Back in September 2025, I phoned my GP for an appointment, she rang me back and after hearing me on the phone told me to call 999, which I did, fast forward 13 hours sitting in A&E was taken to a ward and a CT scan was taken the following day, originally, doctors thought it could be pneumonia as my pain and symptoms were similar, a pulmonary embolism, or a nasty infection, turned out there was a large mass on my left kidney and my doctor said it was probably cancer, I immediately broke down, I was on my own as it was just after 10 in the morning, I rang my husband who came as soon as he could. My consultant told me it was a large mass, completely covering my kidney at 9.5 cm, I had no symptoms at all, no weight loss nothing, surgery was booked the following January, my radical nephrectomy went well, I had an embolization as well and I stayed in hospital 3 nights, due to my pain, I am recovering well and awaiting my first follow-up appointment in March
Hi LDachs and a very warm welcome to the Macmillan Community but sorry to hear about your journey to date.
I know from experience having been on my cancer journey for over 25 years with two very rare, hard to treat types of Non Hodgkin’s Lymphomas (one incurable) that navigating this journey can be such a stressful and challenging time but talking with and getting support from people who have walked or are walking the ‘exact same' journey can help a lot.
As you see the Community is divided into dedicated Cancer type Support Groups (Discussion Rooms) and I notice that you have already joined our dedicated……..
…….. support group and been interacting with some of the ongoing posts.
This group is a safe place to talk to others with a similar diagnosis, treatment experience, to ask questions and get support…
You may want to copy and paste the text from this post into your own discussion thread in the group as this tends to help develop good helpful and supportive conversations.
The Macmillan Support Line is open between 8am-8pm (timings may differ across services) 7 days a week on 0808 808 00 00…… this service provides cancer information, practical information, emotional support, benefits and financial guidance or just a listening ear.
Talking to people ‘face to face’ can be very helpful so do check to see if you have any Local Macmillan Support in your area, do also check for a local Maggie's Centre as these folks are amazing.
Do get back to me if you need further help navigating the community…… all the very best.
