Wondering about surgical urgency

LanceHeal

A question for everyone:

2.9 CM mass on left kidney. Mostly outer portion about 3/4 from top. No signs of node inflammation or Mets signs. No urologic function issues. Minor occasional discomfort from tumor area like it’s pushing on something.

Orig doc called for active surveillance. Second opinion with cleveland clinic doc who specializes in Robotic surgery next week. I am pretty sure surgery is in my future but the question is..... when?

I see 3 potential scenarios:

1) Continue Active Surveilance (I doubt will be the case)

2) we move forward with surgery but there is little urgency to the scheduling putting me on a wait list.  If so, how long is that? Weeks? Months?

3) we move forward with surgery and its quick (like within a couple days or weeks). 

Also one complication  I had a laparoscopic appendectomy 3 weeks ago.  I feel good but not sure if they would wait a period before another surgery.

Im gonna do whatever the doc suggests but there are a lot of life and career things that need to take place before surgery. It’s certainly got me stressing. Funny enough..... it seems like I’m worrying more about that than the actual cancer. 

My question is to everyone one out there who had small renal masses. How long did it take from diagnosis to surgery?  Anyone out there with similar Cleveland Clinic experience?

icemantoo

You do not want to get to the head of the line

Lance,

 

Anywhere from a few weeks till a few months. With a bigger tumor they will take you quicker.  Many factors go into your surgery date including tee times and the rotation in and out of surgeons in trainiing,

 

 

 

icemantoo

LanceHeal

I forgot about the Tee time

I forgot about the Tee time factor. That would probably be huge!  I probably should also watch out for the porsche shopping and the bad handwriting factors too.

Hoss79

From diagnosis to surgery was
From diagnosis to surgery was almost 4 weeks from me. 5.6 CM mass in right kidney.

thingone

I am in a similar situation

I am in a similar situation with yours. I initially elected active surveillance but changed my mind after three month. I also have had similar questions burning in my mind since I changed my mind. So I decided to have two referrals to back up each other in case one of them does not work as expected.  I am not sure if I should avoid a surgery during mid of hot summer which may not be good  for post-surgery recovery. I am now waiting for the referring process and expecting to make first appointment with  urologic oncologist in about a month due to my travel plan.  I was told by a coordinator that an initial appointment with urologic oncologist could take about weeks, and surgery timeframe could be a month or so after meeting with urologic oncologist.  Thank you for asking the questions as any answer to them could be helpful to me as well. Good luck!

Idontknowanymore

my doctors said this

I had major surgery of the 31st of july last year. because of this they discovered my mass that was 1,5 cm. when i met with doctors they told me that they wanted to wait 6 months because of my last surgery so the 14th of january i had the surgery but inbetween they took another ct of me to see if it had grown.

JerzyGrrl

I probably don't hold the record, but...

I was diagnosed with a 3 cm mass on my left kidney around March or April of 2016. I finally had the surgery in December of 2016. It was crazy. At one point, I had five different opinions from four physicians (surgery, surgery ASAP, surgery whenever no rush, active surveillance no biggie, active surveillance for six months). Yes, one more opinion than physicians, because one was waffling. The one who waffled was the surgeon who ultimately did the surgery but when I showed up for my pre-OP for surgery scheduled for the beginning of September, he told me he'd decided to do the wait and and watch thing no biggie. Two of the other physicians  basically said, "WHAT?!" Well, that was my reaction, too. Eventually, it was rescheduled, but even then I decided I wasn't going to believe I was actually going to have the surgery until I woke up afterwards and got told it went well. 

Small is good, but it can drive you just as crazy as a big one while you're waiting. 

Darron

Size matters

I didn’t read all of your profil, but you look pretty young, so no doubt that you will get it out at some point. At 2.9 cm, you are just in the edge of being an ablation candidat. That is almost outpatient day surgery from why it was described to me. Doing that sooner may be something to consider. It does have slightly higher recurrence rates than traditional surgery. It Is also not a bad idea to baseline the tumor if you do wait for treatment. Another CT is say 3 months may indicate a very slow or very fast growing tumor. If it is fast, there is more urgency to get it out. If it is slow, wait until tee time season is over....

Good luck!

Bay Area Guy

From diagnosis to surgery for

From diagnosis to surgery for me was 29 months.  I had a baby lesion.....1.5cm or so.....and we went active surveillance until an ultrasound showed it grew to 1.7cm.  From then to surgery was about eight weeks.  You won’t be at the head of the line, but I think you’d be scheduled a little quicker than me.

In terms of healing time from the appy, I would think you’d be ok for the surgery.  Appy would be on the right side, while you said your left kidney.  if it was the right side, there might be some concern for scar tissue, but that isn’t the case.  I think as long as you’re ready psychologically, physical shouldn’t be an issue.

APny

I was diagnosed in January

I was diagnosed in January and had the surgery in March. Originally scheduled for February but had a bad cold with congestion and cough so postponed till next month. I would want it out and not wait to see if it gets bigger. At 2.9 it's best to get it out, IMO. Ablation was not recommended for me because a) surgeon said that's mostly an option for the elderly who are not good candidates for surgery, b) no path report possible, and c) can't tell margins. Gold standard is surgery as long as you're not at risk for it. 

daisybud

Diagnosed

Diagnosed in January and had surgery in February. 2.5 cm partial robotic

LanceHeal

Thanks Everyone

Thanks Everyone. I have the 2nd opinion tomorrow. I will be sure to let everyone know how it goes. I am not looking forward to a surgery and the pain/recovery afterward but I’d be happy to get it out of me. Of course Murphy and his pesky laws would have it that late May to Mid June are pretty much the culmination of a years worth of work and planning in my career but I’m not gonna let anything get in the way of me and that table when the doc says it’s time.  There will always be other projects. 

Sunono

Mine was found on a CT scan

Mine was found on a CT scan on November 21, 2018 but surgery was on March 21, 2019.  It was a 4cm mass on left lower lobe. Work with your urologist because all cancers are not the same.