Recent diagnosis

 Gt,

All of us were scared in the begining. That was me 15 years ago. Assuming your mass is 3.8 cm. you should be fine and your prognosis is excellent.

Icemantoo

I have a tumor around the same size you have and in the same kidney. Mine seems to be contained, but doc said  they don't know 100% about anything until they are in there. Surgery scheduled for Nov.7th. They caught yours early which means a great outlook for you!! Good luck!

Hi!  Welcome to the group!  Not one any of us want to be in, but it’s nice to have a place we can come vent or just talk to people that understand.  I had a 4.5 cm mass on my right kidney. Upper pole. It was very close to the renal artery or vein. Not sure which one because I zoned out when it said T3 instead of T1 if it was in the vein. When they got in there with the internal ultrasound it wasn’t as deep as it appeared in the ct. instead of the entire kidney I only lost 10%. While this isn’t exactly like yours, I understand your feelings. I googled a lot before and after surgery. It can be goo and bad for us!  Do educate yourself on this devil RCC but dont make it all you do!  I made myself sick with worry and spent too much time worrying. My last call to my doc was about something I read in my path report. Even though he went over it with me in detail I still googled. Then 3 weeks of worrying I finally called him.  He told me to stop googling. I was convinced I needed to get a full body scan despite having clear margins etc...  I had my surgery Sept 6. Almost back to 100%.  

I am glad you found this group before surgery. I didn’t find it until after mine and could have used these guys understanding and recommendations. I hope everything with your surgery goes perfectly. Please ask any and all questions you may have!  Knowledge is power!

Gtngbtr58 @aol.com said:

And not taking over my body 

And not taking over my body 

Everyday it’s been gone from mine has been better than the last. I find I listen to my body a lot more than I did before this happened!

Hi...Ours is almost identical.  I had my surgery last week.  2.7cm on left kidney.  The path report showed it had broken containment and was just in the renal vein.  They diagnosed me with a T3a...Like you, my surgeon was very optimistic even though it had broken containment.  My margins were negative, nothing in the surrounding fat or lymphnodes.

I have the actual sit down appointment with my surgeon on the 14th.  I'll be armed with better questions.  I was expecting a T1 and when he said it was just starting into the renal vein, my mind exploded.

The surgery wasn't difficult at all.  I had a much harder time with the recovery from the anesthisia and pain meds.  I quit taking the pain meds while still in the hospital.  I now am the proud owner of 4 scars.  My kids say I look like I've been shot 3 times and stabbed once.  I admit I'm still anxious about everything, but I'm reading and researching and finding my path to make sure I get my body as healthy as possible so I don't have to do this again.

Good luck and make sure to lean on everyone here.  It really helps.

Gtngbtr58 @aol.com said:

Angie thanks millions for

Angie thanks millions for taking the time for me-l'm a all or nothing person and almost hope for a full kidney removal-I think it would give me some peace of mind-so was your mass a  t3? My Dr claims he treat a pt3s the same as t1-just nervous about recurrence and mets

it was stage 1 grade 2 since it wasn’t in the renal vein as it appeared. I told my doc the morning of the surgery that i wanted him to take the whole kidney. That I was fine with losing it all to make sure it was gone. He told he he had reviewed my CT’s again the night before and he felt he wouldn’t need to take it all. I kinda wish he had taken it all. 

Angie1496 said:

it was stage 1 grade 2 since

it was stage 1 grade 2 since it wasn’t in the renal vein as it appeared. I told my doc the morning of the surgery that i wanted him to take the whole kidney. That I was fine with losing it all to make sure it was gone. He told he he had reviewed my CT’s again the night before and he felt he wouldn’t need to take it all. I kinda wish he had taken it all. 

I wanted my Dr to take it all too and he said much better to have partial if possible.  My was next to renal vein but not in it.  I still kinda wished that too! I think I would feel better about not have a recurrence. Almost w years and still scares the crap out of me

Kim