I'm stunned

stub1969 said:

Update

Wanted to let you know that Mayo got back to me early this morning (I submitted an electronic appointment request on Saturday night).  I go in next Thursday for chest CT and blood work and then meet with Dr. George Chow on Friday morning.  Sledhead--I was hoping for Dr. Leibovich, but I'm sure they do a great job working as a team.  Donna--No biopsy was needed, so I'm not sure of the details of your husband's friend. 

It's going to be a long two weeks--really having trouble sleeping and staying focused on other things.  I'll be honest, the worst part will be talking to our three kids after the appointment.  We have a daughter that will be in 5th grade this year and she has the biggest heart and is so caring.  I'm afraid she will be a wreck worrying about me and mom.  Our other daughter will be a high school senior this year (what a great thing for her to think about her senior year) and our son is a junior in college.  Those of you that have been through this any good advice for this conversation?  Obviously, we will try to stay positive.

 

Thanks again--Stub

Stub,

You are definately going to be in good hands  with Dr. Chow. He has written many professional papers on Kidney Surgery many in conjunction with Dr. Liebovich. He received most of his specialty training from the Cleveland Clinic. As for the size of your Kidney tumor there is no reason to expect other than a positive diagnosis after surgery. Besides what ever questions you have about the surgery (which is pretty routine with your size mass) you will need to ask about your long term recovery as a result of your Kidney disease issues. He may also refer you to or consult with a Nephrologist at Mayo clinic. There is no way to sugar coat the surgery. The recovery, especially the first week is painful. If I told you otherwise I would be laughed off this forum. As for discussing this with your  15 year old daughter, you are having routine surgery to remove your Kidney (or part of it). You will be laid up for a month or 2 and that you fully expect to be at her childrens' weddings. I was nephed 14 years ago today and am so old that Leonardo himself did ny surgery before he invented the robot.

Icemantoo

Most RCC is slow growing. The difference is if it is in the 1-3% that is sarcomitoid.  Assummine lower grade (less agressive), the tumors grow about 0.5 cm/yr.  A few weeks will not make a difference.

Stub,  I echo the rest of the forum that it is slow growing.  I discovered mine in early Sept and removed in Mid October(5 weeks).  That was as fast as I could make all the arrangements and get the Docs availability.  The Doc had actually advised that he would not want to wait later than the following spring.  My answer to that was how soon can we get this thing done? It seemed like forever, but it all came out and within 6 weeks I was back at work etc.  Take your time healing if you can. 

I am in a similar situation although my tumor is only 3.7. I am 39 with two children. We broke the news to them today and they handled it well. I feel like I'm stuck in limbo land and just want this out of me. 

Get rid of that little beast!  Sounds like you're in good hands.  Prepare for your downtime.

God Bless,

Donna~

stub1969 said:

Good luck to you

Good luck to you in your surgery and recovery, Jerzy.  You'll be in my praryers.

Donna, I appreciate your comments.  Your're right--this is a little beast.  I'm so so ready to get it out of me.  I'm not sure how much downtime there will be.  Doctor told me no lifting heavy objects for 6 weeks.  I'd like to be back to school with the kiddos after a couple weeks, but I'll have to see how it goes.  I'm not really a sit-around type of guy.

Take care and thanks again,

Stub

Depends on what type of teacher you are. If you're a sitting down giving instructions kind of guy you might be OK. If your a stand up motivator moving sort of guy that might be a problem. Didnt you say you were sp Ed, one of the things that led me to quit is that, due to fatigue I lost a level of patience which made me a less effective teacher.

Had some abdominal pain last week and I went to the doc. They gave me some antibiotics but said that I should get a CT scan of my upper right abdomen. Sure enough, they found a slightly less than 1 cm lesion in my right kidney. The good news, I guess, is that it's really small. I went to a Chinese medicine doctor who said i am blessed that my body told me about this problem early. But I'm not handling it well. Mine is apparently in the "mid-lower region" and I'm really hoping it's amenable to a partial but I guess that depends on the surgeon since I've read that they can't always get at tumors in the mid-region with a partial.

I'm very afraid and, like others on the board, have young children. The radiologist said there was a good chance that the lesion was angiomyolipoma since it was something called hyperechoic but I need an MRI. Other than some very mild heaviness in my lower back, which could be my imagination, I'm 100% fine. I had a scan on my kidney for something else in 2013 and it was clean so i know this thing has taken 0-40 months to form.

My sister died from colon cancer at age 32 (I'm 47). I don't have the heart to tell me parents that their only remaing child may have cancer never mind my 11 and 7 year old. Urologist test on Tuesday and then I hope a slew of tests immediately thereafter. My wife thinks it will be benign and we'll just watch and wait for years to come. She tells me to get on with work but I can't concentrate. My fear is running wild though. Very scared. Thanks for this board. If anyone knows any positive stories about treatment and survival, let me know. I think the internet tends to self-select many of the worst cases, which I totally get and am not critical about. The advice about talking with kids has been super.

If there is anything that I can do for anyone, let me know. 

Icemantoo -- Thanks for the kind words. Your story is really uplifting and you are very generous to be here posting all these years later. It's a sign of a good heart. I feel like a bit of a wimp having gone through some of the other threads since writing my first post. The walk-in clinic doc kinda freaked me out when she told me the results but I can see where the pros - doctors and patients alike - would say my outcome is almost certainly good. Guess we'll know more this week but I'm ready to take on any challenges.

3rd Grade teacher.  I was diagnosed in Feb 2016. My left kidney was removed bc the mast was so huge.  I have 3 mets in my lungs.  I have been on Votrient and mets have decreased to less than 1cm in lung and NED everywhere else.  Praise God.