Misdiagnosed

Hi, my mom who just turned 60 just found out she has a tumor the size of a baseball on one kindey, and the doctor is "90%" sure it is cancer. She is having a bone scan this week, to see if any mets, and surgery in a few weeks.

I am upset , because her primary doctor has been treating her for a uti since May.  Her only symptom was blood in the urine. After he had treated this 2-3 times and the blood kept coming back, I told her that something was not right, she needed to see a urologist.  She also returned to the Dr. for a complaint of back pain, and was told it was arthritis and given pain meds. 

A few weeks ago, she had severe pain, abd and back, passing huge clots, went to the ER,  who didn't believe it was coming  from her urinary tract so they did a pelvic exam, and they were coming from her urinary tract. They did not scan her, but referred her back to the same primary Dr.

Her Dr. also at this time did not believe where the clots were coming from , so he did a pelvic exam. And then told her "something is wrong!" And had his staff set her up with a urologist in three weeks.  As soon as she told me I hit the roof, I felt that she needed to be seen sooner than later.  I made some calls and got her in with a urologist the next day.           

I am upset that I wasn't more persistent with her symptoms in the begining , and wished that i would have insisted that she have further testing ( I am an RN) . My mom trusted her doctors opinion.

I am angry and frightened. My mom survived breast cancer 3 years ago.  I hope that this 5-6 months of delay in treatment doesn't cost my mom her life. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks.....

Your story its home with me.  We went thru a very similar situation with my mother when she was diagnosed.  Typically kidney cancer is very slow growing.  My mother had a tumor the size of a football on her kidney and it had spread to her liver and the lymph nodes between her lungs.  they removed the kidney and the tumor and about 8 weeks later she started treatment.  If your mothers hasnt spread past the kidney she may not need any further treatment after removing the kidney.  If it has spread, there are several new treatments that are working pretty well.  I am happy to say, my mother is possibly cancer free now.  I say possibly because you can still see a shadow of where the last 3 tumors on her liver were, but they do not enhance anymore with the dye, so they are probably dead.  She is still doing another round of Sutent right now though just to be sure.  When she was diagnosed, they only gave her 6 months to live, and it has now been 2 1/2 years.  It hasnt been easy, the treatments are hard, but they are tolerable.  When you have more info on your mom it will be easier, because then you can do research and come up with a plan with her doctor and at least have a goal to work toward.  Right now is the hardest part!  Let me know if I can help you with any more info.  My prayers are with you and your family!

Please see a Clinical Oncologist with special attention to Renal Cell Carcinoma. As a kidney cancer patient I am sure they are giving me a much longer life than I had without their meds.

I don't know where you are located in the U.S. but there is an awesome kidney cancer oncologist in Las Vegas Nev.  He is Wolfram Samlowski at the Nevada Cancer Institute.  I hope you can get to him.  I drive my husband 7 hours to see him every 2 months.  It is difficult as he has mets to his spine and the car ride is painful but the trip is worth it.  Pray and may God bless you and your mother.

Diane