Husband has a hard lump on his side about 8 months after nephrectomy

Hi , I'm sorry you're having such a stressful time, especially as you're pregnant with a 2.5 year old.

I can't answer your questions except to say at least your husband will be having a CT scan soon. Does your husband have a cancer nurse specialist he can talk to n ask about getting the scan results thru in time for the phone appointment? Or the oncologist's secretary? Both of these should b good at chivying things along.Failing that, he needs to tell them at radiology what the situation is as regards getting the scan reported on quickly - and getting his GP on the case too.

Hope that's been helpful,

Big hugs,

Sue

Hi

I have not had an infected cyst but have had both a gland and spots that have become infected.  ( the medication I am on and the fact that I am diabetic make me prone to infections).  The gland remained raised for years after the first time it became infected and I had many subsequent infections in it but often up to a year apart.  It did not change size when infections came and went infection went.  Not to be too gross but when it got infected it usually burst and all the rubbish came out.

About two years ago it became infected and I was referred for an ultrasound via the surgical team but still prescribed antibiotics.  In typical medical symptom fashion this time the infection burst and as it cleared up it shrank until it was no longer noticeable.   When they eventually did the scan many months later there was a tiny (about 1mm) indication of a problem in the gland, probably scar tissue, and nothing else to see.  It has not returned since.

I have heard of others who have had problems with pain from scar tissue from a nephrectomy but that has been internal rather than on the surface.

As you say the diagnosis is confusing and most of us on her are not medically trained but only have our personal or shared experience.  It is important to remember that there are many other things than cancer and the fact that the issue previously responded to antibiotics means it was probably some sort of infection.  You said that his original consultation was via the video link, did the GP do a physical investigation this time?

I would suggest that you make a bit of a nuisance of yourself and keep phoning up to find out the date of the scan until they finally give in and allocate your husband an appointment.

Any cancer diagnosis is scary and it is natural that this would be your first concern given the location of the problem.  It took me many months before I remembered that I also got things like colds, spots and pulled muscles.  You might want to talk to your GP about how you are coping, no one is expected to just deal with it and get on with their life, especially with a young child and an advanced pregnancy.  You might want to consider calling the Macmillan helpline for some support and advice.  They are really helpful and are very experienced at talking to people in all sorts of situations relating to cancer.  They can also offer practical advice regarding things such as insurance, benefits and employment rights if you were interested in talking to someone about these things.

I know that you will be hoping that it is not a recurrence of the cancer and there is no reason to think that it is.  However, you can be reassured that the majority of kidney cancers are now quite treatable and you will find several people on this group who have been under treatment for many years.  I am now five and a half years after being told it had spread and was not curable but am still here and busy.  Several others have had the disease for much longer than I have.  There are now several treatments available including targeted biological therapies and immunotherapies.

I hope that your husband gets his CT scan soon and that the results are good.

Wishing you all the best,

Gragon xx

Hello Sue, thank you for your message. He has all those things, however they were the people the GP orginal called and weren't even going to try and arrange a CT Scan whether that be an emergancy one or not. I am aware BHAM hospital was hit badly with covid, but I am hurt by there lack of care. I understand that I am sure they try their best but unfortunately my emotions overrule my rationality.

Thank you for your kind words 

Hello Gragon, 

Thank you for your reply. Yes I am clinging to the fact that it could be many other things. He had a cyst on his back a while ago and so I am also hoping that he may just be a person more prone to those types of things. The doctor did feel the 'lump' at the face to face appointment and seemed to think it was too hard to be a cyst. However I refer you back to the comment she made suggesting that if any healthy man came in she would say it was a cyst. 

I think I am just struggling more this time because before diagnosis we were told, mainly due to his age, it was likely kidney stones. We went into this completely blindsided and we were quite quickly told a complete diagnosis and his operation was quickly soon after that. Although in the long run it's not been too long a period of time it's the unknown which I am scared of, but also the fact that if it is anything bad, they can't remove a kidney that has already gone.

Emotions fell on top of me today. The problem with having a 2 year old is that you are rarely without them (which given he is an utter angel, I usually love) however I feel like I haven't been able to just cry about it and let go. Unfortunately I haven't been strong enough to keep it in and my incredibly supportive family have taken him for the evening which has given my husband and I some time to just talk and share concerns.

Thankfully he had a call this afternoon to tell us his scan will be tomorrow. So I really hope this means someone will have time to look at it for his appointment with his urologist. His last scan took us 4 months to get the results so I am, as you can imagine worried about the time frame.

Sorry to ramble but it feels good to get it off my chest, even if know one else reads it. 

Hi , don't ever apologise for "rambling" ! Glad you n your husband managed to get some time to talk tonight n you now know when his scan is.

Good luck for tomorrow xx

Sue, I’ve sent you a private message but got no response. Did you receive it or are you still having problems posting ?

Ian

I keep writing the msg but it won't post it coz there's no recipient. Then when I put the recipient in, it deletes the msg. Must tell Admin

I got this reply must be something wrong somewhere either at my end or yours.

Ian

Hi buttercup01 and Ian436,

I've had problems in the last two days when I've tried tagging someone.  I type in the @ symbol and a couple of letters and it then tries to load a lot of unwanted names and when I type in the next letter it deletes the previous ones.  When I typed the symbol above with nothing after it the system still tried to load usernames!

I will let admin know my problems with the site later.

Gragon x

Thanks @gragon. I've also told them I've been having probs