Post operative check up 6mm lesion

rebecca9892
rebecca9892 Member Posts: 10
edited September 2013 in Kidney Cancer #1

Hi guys,just got my ultrasound result . There was a 6mm partly solid partly cystic residual lesion found at the margin of my surgery site .This is my six month check up and this lesion was also showed on my three month follow up. I had partial kidney removed and pathology report showed stage one grade one rcc. My gp reckons my surgeon did not take the whole tumor out and left a piece behind, but path report said clear margin. Now I am getting really nervous. On the three month ultrasound,the was a 1.3cm linear lesion at the margin.I thought it would be normal to have a lesion after surgery and My doctor did not think that was a big issue neither. Now he wants to do a ct to rule out local recurrence. Has any one had same issue like me?

Comments

  • icemantoo
    icemantoo Member Posts: 3,361 Member
    #2
    Probably nothing

    Rebecca,

     

    Harmless cysts are not uncommon to show up on the other kidney. I have had 1 or 2 of those for years. It sounds like your doctor wants to cover any uncertainty. Unless its black and white rely on your surgeon rather than your GP to interpret these results. Others may chime in with similar or different thoughts.

     

    Icemantoo

  • mom2two
    mom2two Member Posts: 48
    #3
    I'm sorry

    Rebecca,

     

    I am sorry your going through this...  It sounded like to me the lesion is at the margin of the same kidney that you had a partial nephrectomy? I can understand your concern, but will be praying and hoping it is just scare tissue or something simple. Have you had an MRI? 

    I agree with talking to your Urologist, and let us know how your follow testing turns out.

     

    Take care,
    Kathy

  • rebecca9892
    rebecca9892 Member Posts: 10
    #4
    Hi

    Hi iceman too and Kathy,

    You were right Kathy. The lesion was found on the margin of my surgery location. The ultrasound report states a residual lesion was there and appeared partly cystic. I have booked a MRI next week. Hopefully it will Rule out local recurrence. From my understanding, there should be something after surgery. They cut part of the kidney out. It would be strange that nothing shows on the margin. But my gp said he never saw anything like this in his 45 professional years. I am confused. 

    Thanks for your reply Icemantoo and Kathy . Will you all the best.

  • GSRon
    GSRon Member Posts: 1,303 Member
    #5
    rebecca9892 said:

    Hi

    Hi iceman too and Kathy,

    You were right Kathy. The lesion was found on the margin of my surgery location. The ultrasound report states a residual lesion was there and appeared partly cystic. I have booked a MRI next week. Hopefully it will Rule out local recurrence. From my understanding, there should be something after surgery. They cut part of the kidney out. It would be strange that nothing shows on the margin. But my gp said he never saw anything like this in his 45 professional years. I am confused. 

    Thanks for your reply Icemantoo and Kathy . Will you all the best.

    I agree with the Ice Man..

    I agree with the Ice Man.. ignore the GP...   I had a much larger tumor in my left Kidney, and cysts in my right.. they removed my left Kidney and the cysts remain just as they were over a year ago.   Your Urologist will know...  sometimes folks tend to "guess" at what they do not know..  heck even we are guessing..  but then "WE" are the patients..  With your tumor being so small, not likely you will have any recurrance.. you are one of the lucky ones most likely..!!

    Be Well All.!

    Ron

  • rebecca9892
    rebecca9892 Member Posts: 10
    #6
    GSRon said:

    I agree with the Ice Man..

    I agree with the Ice Man.. ignore the GP...   I had a much larger tumor in my left Kidney, and cysts in my right.. they removed my left Kidney and the cysts remain just as they were over a year ago.   Your Urologist will know...  sometimes folks tend to "guess" at what they do not know..  heck even we are guessing..  but then "WE" are the patients..  With your tumor being so small, not likely you will have any recurrance.. you are one of the lucky ones most likely..!!

    Be Well All.!

    Ron

    Hi Ron

    Thanks for your reply, Ron.  The only thing confused me now is that does everyone who had partial nerphrectomy had any lesion showed on their first several follow ups. even a cut on the skin would take a while to heal. I could not find any reference online regarding what the surgery site would look like after partial nerphrectomy. This "partly solid partly cystic lesion" scared me a lot since I know solid is not a positive word. 

    Wish you all the best , Ron.

  • Djinnie
    Djinnie Member Posts: 945 Member
    #7
    rebecca9892 said:

    Hi

    Hi iceman too and Kathy,

    You were right Kathy. The lesion was found on the margin of my surgery location. The ultrasound report states a residual lesion was there and appeared partly cystic. I have booked a MRI next week. Hopefully it will Rule out local recurrence. From my understanding, there should be something after surgery. They cut part of the kidney out. It would be strange that nothing shows on the margin. But my gp said he never saw anything like this in his 45 professional years. I am confused. 

    Thanks for your reply Icemantoo and Kathy . Will you all the best.

    'Never seen anything like this in 45yrs '

    Hi Rebecca, 

    I think your GP is the one that is confused, how can he be making these determinations he is not a surgeon!! Don't you have an appointment to meet with the surgeon to discuss these findings, particularly after the MRI? I would not even expect a surgeon to make such comments without being sure of the facts.

    I doubt that your GP has gained much experience in treating patients who have had this sort of operation in the last twenty years, let alone forty five. These procedures are relatively new, and only a small percentage are caught in time to allow for a partial nephrectomy. So I should ignore your GP's comments, they are only serving to instill fear in your mind. He sounds totally unprofessional to me!

    If I were you I would give the GP a wide berth, and seek advice from the professional Surgeon!

    Let us know how you get on, all the best:)

     

    Djinnie x

  • Eims
    Eims Member Posts: 423
    #8
    Djinnie said:

    'Never seen anything like this in 45yrs '

    Hi Rebecca, 

    I think your GP is the one that is confused, how can he be making these determinations he is not a surgeon!! Don't you have an appointment to meet with the surgeon to discuss these findings, particularly after the MRI? I would not even expect a surgeon to make such comments without being sure of the facts.

    I doubt that your GP has gained much experience in treating patients who have had this sort of operation in the last twenty years, let alone forty five. These procedures are relatively new, and only a small percentage are caught in time to allow for a partial nephrectomy. So I should ignore your GP's comments, they are only serving to instill fear in your mind. He sounds totally unprofessional to me!

    If I were you I would give the GP a wide berth, and seek advice from the professional Surgeon!

    Let us know how you get on, all the best:)

     

    Djinnie x

    hi rebecca,  im with djinnie

    hi rebecca,  im with djinnie on this one...

     

    eims x

  • rebecca9892
    rebecca9892 Member Posts: 10
    #9
    Djinnie said:

    'Never seen anything like this in 45yrs '

    Hi Rebecca, 

    I think your GP is the one that is confused, how can he be making these determinations he is not a surgeon!! Don't you have an appointment to meet with the surgeon to discuss these findings, particularly after the MRI? I would not even expect a surgeon to make such comments without being sure of the facts.

    I doubt that your GP has gained much experience in treating patients who have had this sort of operation in the last twenty years, let alone forty five. These procedures are relatively new, and only a small percentage are caught in time to allow for a partial nephrectomy. So I should ignore your GP's comments, they are only serving to instill fear in your mind. He sounds totally unprofessional to me!

    If I were you I would give the GP a wide berth, and seek advice from the professional Surgeon!

    Let us know how you get on, all the best:)

     

    Djinnie x

    Thanks everyone

    I hope I can speak to my Surgeon but I am currently living in Australian and my surgery was done in China. I am Chinese. My surgeon back in China is an experienced urologist and he's specialized on partial nephretomy. Normally he does five surgeries per day. I have confidence on him and will contact him when I get the MRI result.

    Best wishes to all.

    Rebecca

  • Galrim
    Galrim Member Posts: 315 Member
    #10
    Dont take your GP´s word on this

    If he is to be right, it means that not only did the surgeon screw up but also the pathologist. That combination seems very unlikely...

    Of course you need it to be checked out, but I wouldnt be overly alarmed at this point.

    /G

  • rebecca9892
    rebecca9892 Member Posts: 10
    #11
    MRI result

    Hi, I got my result today. Thank god. There are no signs suggesting a recurrent mass lesion. It's post operative change. 

    Thanks for your replies. I can have a good sleep tonight.

  • Djinnie
    Djinnie Member Posts: 945 Member
    #12
    rebecca9892 said:

    MRI result

    Hi, I got my result today. Thank god. There are no signs suggesting a recurrent mass lesion. It's post operative change. 

    Thanks for your replies. I can have a good sleep tonight.

    Fantastic!!

    Ohhh! Rebecca that is wonderful news!!! I am so pleased for you:-)...if I were in your shoes I would want to punch that GP's lights out. Lol!!  It doesn't say much for his 45yrs of experience does it? I would at least send him a retirement card!

    Sleep well!

     

    Djinnie x

  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member
    #13
    Djinnie said:

    Fantastic!!

    Ohhh! Rebecca that is wonderful news!!! I am so pleased for you:-)...if I were in your shoes I would want to punch that GP's lights out. Lol!!  It doesn't say much for his 45yrs of experience does it? I would at least send him a retirement card!

    Sleep well!

     

    Djinnie x

    Proof

    This is proof to our long standing argument that all of us need a kidney specialist or kidney oncologist to manage our care. GP's just aren't well enough informed. And we are playing with our lives.  My first oncologist did nothing but take scans and tell me they were negative. No other treatment. Then suddenly she told me that I was loaded with mets and she couldn't treat me. I went on a fast and furious trip to find someone who could help. Our primary care doctors rely on historically aged data. We need to be more aggressive as there are answers out there they are not aware of.

  • GSRon
    GSRon Member Posts: 1,303 Member
    #14
    foxhd said:

    Proof

    This is proof to our long standing argument that all of us need a kidney specialist or kidney oncologist to manage our care. GP's just aren't well enough informed. And we are playing with our lives.  My first oncologist did nothing but take scans and tell me they were negative. No other treatment. Then suddenly she told me that I was loaded with mets and she couldn't treat me. I went on a fast and furious trip to find someone who could help. Our primary care doctors rely on historically aged data. We need to be more aggressive as there are answers out there they are not aware of.

    Yes to what Fox has just

    Yes to what Fox has just said.. but I will add a tiny bit.   This is a classic example of why sometimes multiple tests are required.  The Ultrasound was not definitive, it just showed "something", the MRI gave more definition.  Someone recently posted that there is a newer Ultrasound that is supposed to give more detail.   My point is that we do need to be aware that there are times when more is better.  I cringe at times when someone new here is slated for surgery, etc and there was only a single test performed.  Glad the result was good..!!  

    Be Well All..!!

    Ron

  • cran1
    cran1 Member Posts: 139
    #15
    6 month ck up

    smae here for me 6 month ck found a 3 cm cystic mass at the lesion..where they lopped of the kidney. Talk to the surgeon on Thursday...worried.

  • srbelle1
    srbelle1 Member Posts: 123
    #16
    GSRon said:

    Yes to what Fox has just

    Yes to what Fox has just said.. but I will add a tiny bit.   This is a classic example of why sometimes multiple tests are required.  The Ultrasound was not definitive, it just showed "something", the MRI gave more definition.  Someone recently posted that there is a newer Ultrasound that is supposed to give more detail.   My point is that we do need to be aware that there are times when more is better.  I cringe at times when someone new here is slated for surgery, etc and there was only a single test performed.  Glad the result was good..!!  

    Be Well All..!!

    Ron

    Speaking from our experience

    Speaking from our experience with docs who don't have many kidney cancer cases, we had 2 dealings which scared me unnecessarily.

    the initial diagnosis, while accurate, left us with no hope and was made with one partial MRI by the head of oncology and then when my husband had a partial intestinal blockage following the spinal surgery, the local docs just assumed it was kidney cancer, doused him with mega meds and placed him on the terminal wing. At UCSF, after several tests, it was allowed to resolve and as it turned out, had no connection whatsoever to the kidney cancer.

    these docs should acknowledge that their experience is limited when it comes to kidney cancer or put in the work to have a specialty.

    sarah

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