The first indication that there was something wrong was seeing a small amount of blood in my urine. This was late September. I already had a scheduled appointment at the doctors to see a nurse concerning my annual blood test results. I told her about the blood and she arranged for urine tests and further blood tests. This went on for a month.
Early in November there was a more substantial showing of blood. I phoned the gp surgery and arranged for a callback from a doctor. She put me on the cancer pathway and later that month I had an ultrasound and cystoscopy. Cystoscopy showed that my bladder was clear but the ultrasound indicated that something else was wrong.
A ct scan took place in mid December. I saw a doctor on the 9th of January who advised me of the cancer of my left kidney. The decision of the MDT was for surgery to remove the kidney and would take place within three months.
A few weeks later I had a conversation with the consultant who had decided that because of the size of the tumour surgery would be too risky due to the proximity of other organs. He suggested immunotherapy to shrink the tumour initially. He also arranged for a biopsy and further CT scan. The scan was on the 19th of February and the biopsy on the 18th of March.
I saw the oncologist on 5th March and again on the 25th. He arranged for the immunotherapy to start on the 7th of April. Unfortunately on that day my blood pressure was found to be too high and the procedure had to be cancelled.
After contacting my gp surgery I saw someone the following day. She took my blood pressure but would not increase my medication until I had taken readings for a week. I see a doctor on the 16th and am hoping my medication will be altered. I have a further appointment to start my treatment on the 23rd of April, fingers crossed.
Looking back it seems to have taken far too long to get to this point and I wonder if the cancer could have spread in the meantime.
Everybody I have been in contact with has been marvellous, I cannot fault them but it seems as though the system is against me.
I never tried tofu! I have eaten mixed beans but they weren't very nice. What I do if I want to eat something like that, is mix passata into them. Either with or without pasta mixed in as well. I sometimes add mushrooms - and of course the passata. Passata is healthy, although I think there's some conditions that don't tolerate tomatoes well but I can't recall which. Don't think it's the kidneys though. I dumped processed food, or at least as much as is possible in modern living, over 18 months ago but started reducing it before that. I should say, it's ultra-processed really that I've dumped. Most food is processed; it's the UPFs that are the dangerous ones. Lentils, as Fleabane says, are good too, and chickpeas. I buy prepared lentils, or sometimes make my own. The prepared ones are very tasty but I can only get them via my French online supermarket.
You sound like you have a plan, with your diet and exercise and what to pack for the hospital. Making plans helps relieve the worry and makes you feel way more in control.
That's so lovely that your relatives are rallying round now that you have a health problem. Some people find it the other way round: their friends drift away from them as they cannot cope. That's so refreshing, and very supportive to you, that you are now having more support than ever before. You have a lovely family out there by the sound of it!
I haven't shared mine with many people either. My relatives are all scattered and I am pretty much out of touch with them. So it's only my very close friends: my longer term partner John who is pretty much my next of kin, and a handful of friends, only some of whom know even now exactly what I've had done. And I had to come clean at work for obvious reasons, but only one colleague and my manager have the details even now.
I don't "do" ill. I was brought up that way (my mum was the same, indeed worse) and I just want to get back to the normal me, and as I did with my hysterectomy, put it behind me as an unavoidable 'blip' in my life, now all done and dusted. We have staff at work who go sick at the drop of a hat, for relatively minor things. I've never been that way so they probably realise anyway that this is something big when I am off for six weeks!!
Support is lovely, and whilst I am very bad at asking for it as I am by nature and lifestyle so independent, to have a certain few who are there if I need them and feel able to approach them, is valuable. Your relatives are a godsend to you right now.
