Kidney Cancer

Hi , your friend would b better off looking at the info on this site than googling, as a lot of stuff on Google is way out of date re kidney cancer. Treatment ( drugs)is being developed all the time too, including immunotherapy and combined treatments.

Make sure she has someone go with her to the oncologist appointment, to note down his/ her answers to all her questions,then she can check back what they said later.

The renal involvement is less important than the grade, as it indicates how advanced the cancer is, tho kidney cancer is slow growing compared to many other cancers. 

See below which is an introduction to the treatment of kidney cancer - your friend may find it helpful to read through.

www.macmillan.org.uk/.../kidney-cancer

and this, which is about grading - 

https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/kidney-cancer/staging-and-grading-of-kidney-cancer#grading_of_kidney_cancer

Do come back to us if you've more questions and maybe get your friend to look at the website too?

Sue

Thanks so much for your reply i will pass all that onto her.. pls god it means her situation is the same she was lucky it was found nd just means she will be monitored more closely

Hi 

What you've just said - situation the same, monitored more closely - hits the nail on the head.

The margins really are the critical part of it. She would originally have been given a tumour number after her op, T something - possibly T1b given what you've said - this hasn't changed so assuming she was happy with that before then the same goes for now.

She will also have been given a staging - again based on what you said maybe stage 1? Again if so that's great and hasn't changed.

Grade 4 means it's likely to grow more quickly - but if it's out and there was no spread and clear margins - then it's out. When surgeons talk about nephrectomy being a cure for some people with kidney cancer they do genuinely mean that.

I don't know if there are any ways to remove the fear of return even with her initial grading, but there are definitely ways to manage it. I think most people who have had cancer and are now clear will say they have doubts occassionally. If what she has done previously has helped her, then do it again.

I really hope that the meeting with the oncologist puts her mind at ease. I remember seeing mine for the first time after I found out that mine had actually spread and coming away feeling absolutely hopeful, not desperate. Great monitoring is a fantastic safety net and may in a bizarre way help to make her feel more confident about the future. Similarly if they offer some treatment (though I'm not sure if any of our treatments are offered as a preventative - I know there have been trials around this) then that might  help her through it mentally too - the feeling of being pro-active rather than reactive is very powerful.

Lots of luck to you both.

Oh thanks so much for your reply it sounds positive pls god she will get into a better frame of mind again and this is just a fright and she will feel better about this again soon.. thanks so much for replying x 

I have just had surgery (radical nephrectomy) for cancer. It was the 2nd op the first being a partial nephrectomy done by keyhole for the same reason. Unlucky that it came back as chances are low but it did. I have not had follow up yet so don't know details.

What I do know though is that they said that there was no spread outside the kidney so that is reassuring  when they say that the nephrectomy will be the only treatment then that is usually what they mean. I trust and hope so.

The difference between partial and radical huge. The first op I almost didn't know anything happened but the radical op is a different animal totally. I  have been well looked after but still when my mind drifts back to what I know they did I feel so many things, grateful, lucky but also weak and terrified.

All usual I am told and I know but still the considerable wound  across my middle feels at the moment like a battle scar and looks the part too.

Don't know what I am trying to say now I have lost my thread ,sorry!

all you folks just hang in there 

Chriss29

Hi Chriss29 I too have a big scar across my stomach but having lived with it for almost 15 years now, I just accept it as part of my " new normal" body. It's amazing what u get used to when u have to...

Sorry you feel confused / have lost your thread. This is all so recent for you, no wonder. Take your time n b kind to yourself. Your strength will return, all in good time.

Best wishes,

Sue