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icemantoo said:

One lucky bud,

daisybud,

 

If you have to join our club there is nothing luckier than to catch the tumor right in the bud. Two cm. is small by our standards and the prognosis for a full and complete recovery is as good as it gets. Lets hope for now that it is something else, but if it turns out to be RCC with such a small tumor you will be fine. The only thing you will have to go thru to get initiated is a partial or full Nepherectomy. We have all been there and done that. Mine was a lucky 13 and 1/2 years ago.

 

 

Icemantoo

Scarey aint it? Thats the worst thing:the fear.

Sounds like theyve caught it really early, which usually means its treatable.

The C word will send your mind through a flip. Everyone here has been through it. Everyone here will tell you that the worst moment is when you have a diagnosis but dont know what happens next. 

You'll be fine. It sounds like you have a little lump, probably very treatable.

daisybud said:

Thanks for the support.  The

Thanks for the support.  The worse thing has been hearing the word Cancer!  And the waiting to see the doc and find out whats next.  I am taking my daughter with me because I want to make sure I have support at the appt and the second pair of ears.  Also wondering if you notice a difference only having one kidney to do the work that both were doing for all those years.. I have been lurking on the site and finally decided to join the family.

Daisybud,

Most of us with 1 kidney instead of 2 are doing just fine. Although our kidney function numbers tend to be lower than our 2 kidney brothers and sisters we are here for the long run. We do have to watch our blood pressure, weight , salt intake and not become diabetic to keep our remaining kidney as good as can be. Than we are allowed to do the one thing that lowers our kidney function. Grow older.

Icemantoo

daisybud said:

Thanks for the support.  The

Thanks for the support.  The worse thing has been hearing the word Cancer!  And the waiting to see the doc and find out whats next.  I am taking my daughter with me because I want to make sure I have support at the appt and the second pair of ears.  Also wondering if you notice a difference only having one kidney to do the work that both were doing for all those years.. I have been lurking on the site and finally decided to join the family.

Ive noticed no difference in only having one kidney. Sems to work as well as two.

Cancer is a horrible word. Its bad when you hear it and worse when you tell other people; Thhey get what I call cancer face, a mixture of shock, sympathy and horror. Difficult to deal with but they mean well.

When you go to the doctor, always take a spare pair of ears, because I dont know about you, but when I first heard the word cancer I heard nothing else of the conversation.

As it is, Cancer is on its way to being a chronic, rather than a fatal disease.

You can face cancer. Our life is now> we dont need to fear the future, we are recieving so much help. We are part of a generation who are helping cure this disease.

As Fox (A poster here) says - we are not dyeing of cancer we are living with cancer.

So:

Dont worry

If you do worry(and we all do) let us know and we can have a chat.

Have a look at the board, we're good at it.

medic1971 said:

Well I hate you had to come

Well I hate you had to come to this site, but at the same time we are glad you are here!  

You may not feel like it, but you are very lucky you found this when you did, ten years from now and you may have had a much different outcome.  A 2.0x 1.7 cm heterogeneous enhanced lesion is a good thing..  Kidney cancer is extremely slow growing so it's possible you've had this for several years.  Whatever was causing your belly pain have saved your life. 

 

I had a 2.2cm and an 0.8cm mass found on my right kidney last summer and I had surgery at MD Anderson this past October and I still have 95% of my right kidney.  Mine like yours was an incidental finding.  

 

Here are some things to keep in mind

1.  Don't pay attention to the survival rates you find online.  They’re based on a one year study that was done 15 years ago.  I would put our 5 year survival rate at greater than 98%.

2.  Always get a second opinion, unless you start off at major cancer hospital.  I know you want to get this out of you, but take your time and find a good urologist that has a lot of experience with this type of problem.  There is a very real possibility that you could go another year and not see any growth in your mass.  

3.  If you start to have anxiety issues with this talk to your doctor about it.  I was on 0.5mg of Xanax for about 3 months to help me sleep at night.  

4. You won’t know for sure what this is until you get a pathology report back after surgery. 

5.  Eat right, exercise, and get plenty of rest.  If you smoke stop this very moment.  Cleaning up your diet may help out with the fatty liver too.

Here is a video that gave me a lot of hope and comfort.  It also answered a lot of questions I didn’t even know to ask

 

The doctor in this video was the one who did my surgery at MD Anderson.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIzkLgjoE7U

 

 

daisybud,

I agree that your 5 year survival rate is greater than 98%. THe only reason that I would not say 100% is that at 54 years of age you have a less than 2% chance of not surviving 5 years for other reasons. In other words your diagnosis should have no effect on your 5 year survival rate.

Icemantoo

Oh i know! Hearing the word cancer was so surreal. Just like Apny said. I didn't feel like a cancer patient. You are very lucky that it is only 2 cm. Keep us posted. We are here for you. Hugs, Panda

Sorry about you having to join us, but you'll find lots of support here.  You obviously have found things early and that's great.  I was 59 when mine was found.  The stuff on the internet can be helpful, but very scary.  For instance, my surgeon removed "Bob the Blob" via robotics, much like laparascopic surgery.  I have 4 small incisions vs. one big incision.  When I was reading up on the DaVinci robot I read lots of nightmare stories.  That only increased my anxiety, surgery is scary enough and there are nightmare stories with any surgical procedure.  The robot isn't for every case, depends a lot on location of the mass and how comfortable your surgeon is working with the robot.  For me, all was successful.  I would suggest getting 2 opinions and make sure you feel comfortable with your doctor and have a good repoire. 

Stay with us and keep us updated on your appointments.

Do your best to remain as positive as possible and take care of yourself.  For me, that meant eating well, talking with those closest to me and praying a lot.

:-)  Donna~

Bonngo said:

Supportive

Sorry to have to meet this way, but you will find this group to be not only very supportive but we also like to laugh!  As others have stated it seems this was found early based on size.  Soon this will be behind you and you will celebrate being cancer free.  initial diagnosis is scary, but as you get to learn what some have here have overcome, you will gain much inspiration. 

Remaining positive is the most important thing to do!

~Bonnie

Sorry ou have to be here, but your situation sounds very faaaaaar from worst case scenario. Cancer is a scary word, but cancers are very different, and a small kidney cancer is one of the best options you can get if destined to be diagnosed.

Read the board to get acquainted with RCC specifics, prepare list of questions, come here for support/info. Looks like you'll be allright!

:-)

foroughsh said:

I'm happy you found this

I'm happy you found this board, it was real help during time i was shocked,terrified and hopeless. The best help i got was from members who had been through this, cancer is the uninvited guest but sooner you know better to kick ****. I wad diagnosed with 10 cm tumor 17 months ago but it was confi ed which made me stage two. Yours is fortunately small and they got it soon, so be hopeful for cure and notonly treatment as smal stage one patiants have great chance to be cured right after the surgery.

Forough

 

Hugs to you Daisy! You came to the right place. This forum answered all my questions and concerns before my surgery.

I am doing excellent 2 years later!

BUT one thing I learned was an MRI is usually not the right test. Urologists want a CT

My primary ordered an MRI and it was a waste of time and money. So ASK your urologist

when they want for testing. okay? I did and yes he wanted an CT first, then we met to discuss

the surgery.

I also used a lumbar wrap with velcro to hold my sore muscles together post 2 prior surgeries.

It helps you get UP,  out of a chair,  or bed.

I also put dry ice inside the velcro wrap over the incision(s) and it reduced pain/swelling and therefore

took less  pain meds.

Keep asking questions. You'll be okay. We'll walk this journey along side you.

Often the cancer is contained in the kidney.

Sending you warm wishes and hugs,

Jan

daisybud said:

Thanks Jan for all the great

Thanks Jan for all the great information.  About the mri...  I don't know why I am getting one anyway because I had a cat scan with contrast this week and that where the probable renal cell diagnosis came from.  On the report the person who read it said to have a followup MRI to define the characteristics of the mass.  This is a scary journey.  I am already tired of crying   and I have a long road ahead.  Sorry for acting like a baby but I am having a hard time getting my head wrapped areound this.  Someone earlier suggested taking xanax and thats the next thing on my to do/ask about list.  Thanks again!

Kim 

The stats for a tumor that small are excellent and chances are very good that surgery will be the end of it. Of course nothing in this life comes with a guarantee but the odds are certainly in your favor. Xanax saved my sanity. Nothing wrong with taking the edge of our fear and anxiety. You're not acting like a baby; being told you have cancer really does your head in. Wishing you the very best!