So scared!

hi
Hi,
I know what you are going through as does everyone on this board. I was just diagnosed on 12/4 with a mass in my left kidney but my odds are it is 95% cancer. I am scheduled to have my kidney removed next Tuesday. I am 47 and a father of 4, never really been sick in my life and am told that I am very luck as they caught it early and the chance for cure is high. Mine is 4.5cm and they tell me that is fairly small so yours is half that. Hopefully yours will not be cancer but if it is you should be fine. I was scared and didn't know a thing about kidney cancer but this site has a ton of information and a lot of good people who will support you and provide you with their experiences. I pray you find out yours is not cancer and you don't need to join this club.

Wayne

Fear not
The best medicine is a positive attitude. Stay focused on everything positive until you have all the facts back. If it is a worst-case scenario, you are still in good shape. The left kidney is the better of the two for this kind of thing and your mass is very small. There are more and more avenues to take every year with this kind of cancer and it's a slow grower so you have time to think about what will work best in your case. Talk to several different doctors and listen to what each one has to say. Your going to be just fine.

Its okay and normal to be scared...
karalisa78,

Take a deep breath and try to relax, difficult I know. It could be a cyst or something benign, but if it does turn out to be RCC it has been discovered very early and your prognosis for cure is something close to 100%. Its unlikely that your back pain is coming from a tumor which at 2.2cm would be considered very small, mine was over twice as big and still considered small, just be glad you had the pain and they found it this early, most of us are still here because they found it while looking for something else. If they determine that it is a tumor, RCC is very slow growing in the early stages and there is almost no chance a tumor this size has spread. The most effective therapy is surgery and there are a variety of options like robotic (Da Vinci), laproscopic, hand assisted, open, partial and full nephrectomy. You would seem to be a likely candidate for either of the less invasive procedures and a partial nephrectomy IF IT IS RCC and surgery is required. The surgery is pretty straight forward, not a pleasant experience, but a few days in the hospital, and a few weeks recovering at home, then back to "normal" other than follow-up tests and scans every so often for a few years. No chemo or radiation, pretty easy compared to what many must endure to survive. There are a bunch of knowledgeable and supportive people here and we're happy to help any way we can, so post away. In 30 or 40 years you will be able to look back at this with your kids and laugh, I promise.

You are in my thoughts and prayers,

Gary

karalisa78 said:

Sorry, not sure how to reply
Sorry, not sure how to reply to everyone, but I would like to tell you all, THANK YOU! You made me cry happy tears reading your responses. I'm being very positive, and know that whatever it is, I can make it through. I really appreciate all the positive thoughts and the "no worries", it's exactly what I need right now! I will update after my appt. on Thursday. Thanks again!!

We look forward to your
We look forward to your update. Keep us posted! You will be fine.
Rae

Hello
Hi I am 32 with 4 kids.I just went through everything you are going through.My pain started Sept 2011 went to the doc. OCT 1 treated me for a UTI with no labs showing I had one.I was told if pain don't go away then go to ER,and I did on Oct 5 2011 .Ct scan showed the mass and sent me on my way.It was a lot to take in.I had my surgery( left radical nephrectomy ) on Dec 9 at Cancer treatment centers of America. .and doing great.I will pray for you.What are the ages of your children? Mine are 15,7,4,3 (:

karalisa78 said:

Thank you
My kiddos are 8, 7 and 2. I want to be here for them for everything they will go through in life, and know that I will be.

I am going through ups and downs. Sometimes I'm crying, other times I'm strong willed and fine with whatever it is.

They have done bloodwork, all is normal except a slightly high WBC indicating infection, not sure if that's the case with everyone as well.

Also...I heard if you have a biopsy, there's a chance it can spread...is this the case? Should I just have whatever it is taken out, or should I biopsy first (if given the option)?

Thanks!

biopsy
My doctor did not do a biopsy on me.But I also told him no thanks get it out.Have you had any other symptoms? My side and back killed. 4 days after surgery the pain was GONE.You will be okay the kiddos make us strong.Make sure you have family around if you have surgery.The kids don't understand the word I can't hold you (:

tom_in_VT said:

scared too...
I'm so sorry to hear your in the boat with the rest of us, it is a terrifying place to be. I too had back pain, sciatica that dropped me too my knees in tears. My doc scheduled an MRI, found a herniated disc lying on my sciatic nerve AND a 4.5 cm "mass" in my right kidney. An incidental finding which I am told is good(?)... Additionally, a fatty tumor was found on my spine 3 or 4 vertebrae above the bulged disc - orthopod guy scared the ever lovin hell out of me, scheduled a biopsy of the fatty tumor which went well as I was told is not a cancerous tumor. I got that news a week b/4 Christmas - I happily cried myself to sleep that night. I had my Kidney tumor taken out on 12/20/11, I have had lots of pain trying to sleep (mostly) - fortunately, I have been able to stay in my PJ's for the past 3 weeks, my wife has truly risen to the occasion. Be scared, it is OK, cry as well - get it out. Lean on everyone who offers help, you will likely need them. Place your faith in your surgeon, he or she is now your best friend and will see you through! Please let us know how everything is progressing.

textbook case
Yours is very much a textbook case so far: kidney mass found while getting a scan for something else. What everyone has said is all true. Yours is a really small mass, these masses usually are renal cell carcinoma, so they dont usually even do a biopsy. With the surgery (total nephrectomy, partial nephrectomy, or cryoablation) done as either an open surgery or laproscopic, the surgery is the cure. There is no chemo or radiation for primary kidney cancer. If you had a large tumor that had already spread, we could talk about some medication to shrink tumors, but that's not the case with the vast majority of us. Most of our tumors are found when they are still small. You can live a perfectly normal life on one kidney or one and half kidneys.

When it comes time to talk you through what to expect from the surgery, we're here for you. And that's your biggest hurdle, thank God. "Just surgery" sounds ironic, but we are so lucky that it is a straightforward surgery and it is our cure.

Texas_wedge said:

Stay calm
I agree with Jamie. So far, it might not even be cancer but that probably won't affect the advice you get from the experts tomorrow who will likely recommend having the mass removed to be on the safe side, without a biopsy beforehand. This is because for kidney cancer (which is so unlike all other cancers) biopsy is not a good idea. The risk of needle-track infection spread is very small. The really important factor is that with kidney cancer a biopsy can give a wrong answer - by missing the cancer cells and misleading everyone into thinking you're clear when you're actually not.
Assuming you have surgery, you're very young with everything to live for. It's been caught early while still very small. An op. should see you completely cured. The only downsides that come to mind are that you'll be very sore for a day or two after the op and will need the pain meds they'll give you plus the fact that you won't be able to lift the kids safely for quite some time to come - even as a 69 year old man with no grandkids so far, I can imagine how tough that will be for you.
Good luck tomorrow and remember you can lean on us all here as much as you like.

Stay calm
Meant to say a heartfelt thanks to MikeK703 for the excellent link

http://www.kidneycancerinstitute.com/biopsy.html

The information given about all the possible surgical procedures is so well-written and authoritative that it should be read by anyone about to join this club.

Mom
There is nothing like hearing that "C" word. I was driving my car when my doc office called me. Freaked out to say the least!!!!! I have confidence if your ability
to get through anything....because you're a Mom!!! I didn't have a biopsy because my tumor
was large, and there is a history of kidney cancer in my family. I had an open radical, the surgery itself went very well. Loved the epidural they gave me for pain, it worked awesome. I had no pain....until they took it out. (i believe was two days after surgery) Pain was manageable afterwards. Recovery took some time. Post an update after your appt on Thursday.
Take Care
Valerie