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kidney cancer surgery for kidney removal

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Posted 5/8/2012 2:12 PM (GMT 0)

I'm scheduled for kidney removal due to possible cancer and would like to talk with those who have undergone this procedure.  I'm concerned with risks, recovery, and whether there is a continued disability due to this surgery.

Posted 5/12/2012 4:25 AM (GMT 0)
Drumstcik,

I came here for Gerd, people have advised me in there so its my turn to give back. Here is my kidney cancer story.

I am 37year old male, I was diagnosed with kidney cancer on 1/21/2011. I had a 13MM tumor in my right kideny that was foound on accident by a CT scan, I was having symtoms like frequest urination, but turns out that was from stress, so I really had no symtoms, but I was lucky that I asked my Doc to stop caling it stress (which it was because the symptoms stopped b4 the surgery) and look closer. I had the CT on aThursday, didnt get a call back on Friday so I thought all was good, got a call on Monday at work asking me to come in and get an ultrasound that there was an abonormality found in my right kidney, I got the ultrasound, they told me that night it looks like a tumor and sent me to a urologist within the next few days...this was NOv 2010, I went to see the urologist, they told me flat out 50-50 chance its cancer, they do not biopsy kidneys for fear of spreading the cancer (its a small chance but it must be there for them not to do it) I see by your post it is "suspected"  so that tells me they went the same route w you....they gave me 3 chioces, surgery, wait 6 months to scan again & check for growth, or do some experimental freeze, there was no way I was gonna waith for cancer to grow more, and I was not in a experimental mood, so I opted for surgery ASAP, they told me its very small, probably is cancer, go enjoy holidays and we will do the surgery in Jan, I had a partial kidney removal laproscopy on 1/05/11. For me,  The worst part is all of the air they pump in you for surgery to be able to move around in there...it takes a week or so to get rid of the air, you will see what I mean, walk around as soon as they tell you to even if you dont feel it, it helps get rid of the air. I was out of work for 3 weeks ( i do office work), and back to Normal in a few months. it took 3 weeks to find out if it was cancer, and it was, stage 1 t1 (low agressive). I had a follow up scan 1 year later in Feb 2012, and had no regrowth, I will get checked again in 1.5 yr...I wont lie to you, I did not handle all of this as well as I could, I thought I was gonna be dead in a year, but a lot of that is me and my drama ( I am a complete Hypochondrac, and getting cancer when your that does not help). You really learn paitence in these times, I wanted to know right away, but all in all I had to wait about 3 months from the first CT scan to the diagnosis,,,it wasnt fun.

So that is my semi long story....I hope it helps, I wish you all the best, and I have been there brother......there is nothing anyone can say to make it OK, but you will get through it, if I had any regrets (besides having cancer), it was that I could have been stronger for my wife, who was a rock for me the whole time.

I hope this helped as well as it could...again best to you and your loved ones...

Posted 3/3/2013 1:31 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you for sharing your stories.  I pray all is well for you now.

My 36 yr old son was just diagnosed with a 7x11 cm (?) complex kidney cyst & thickened walls.  Unfortunately the hospital doctor did a biopsy & found low grade malignant cells....learning about the spreading phenomena has me scared to death.  They want to remove his kidney, however he is uninsured & biopsy hospital said he did not qualify for Medicaid.  I PRAY he is able to get the cancer removed before it is too late.  Please, please....if you have any advise for us, I would so appreciate it.  I can't believe a person can have a life threatening illness and they would allow it to not be treated due to finances!!!!  Seems others come into our country & receive treatment more than citizens.  Thank you for your help & cont'd good health to you both.

Posted 11/28/2014 3:47 PM (GMT 0)
i have a 1 cm lesion on my kidney that they highly suspect its cancer. I am having the cryoablation procedure in the next few months. They use a CT guided probe into back and into the tumor and freeze it.Its outpatient and may only miss 1-2 days of work. there is 95% success rate of killing it on first try. I am having it done at the Cleveland Clinic and its not considered experimental anymore.
Posted 2/15/2015 2:09 AM (GMT 0)
This is my 1st post. Usually, I just browse. However, this is different. In July 2014 I was informed by my PA at the VA that I had a lump on my right kidney - approximately 3cm in size. Not nodular and was contained in the upper portion of my right kidney. Meeting with VA Urology Doctor and a follow-up CAT scan verified the tumor. Doctor referred me to University Medical Center in Denver. The assistant head of oncology, confirmed the scans. At first my options were: (1) total kidney removal, (2) partial removal and (3) freeze the tumor because its size was less than 7cm and spiracle and had not spread outside my kidney. After several discusses, it was agreed to "freeze" the tumor. I did - on December 20th at the VA Hospital in Denver. I was released the next day. I am due to have my first follow-up CAT Scan in March. But reading the report of the Doctor who did the the freeze, I am very confident the procedure is successful. If not it can be done again!! PS - got the results on line through MyHealthyVet's Blue Button. You must have Premium Account Access to get this information!!! NOW - my cancer is Chromophobe Renal Carcinoma. This is a rare cancer but the outcome is pretty good if the cancer has not spread and it is confined in the kidney as mine was. So looking for good results. As mentioned by another member - the success rate is at least 95%. The procedure was first formed at the Mayo Clinic and has excellent results. There are a few You-Tube vids. The one I found interesting was the 80+ year old who had it done in the am and coffee in the pm. Would like to know how much he got paid for that comment :-) You can expect to be sore for several days - but that was really all. You need to consider this method, IF AND ONLY IF you meet the guidelines. For me it was worth it. Good luck to others with similar issues. Now I need to find out if this is a Soft Tissue Cancer that meets the Agent Orange rules - Anyone else looking into this?
Posted 2/15/2015 9:43 PM (GMT 0)
SynapcoREB, just wondering which VA facility you used (the one furnishing recommendation to use a Denver facility). Down just a few threads from this one, you can see my post with my signature as erbob. You can get my email address from that one. I am a Colorado resident using the VA system too and have a couple questions for you if you don't mind. Thanks in advance!
Bob
Posted 2/17/2015 12:54 AM (GMT 0)
I have a small (13 mm) in my right kidney that was discovered about a year ago when I was found to have microscopic amounts of blood in my urine during a routine physical. CT scans have verified it, but it doesn't show up at all on ultrasound. I'm going to a urologist at Stanford who has advised me to wait, as he's not certain it's malignant.

acidman, I can empathize with your desire to get it out quickly. I was assured by my doc (and my sister, who's a nurse practitioner), that renal cell carcinoma is very slow growing and isn't a huge risk for spreading. My urologist wants to see if it changes at all before we decide on cutting it out, as he doesn't want to reduce my kidney function if he doesn't have to. So, I decided to wait and see. Curiously, on my annual physical this year (a year after the original physical that started all this), there was no trace of blood in my urine at all.

elykoj, cryoablation was one of the treatment options I was told about, in addition to partial and full kidney removal. I'd be interested in hearing how your procedure goes, as my return CT scan and urologist visit will be happening in late May, early June.

Synapco, it's good to hear of a success story with cryo.

peggster, depending on what state you live in, there may be a program for your son. When my brother-in-law was diagnosed with nasopharangeal cancer (a cancer of the back of the throat and nose), he had no job and was using the local medical services in San Francisco. The medical social worker we talked to got him onto MediCal (the State of California program) and his cancer treatment was performed at UCSF, which is only one of, if not the best, cancer treatment hospitals in the world. I encourage you and your son to talk to a medical social worker in your state to see what programs are available to him.

And Drum Stick, here's hoping for a quick and speedy recovery for you. As acidman said, one of the things they do when they operate is pump your abdomen full of air. I had that done on some intestinal surgery a few years ago, and believe me, you will get a lot of abdominal discomfort. The most important thing to do is to start walking when the nurses tell you to walk. You'll pass a lot of gas, but don't worry about it sounding rude. When I had my intestinal surgery, my bowels had to wake up, as they had been inactive for quite a long time, so every hour, it seemed, the nurses and the doctors asked me if I had passed gas, as that's a big sign of recovery. LOL. I remember I was walking when my first gas came and I practically ran to the nurses' station to let them know the good news.
Posted 3/19/2015 6:32 PM (GMT 0)
Apparently SynapcoREB is no longer on this Kidney section to answer my questions. Thanks anyhow.
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