Newly discovered mass behind kidney

Hi james-

I'm sorry you had to join us, but I'm glad you did. Everyone here has been through what you're going through, so we know you can get through it, too. We're here for you if you have questions or concerns or just need to vent.

How your doctors will proceed will depend on your wife's age/health/etc. Two bits of advice-

-Bring a notepad with you to your wife's appointments, or take notes on your cell phone. A lot of information coming from your doctor will be fast and furious, and your head will be spinning trying to keep up. Write it all down. Then later you can refer to your notes and ask questions based on what you wrote down.

-It's a shock to learn this news, but try not to waste time on negative thoughts. Stay positive.

I can't give you any specific recommendations about hospitals near you. Hopefully someone else can chime in, or maybe you can find information through your friends/family or Facebook.

You and your wife are gonna do great. We're with you.

I'm from State College and I go down to Hershey Medical Center for my stage 4 kidney cancer oncology appointments and follow up. Originally I had my kidney removed at Geisinger in Danville, PA, but I find Hershey a pretty solid facility and it is close to you in Ephrata... closer to you than me in State College anyways. If you are looking for some hope I had my kidney taken out in 2018 and developed metastatic kidney cancer in late 2020 to my lungs. In any case the treatments are working and I live a mostly normal life. Sure there are some side effects of the meds, but there is a great chance your wife will never have to get any further treatment past the initial treatment. Lot's of good things are going on the world of kidney cancer I would highly recommend the facility in Hershey if you are still looking... Once you get the biopsy and know what you are dealing with stay positive and just know there are lots of us out there that beat cancer every day!!! There is lot's of hope!