New need advice / update

Max57,

Back in the days each of us was told out of the blue that we have Cancer. And who ever even heard ok Kidney Cancer? And then they want you to have major surgery right out of the gate to remove the tumor and all or part of your kidney. All of us went thru that. Pretty overwhelming to say the least.

The good news for you is that at 2.5 cm it rarely spreads. The surgery and recovery are anything but fun. Mine was almost 13 years ago.

You will be fine. Others will chime in to tell you how lucky you are. If you are going to have kidney Cancer the smaller the better and 2.5 cm puts you on the small size. Some of our members would almost die for a tumor as small as yours.

Icemantoo

Max57 said:

Thanks

Icman

Thanks for your fast reply... I went To ER for pain on the right side kidney with blood in urinte they found 2 stons in the right kidney on the left they found  a so called leion on MRI they confirm 2.5 cm cancer they said it's inside the kidney... My question what options do I have remove the hole kidney  my feelings is mix I had no pain on the left side at all am so confused is this the end is there a hope to take care of it so many questions no answers... It was a schok finding what they found by accident 

Many of us have been surprised to find out that we had tumors. I never had pain or symptoms until one night when I tried to clear my bladder before going to bed and nothing happened. I called my doc in the morning who sent me to the emergency and then to a Urologist. He sent me for a CT scan looking for kidney stones  (I thought I might have had a UTI) but they found a 12 cm tumor I through my kidney. I had an open radical nephrectomy 3 months ago. Thank God the surgery got everything so I don't need chemo or radiology treatment. The healing process is slow going . You are going to be ok.

 The main thing to have is trust in your doctor. Keep a list of questions for him/her and make sure they are answered fully. I had an awesome doctor who explained everything and was very encouraging.

Max57 said:

hey

Icemantoo

Thanks you so rich of knowledge 

Good luck with the urologist.

Mine was found by accident.  I was told a 6cm mass was found on a ultrasound scan on my gallbladder, then result from ct scan was  5.5cm tumor ..50/50 chance it was cancer.  Told them to just remove the whole thing so had keyhole surgery nearly 3 weeks ago....a few days after the removal it was confirmed that it was clear cell carcinoma with clear margins.  All I believe is good news.  I'm recovering well and feeling good.

Max,

The scan showed a 2.5 cm mass; that's VERY good news. Smaller the better. The main option for treatment of kidney cancer is surgery. The doctors will want to do it ASAP. The only real option comes in to whether they want to take the whole kidney or just the diseased part of it. Originally I was to be a partial but safety reasons forced my surgeon into a radical (or full) removal of the kidney. As far as chances of spread; while the doctors NEVER deal in absolutes, a tumor that small has a VERY VERY VERY small chance that it is had spread. My tumor was 2.8 cm at it's biggest point. Usually after surgery there is no further treatment needed. Depending on the prognosis you probably will not need chemo, radiation or other treatment. But remember there are no absolutes. Your BEST course of action is to GET IT OUT OF YOUR BODY.

Good luck, keep us posted.

- Jay

Allochka said:

Yep, you are very-very

Yep, you are very-very lucky!!! As all others have said,at this size it is almost impossible for it to spread. Especially if scans are not indicative of this.

it is fine to freak out at first. But stick to this board, you'll see that early stage kidney cancer is veeeery far from death sentence!

plan a surgery and try to look at the positive side - at the great chance to discover and treat it before it had spread.

Hey....

Welcome to our board. You will learn lots about your condition. I know it is scary, but you are going to be okay! When you see the specialist, ask lots of questions and be vigilant in follow up monitoring.

Hugs

Jojo

Jan4you said:

Welcome Max, you have come to

Welcome Max, you have come to a great place for information and support!

 

I too had NO pain or indication I had a a tumor specious for a neoplasm either. My primary doc called me and gave me a name of a Urologist who is also the surgeon. Before she told me, I already had the copy of the radiologist's report and came on here to gather information to ask at my Urology appointment.  I was well prepared by folks on here!

First my primary doc ordered the wrong test, an MRI when I learned on here, most Urologists

want a CT. So had to pay for a test I didn't need at first.

 

They found this tumor while doing an ultrasound for my liver. When the U.S. tech moved toward the back on my left side, I got this feeling there was "something" there. The Tech then began to measure it. So I was NOT surprised when I got the news. My tumor was 4.3cm, stage 1, so very lucky, NO problems or NED (No evidence of Disease) for over a year now. I was never worried, honestly. The only thing I was concerned about was an "open" incision vs a laproscopic/robatic incisions which are several tiny ones to get the robatic instruments through. so make sure you ASK the surgeon if you are a candidate for robatic surgery.

 

I did have to have my whole kidney removed because it sat between the renal artery and renal vein. It was just safer to take the whole kidney. I even watched a video online that shows how they bag the kidney and remove it. They may only do a "partial" surgery in YOUR case due to it being small.

My only disappointment is that you can no longer have NSAID (ibruprofin type meds) if you only have 1 kidney. I totally depended on one NSAID for another condition I have. My 1 kidney cannot metabolize my other meds as well either. But Its doable.

And yes you wll be followed by surgeon/Urologist for awhile with scans and blood tests which would show if there is can level of cancer in your blood. Your chances are really good that they will get it all, with no chemo/radiation necessary. That is used when they find "mets" or cancer signs that have spread to other places. Again, your chances are pretty good I'd say.

I also used a velcro lumbar wrap around my abdomen for my last two abdominal surgeries. ( you get them at any drug store). Both surgeons approved of it. That way the sore muscles/tissues/nerve endings can heal and not have gravity make the pain worse. Some use a pillow over the abdomen whenever you get up from sitting or sleeping. Many sleep in recliners at first. Again, I got up slowly but honestly had little pain with it. Each person is different, esp if this is your first surgery ever.

Instead of needing many pain pills, I mostly used dry ice packs inside my lumbar wrap right over the larger incision area. Most of the laproscopic incisions were barely an inch and the bigger one they pulled the kidney through was about 3 -4 inches. Useing ice truly brought me relief.

I can honestly say, I did not have that much pain, EXCEPT for the trapped gas that seems to settle in the shoulder following surgery. That lasted about 5-7 days for me to get out of my body.  That gas is pumped inside to make the abdomen larger for the surgeon to be able to SEE what he's doing inside. VERY IMPORTANT!

ALSO Robatic surgery affords quicker healing, as it is less invasive. Anyone having any abdominal surgery will have that gas pumped into their abdomen and it has to go somewhere. Pain killers do not get to it the same as they find the best way to get this gas OUT is walking, or arm/shoulder movements that move it along and out your body.

You will not work for a few weeks or more. I was not allowed to exercise (except walking) for 1 month!! Stick to that rule or you could get hernias around the incision sites and you don't want that! So DO NOT rush your recovery and rush back to work.

Stay with us, ask away, as you find you'll have more and more questions. I have a really good feeling about your situation. Make sure you take someone with you to the Urologist appointment. You'd be surprised at things you miss otherwise. There is not that a big of rush as these tumors grow so slowly most of the time.

So.. keep us informed if you want. I will be cheering you onward!

Warmly, Jan

 

Jan,

I have read several of your posts regarding NSAIDs and I have a question. 

My docs haven't mentioned anything about not being able to take ibuprofen or naproxen. It hasn't really come up, but now that I have had another surgery and am recovering from it, I was told ibuprofen was ok for breakthrough pain. They also prescribed percocet (which is acetaminophen). What did your doctors say specifically about NSAIDs? I am actually seeing my urologist tomorrow (the surgeon who did the work) and I'd like to ask him about it.

Thanks!

- Jay