New to Kidney Cancer - What should I expect?

dirtdog
dirtdog Member Posts: 1 *
in Kidney Cancer #1

Hello, I’m a 44 yr old male and a father of three boys.

October 24 - I had a partial nephomentcy on right kidney to remove a 6.9 cm tumor. It was confirmed through the biopsy post surgery to be renal cell carcinoma (clear cell). Urologist feels confident that all of it was removed and localized. There is no indication of any spread outside the kidney). However the tumor was rated as a T3.

However, I didn’t realize that there is still a potential for distant metastasis so my urologist wants to do active surveillance- I will do a full body scan in 6 weeks, then 3 months, and then 6 months.

Of course I was not prepared for the news and didn’t ask any good questions to my urologist during my visit.

i have a few questions..

should I be seeing an oncologist as well? (This has not been suggested by my urologist).

is there not preventative medicine/treatment to avoid distant metastasis or reoccurrence? Seems odd to just sit wait and hope it doesn’t spread or come back.

is there any hope for me to live a long life?

Sincerely scared guy with RCC

also - if anyone is going through a kidney surgery and would like to what to expect.. I would be glad to share my experience with others… the surgery went well.

Comments

  • eug91
    eug91 Member Posts: 471 Member
    #2

    Hi dirtdog,

    Welcome and congratulations on getting through your nephrectomy! Great job! You've got that difficult part behind you and hopefully you're well on your way to healing.

    Your follow-up scans are an important part of the process. Stay on top of those. Hopefully they will all be "NED" (no evidence of disease) - otherwise, in the unlikely event of a setback, then the sooner you find out the better your outlook. If you check back in the forum, you can see that many of us post our scan results over the years.

    Re: oncologist. I'm fortunate in that my urologist is an oncologist. You might want to discuss with your urologist what his other patients have done.

    Re: preventative treatment. There is a thing called "adjuvant therapy" - treating you with immunotherapy now, with the idea that maybe it could prevent any reoccurrence. Most people don't do this. My doctor specifically recommended against it because there isn't much evidence proving that it's actually effective. But this is something you should discuss with your doctor.

    Re: hope for a long life. YES, ABSOLUTELY! There are several very-inspiring board members here who have thrived for a VERY LONG TIME post-cancer. With the many advances in therapy and treatment, we have plenty of reason to expect a long life.

    The mental part of this process is just as hard as the physical part. When you get to your scans, you'll probably have some form of "scanxiety" that we all get when we go back for the "is it back? am I okay?" scans. FoxHD told us a while back: We all fear recurrence. Don't let it be the anchor that sinks your ship. Know that you have dodged a bullet. Smile, love, and live on!!!! Just stay up to date with all your appointments.

    You're gonna do great. We're with you!

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