Wait and see

Patrick72
Patrick72 Member Posts: 14 Member
in Kidney Cancer #1

Well, I finally got a call back from the doctor with the results of the MRI. The results came back indicating that it is cancer and not just a cyst. His suggestion due to my age (41) and the fact that the cancer is small and can be easily removed is to get it taken out. So I will be going in for a robotic partial nephrectomy but probably no sooner than December when I will have more sick days to use to recover (small employer so no FMLA), and my wife will have time off for the shut down of her facility and will be able to take care of me. In the mean time I am working on losing weight to make surgery easier and recovery faster and to make life better. I have a 5k scheduled for June and one ffor July. Have to schedule another CT scan for August to monitor the tumor for signs of growth.  All in all things are going really well right now.

Hope all is going well for everyone.

 

Patrick

Comments

  • icemantoo
    icemantoo Member Posts: 3,361 Member
    #2
    When to get it out

    Patrick,

     

    If it were me I would want to get it out sooner than later, but the choice is yours.

     

     

    Icemantoo

     

  • Djinnie
    Djinnie Member Posts: 945 Member
    #3
    Wait and see

    Hi Patrick,

    It is definitely news that nobody wants to hear, but thank goodness yours has been caught so early. Preparation with regards to weight and fitness will make such a difference to your recovery time. I did not have time to get a little fitter before my op and my lungs are suffering still.

    All the very best to you

     

     

  • Eims
    Eims Member Posts: 423
    #4
    hi patrick,
    im with icemantoo

    hi patrick,

    im with icemantoo on this one......i just wanted mine out like yesterday but everyone is different.  i know i couldn't handle it being there at all!!  

    eims x

  • Patrick72
    Patrick72 Member Posts: 14 Member
    #5
    icemantoo said:

    When to get it out

    Patrick,

     

    If it were me I would want to get it out sooner than later, but the choice is yours.

     

     

    Icemantoo

     

    True, but at 1.2 cm, I am not

    True, but at 1.2 cm, I am not too worried about it spreading or causing other complications.  And since he is going to have to go in through the back to get to the tumor it will be very helpful for me comfort wise to lose some weight. So that is the plan. Not so easy when ice cream is what you want to eat for comfort but still...

  • Texas_wedge
    Texas_wedge Member Posts: 2,798
    #6
    Eims said:

    hi patrick,
    im with icemantoo

    hi patrick,

    im with icemantoo on this one......i just wanted mine out like yesterday but everyone is different.  i know i couldn't handle it being there at all!!  

    eims x

    Timing

    Patrick, the oncology experts would all say that there is absolutely no justification for surgery any time soon unless either there are special personal circumstances, which appears not to be the case here, or you are mentally totally incapable of coping with it - and you seem to be eminently well-balanced and able to take the situation in a measured way.  Your analysis seems to me to be perfectly sensible.   Losing surplus weight and getting fitter is the right idea and if you achieve that over the coming months then, at your age and with a tiny lesion, your recovery will be very rapid IF you have an op. 

    It could well be that at your next scan, in August, there has been no, or negligible growth, in which case you can defer the surgery for a lot longer and possibly indefinitely.  RCC surgery is extremely unlikely to kill you but there are inevtitable consequences and these will need to be weighed against the risks of an ongoing watch and wait policy.  Continuing surveillance for small tumors that are not showing signs of aggression has now been shown, in some studies, to actually result, in a majority of cases, in longer overall survival than urgery.  At your young age that might not apply but it's still unnecessary to rush into surgery.  Your tumor could grow very slowly for years with no significant risk of spread and till be so small that it would be an easy op to get you safely to NED.

    The panic to 'get it out' asap was much more justifiable in years gone by but things have moved on a lot in recent years and the criteria have changed accordingly.

  • Eims
    Eims Member Posts: 423
    #7
    Texas_wedge said:

    Timing

    Patrick, the oncology experts would all say that there is absolutely no justification for surgery any time soon unless either there are special personal circumstances, which appears not to be the case here, or you are mentally totally incapable of coping with it - and you seem to be eminently well-balanced and able to take the situation in a measured way.  Your analysis seems to me to be perfectly sensible.   Losing surplus weight and getting fitter is the right idea and if you achieve that over the coming months then, at your age and with a tiny lesion, your recovery will be very rapid IF you have an op. 

    It could well be that at your next scan, in August, there has been no, or negligible growth, in which case you can defer the surgery for a lot longer and possibly indefinitely.  RCC surgery is extremely unlikely to kill you but there are inevtitable consequences and these will need to be weighed against the risks of an ongoing watch and wait policy.  Continuing surveillance for small tumors that are not showing signs of aggression has now been shown, in some studies, to actually result, in a majority of cases, in longer overall survival than urgery.  At your young age that might not apply but it's still unnecessary to rush into surgery.  Your tumor could grow very slowly for years with no significant risk of spread and till be so small that it would be an easy op to get you safely to NED.

    The panic to 'get it out' asap was much more justifiable in years gone by but things have moved on a lot in recent years and the criteria have changed accordingly.

    see texas thats why we love

    see texas thats why we love you.....our little voice of reason on our shoulders ;-)

    eims x

  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member
    #8
    Eims said:

    see texas thats why we love

    see texas thats why we love you.....our little voice of reason on our shoulders ;-)

    eims x

    But do something

    Get scans frequently. Check your vitals. Discuss the possibility of some adjuvant therapy to keep it small. Maybe even ablation that is not invasive.

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