New Here...Kind of...

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Gatorgirl1973
Gatorgirl1973 Member Posts: 4
in Kidney Cancer #1

Hello, I would like to say "thank you" to everyone on this forum for helping me through my cancer diagnoses and incisional hernia repair.  I have been reading this forum since August 2015 when I was incidentally diagnosed with 9.5 cm tumor on my left kidney at the age of 45. I had a partial left neph on September 22, 2015 and at my 6 month visit I was NED (a term I learned from all of you! LOL).  You guys have help so many more people than you are aware of through sharing your experiences on this forum. This forum has been my support and my comfort when I was at my lowest and I would like to thank you all for unknowingly being there for me.

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  • icemantoo
    icemantoo Member Posts: 3,361 Member
    edited November 2016 #2
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    We aim to please.

    Gatorgirl,

     

    Now that you've been around the block, you can help us with real newbies.''Icemantoo

  • Gatorgirl1973
    Gatorgirl1973 Member Posts: 4
    edited November 2016 #3
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    No problem Iceman!  Got you

    No problem Iceman!  Got you guys covered! 

  • Kat23502
    Kat23502 Member Posts: 179 Member
    #4
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    Congrats on NED! I have to

    Congrats on NED! I have to ask, why Gatorgirl?

  • foroughsh
    foroughsh Member Posts: 779 Member
    edited November 2016 #5
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    Great news, wishing you many

    Great news, wishing you many more NED reports

  • lobbyist0724
    lobbyist0724 Member Posts: 515 Member
    #6
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    Congratulations, wish u many

    Congratulations, wish u many more NED reports. Seeing more good news also help us to believe we can beat this sucker!

     

  • hardo718
    hardo718 Member Posts: 853 Member
    #7
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    Welcome Gatorgirl

    Congratulations on your NED follow-up.  Awesome news!  Why did you hang in the shadows for so long?  I didn't find this site till I was 3 years post-op, but wish I'd have heard of it sooner.  I agree, people on this forum are the best and have "unknowingly" helped me in more ways than I can count.  

    What a blessing,

    Donna~

  • stub1969
    stub1969 Member Posts: 966 Member
    edited November 2016 #8
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    Welcome and Congratulations

    Welcome Gator.

    Couple questions for you: 1. 9.5 cm is pretty large for a partial.  Did you mean 9.5 mm?  2.  What type of RCC did you have?

    Congratulations on your NED. 

    Stub

  • JerzyGrrl
    JerzyGrrl Member Posts: 760 Member
    edited November 2016 #9
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    Congrats and...

    Congrats on being NED and thanks for finally saying hello. The more, the better (not always the merrier, but it sure would be nice if it was), when comes to supporting and encouraging others. 

    Jerzy

  • Gatorgirl1973
    Gatorgirl1973 Member Posts: 4
    edited November 2016 #10
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    Sorry So Long On Response...

    Hi, Thank you for all the warm welcomes.  Sorry I was gone for awhile we had some things going on in our family.  Kat......I just chose Gatorgirl because I lived from the age of 3 until the age of 38 in Florida and I love the Florida Gators College Team the numbers don't mean anything behind the name.  Yes Stub.........it was 9.5 cm tumor and I agree that is pretty large for a partial. I questioned the doctor about that too and they claim that they thought it was possible because of where the tumor was located on the kidney. They did advise me that it could change during surgery to an open full.  Part of my kidney is still there.  They just never really said how much of the Kidney is still left.  It was a stage 2.  Clear Cell.  Grades 1 & 3 Furhman.  Clear margins.  My surgery was done at a University.  I was at a disadvantage because we were newer to the area and in shock with the diagnoses.   So, I wasnt to familar with all of my options and kind of just went with what I was told to do.  Donna....I just wanted to listen and learn from everyones experiences.  I felt really lonely going through all of it but, when I read these boards it helped me a lot.  I'm also not really good at expressing myself in writing so I really just love to read and listen.  Thank you for all your well wishes. 

  • Jojo61
    Jojo61 Member Posts: 1,309 Member
    edited November 2016 #11
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    Way to go, Gator Girl!! Happy

    Way to go, Gator Girl!! Happy for your NED news!

    Hugs

    Jojo

  • stub1969
    stub1969 Member Posts: 966 Member
    edited November 2016 #12
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    Gatorgirl1973 said:

    Sorry So Long On Response...

    Hi, Thank you for all the warm welcomes.  Sorry I was gone for awhile we had some things going on in our family.  Kat......I just chose Gatorgirl because I lived from the age of 3 until the age of 38 in Florida and I love the Florida Gators College Team the numbers don't mean anything behind the name.  Yes Stub.........it was 9.5 cm tumor and I agree that is pretty large for a partial. I questioned the doctor about that too and they claim that they thought it was possible because of where the tumor was located on the kidney. They did advise me that it could change during surgery to an open full.  Part of my kidney is still there.  They just never really said how much of the Kidney is still left.  It was a stage 2.  Clear Cell.  Grades 1 & 3 Furhman.  Clear margins.  My surgery was done at a University.  I was at a disadvantage because we were newer to the area and in shock with the diagnoses.   So, I wasnt to familar with all of my options and kind of just went with what I was told to do.  Donna....I just wanted to listen and learn from everyones experiences.  I felt really lonely going through all of it but, when I read these boards it helped me a lot.  I'm also not really good at expressing myself in writing so I really just love to read and listen.  Thank you for all your well wishes. 

    Thanks

    Thanks for the follow-up, Gatorgirl.  Wow--I am impressed with your surgeon to do a partial with that size of tumor.  Mine was 5.3 cm at the greatest dimension and they were able to do a partial, also.  My doctor said the same that they may have to go with a full nephrectomy if they ran into complications.  My tumor was coming out the lower pole of my right kidney--still encased in the kidney tissue, which made the partial possible.  I'm glad everything worked out for you.  I wish you continued healing and good fortune.

    Stub

  • lobbyist0724
    lobbyist0724 Member Posts: 515 Member
    #13
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    Congratulations, it is great

    Congratulations, it is great to see more NED news before the holidays!

    I believe doctors are trying to save as much kidney as possible especially for younger patients; since researches are supporting that partial has similar results compare to radical even for larger tumor.

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