Hi
just joined so wanted to say hello.
Like many I guess I have found out by chance and waiting for an operation to remove a tumour.
I feel grateful in many ways that they have found this in my kidney but so scared of the operation and process. Any help advice would be appreciated.
I have been told that they believe it’s contained in one kidney.
Thank you for reading
Hello again.
I was sleeping from 9.10 to 15.30, best rest I've had for years!
I had keyhole, however they need to make a larger incision to remove the kidney. They also warned me that an open operation may become necessary.
Apparently my kidney was large and the incision to remove it is 13cm. Stapled and dissolvable stiches. The staples came out after 9 days.
You don't need to be in control, this is what these people do, they follow proven procedures. The best thing you can do is concentrate on how lucky you are that it was found, and accept you are in good hands and very soon the tumour will be gone. Perhaps easier said than done.
Don't worry, you will be ok.
Hi GlenM
Apologies if you've seen the below before - posted it on another thread...some comments from my experiences!
Routine tests In September revealed a UTI – then an ultrasound, then a CT scan, then the results in quick succession…kidney cancer diagnosis! Like you I was massively surprised having had a very fortunate life illness wise. The specialist reckoned that the tumour had been inside me for around five years!
A couple of weeks later I was in Charing Cross hospital having the operation done (this was a partial nephrectomy so just the actual tumour was removed which was the recommended way to go; not sure what you know about this but this was done as a robotic operation with the surgeon sitting over one side of the room operating the machine). It was a 5 hour operation. That was on 19th October; I was in there four nights which I wasn't expecting but was glad I did.
Admittedly, the first few days after the operation were tough in terms of discomfort but I was loaded up on paracetamol and morphine. I was lucky that Charing Cross is one of the best hospitals around so I was in good hands. The situation became further complicated by a sudden bleed around the affected area which meant that I needed to go back into Charing Cross for a further couple of nights.
Granted, I was really worried to begin with but, as someone else has said on this thread, just trust the people treating you 100% - this is their job, day in, day out.
Fast forward and I'm now two months out from the operation and in a much better place. I start a course of nine immunotherapy injections on Monday at Charing Cross which was recommended way to go by the surgeon as opposed to any chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
It really is a one day at a time situation and the recovery is slow progress. Initially I was just doing a walk around the block and getting breathless after just a few 100 metres; I am now up to around a mile walk each day and improving.
Happy to answer any questions that you have!
You’re in the right place, Leicester is an excellent hospital, I have a friend who was treated there. I, like you, had a large growth, found by chance. I’d not really had many symptoms, 6 months on from surgery I’m pretty well back to normal and I’ve just had results of my latest CT scan which hasn’t raised any further issues. I too was terrified of the surgery and completely went to pieces before going under but it was fine, well as fine as it can be! I had keyhole but because of the size of the growth, 18cm, it was a very large main incision. The first week after surgery was hard, especially as I live alone and the district nurses refused to come out to me (disappointing as I’d been referred to them). After two weeks I started going for short walks after 2 months I was back playing badminton a couple of times a week. Good luck with the surgery - from experience I know the sooner it’s done the better, mine was brought forward two weeks which saved me two weeks of worrying about it,
Hi
Thank you for the message. It means a lot. I’m terrified but realising that is okay is helping after all it’s not something someone can look forward too…..
I have to have a postive mindset that it will be okay and I will be back fit again soon. I’m on the treadmill most days getting in some cardio in readiness for the operation.
im glad you are doing well and baxkmplaying sport.
Thanks again for the message.
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