with advil in between that.

He has a strong tolerance for pain and did not want to take any medicine until the pain started.

My worry is that why do they wait so long to do the surgery when he is in so much pain?

He was told at the emergency room when he was first diagnosed to have it removed right away.

Should I be concerned about other problems because the surgery is still 8 days away?

Thank You

Mike

icemantoo

Many of us waited longer

Mike,

 

Sorry about the wait. Given the seriousness you descibe you have the right to answers from the hospital, doctor, insurance company. Give it a try..

 

 

icemantoo

Wehavenotimeatall

Mike

sorry to hear your news.. it a terrible shock and takes some getting used to.

The waiting is truly awful...and i agree yesterday is too soon esp if he is in pain

but unfortunately unless he is severe pain or danger of an internal bleed I don’t think they will rush you in.

three weeks is a very short time in the life of a kidney mass.

the main issue is usually where you are in the queue.

it is a major operation so they aim for the best results in terms of pre assessments and having the best surgeon and team ready when it is  your turn:

if the robot is being used that will also cause a delay as most units only have one or two machines

i truly understand.. 

3 weeks is about standard for an emergency op

the   Next week will pass very quick  

Abunai

Unfortunately

Unfortunately, there are several resources that have to become available before the actual surgery can happen.

Three weeks isn't out of the ordinary.

However, if he is still in serious pain, he should let his doctor know and get some better pain control.

Angiebby75

I waited about 30 days or so.

I waited about 30 days or so. So I think that is typical.

Retcenturion

Pain seems unuusal

I had no pains at all from the kidney mass. It was an incidental find. Could there be another condition he has that the Dr's haven't told you? I had to wait a month for my scheduled surgery a full nephrectomy. Also if your not aware watch the pain meds, the opioid constipation was brutal.There is a lot of great information here on what is a head for you and your son's surgery. If you have any questions ask here and you'll get an answer.Sending positive thoughts for you and your son.

Allochka

So sorry to hear...

So sorry to hear...

Retcenturion is right, people usually don;t suffer that much even due to Stage 4 kidney cancers. Could there be something else?

And the wait for 3 weeks is not that long for neprectomies, as everybody above had said. My husband was told to wait 2-3 months (he was Stage 1). But as I was pregnant at that time, the urologist found a chance to make surgery in a month and a half, just to avoid extra stress for me due to waiting

God luck to your son! Hugs

Alla

Gtngbtr58 @aol.com

It's not unusual

To have to wait a month for the surgery-I was told that unlike some other cancers it wasn't a real rush to have surgery.  I waited about a month and a half , the waiting period is very hard that's for sure , try to be patient you'll be on this side of surgery real soon-good luck- June

 

 

Nanaof10

My wait

was 7 months of waiting for them to decide to do surgery and 6 weeks from decision day to surgery day. I have 3 more tumors and am now waiting 6 months for another decision on when surgery will be. I'm in pain as well and on Tramadol. It's tough. Hang in there and I'm sending prayers.

APny

So sorry he's in so much pain

So sorry he's in so much pain. I had none and if I didn't pee blood they'd never have found it. I was diagnosed in January (2014) and had surgery in March. Quite a wait but I had a bad cold so they didn't want to do it at the originally scheduled end of February time. All the best to your son and hope he gets relief soon.

Bryn1108

Big hugs and prayers

So very sorry he is going through this. My kidney cancer caused my gallbladder to go crazy and cause a lot of pain. But, that pain saved my life,  that is how my kidney tumor was discovered.  Praying hard for you guys.  Anxiety will cause pain also. 

todd121

Pain

My first symptom was 1-2 bouts of red urine that cleared up immediately. I didn't have another symptom for a year and because my urinalysis was negative for blood, the family doctor did nothing. (Red urine can be caused by more than just bleeding. Even eating beets or food dyes can cause red-tinged urine).

The next time I had symptoms I had not only red urine, but terrible pain. The pain was very similar to kidney stones (which I know because I'd had them). In fact, I thought this was a kidney stone and tried to talk to the doctor out of doing a CT or admitting me because neither helped when I had my last kidney stone a few years before. The pain was excruciating. It turned out to be from blood clots passing through the ureter and caused the same pain as a kidney stone. My mass at first was diagnosed as Stage 1 before removal, and after removal pathology came back as Stage 3.

Why based only on imaging did they diagnose your son as Stage 3? That is rare. Normally an imaging diagnosis is Stage 1 or Stage 2 (just based on whether the tumor is above 7cm or below 7cm).

The wait you've described is not at all unusual. However, if he is in pain, he should keep the doctor informed of this. They need to make sure the pain isn't a symptom of something life threatening that would cause them to move the surgery up. Keep going back to the doctor and keep the doctor informed of the pain levels. If it gets worse or other symptoms appear, don't hesitate to go to the ER.

Best,

Todd