6 Cm Mass On Kidney

Hi,

I am a 37 year old mother of 3 young children. I received a call from my doctor yesterday to give me the results of my CT scan. I have been having upper abdominal pain off and on for several months...I always thought is was muscle strain and when the pain went away, I just forgot about it. I finally decided to go to my doctor and he had me go for this test. I was being checked for a hernia. To my surprise, my results indicate a 6 cm mass on my left kidney. I am terrified since what I have read on the internet all seem to have the word cancer attached to it. I have been referred to a urologist to learn more about what is going on I hope. My question would be, besides cancer, what else could this mass be? 

Thank you for the response! I asked more questions of my initial results from my family doctor and I was told that the mass is solid. I asked about other organs and they told me that my chest and liver were clear....that should be a good sign that it has not spread, right? Do you have any idea how they determine how quickly surgery needs to be done? I am just thinking ahead since Christmas is coming and my middle child turns 4 the end of December, I am hoping to wait until January for any kind of surgery, but I understand that the doctor will do what is in my best interest. Whatever thoughts you might share about how and when they schedule surgery, I would greatly appreciate it.....having my appointment scheduled for the end of next week is absolute torture.

Thank you in advance!

Hi, Michelle

With 6 cm and no other visible activities, you and your doctor may easily decide to do it in January. There are several surgical options, some may reduce your recovery time. Suggest you read Cancer Guide - website by Steve Dunn. A lot of useful and detailed info.

Just remember - your caught it at 6 cm without any visible activities elsewhere. That means it's localized! It might be a surgery is all you'll need.

You have a lot to worry about - bringing up your kids and then to manage a babysitting for bunch of future grandkids.

Hi,

My wife was diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma on 10/23/07.  The doctors found a mass that was almost 9cm, still contained within the sac of the kidney.  They opted to do surgery within the next week.  Although it was the last thing we wanted to hear the C word, it was really a relief that they had removed it.  She was very fortunate to have had one of the top Nephrologist do the procedure.  He actully did a nephrectomy using only 4 holes and a 4" incision to remove the kidney.  His name is Dr. Patrik Patel here in Arizona.  Her recovery time was about 10 days, she did very well with the surgery.  Doing the surgery the old way would have been a very lengthy recovery time and with your situation with kids, would put more stress on you.  Talk to your Dr. about it and his experience with it. If not you may want to call our Dr. and see if there is anyone in your area he would recomend to do the procedure.

They told us that this type of cancer is a very slow moving type.  The sooner they can take out the mass and keep it's size to a minimum the better your prognosis will be.  Give yourself every opportunity to keep ahead of this tumor.  I know I have said the C word a few times already, keep in mind I am speaking only from my wife's experience.  We were told that they could not verify this until a pathology had been done on the mass.  We were also told that they do NOT do biopsis on the kidney because of the propensity to bleed and they want to keep it contained as much as possible. 

I wish you the best and please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.  We are by no means experts, but we can give you our feedback on what we've experienced.  We are still looking for more information ourselves, it's a scary time, but you have to believe that you will get better, keep a very positive attitude about it.  There are more people out there than you think going through this.  Get support through your family and friends, ask for their prayers and support.  The less you have to stress about with your children the easier it will be for you to get through this time. 

We will pray for you.

Michelle

WOW!  I read your story and I thought it is almost identical to mine!  I too found a tumor in my left kidney via a CAT scan...after my family doctor thought I had a hernia!  I have 2 children and I am 39.  I read your post and just couldn't believe how close it is to mine.  I would love to hear from you.  I had 25% of my kidney removed on 8/02/2007.  The tumor was systic renal cell carcinoma in the lower lobe of my kidney. (perfect according to my doctor)  I am doing great since my surgery.  I went back to work full time at 3 weeks post op.  I take a lot of excersise classes and truly think that made my recovery super easy.  I have not read anything about RCC because everything I read was just way too scary.  I am doing better and really feel like to need to talk to people that are going through what I have. 

I hope to hear from you soon and anyone that has had this happen to them.  I just wonder how I got the tumor?!!  Don't we all???

Soonergirl

Hi There!

  Your story does sound like mine. The conclusion to my story was that I met with my surgeon, Dr. Allof from Johns Hopkins Hospital early January. He elected for open surgery and hoped to leave me with part of my kidney but that did not happen. My surgery was Jan. 30, 2008. Leaving a small part of my kidney was more trouble that it was worth. I feel that I am doing great.....I have several post op complaints but I just need to give myself time to heal...it has not even been 3 weeks yet. My cancer was clear cell something ruther...I cannot remember....all I remember the doctor saying was that it was the less agressive kind of kidney cancer so the chances of it coming back or sliim to none...I hope to beat those odds. My surgeon also told me that the pathologist report showed that the center of my mass was already dead which meant it was growing rapidly...not the normal 1/2 cm a year as kidney cancer usually does....so the initial thought of it starting about 10 years ago was quickly changed to 2-3 years ago...I have God to thank for the pain that I felt in my abdomen which led me to the doctors to begin with. I have a clean bill of health. I will go for a follow-up CT and bloodwork in 6 months. Since our age group is not usually when this sort of thing starts, my surgeon told me that radical diets could also contribute to a problem because they are hard on the kidneys. I never even thought about it like that before....for example, Atkins diets focusing on protein is one of the bad one for someone like us....we can never be on a protein diet again. I tried atkins several times over the years.....the last time I did was in early 2005 before I found out I was pregnant with my 3rd child. Unfortunately we will can only speculate at this time. I have to focus on my "righty" and keep it as healthy as possible. So, no crazy diets and lowering my sodium intake. Since I dont like salt anyway, that will not be an issue.

Good luck to you!

Michelle

Hi there!

  I want to thank you for your prayers. My surgery went very smoothly and I am on the mend. Almost 3 weeks now. How is your wife making out? I appreciated you sharing your story with me....it really did help. I feel after going through this, a university hospital is the way to go. If anyone had to go to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD, I can recommend a fantastic surgeon who was awesome....he even prayed with me and my husband just before I was taken back to the operating room.

Wishing you the best always,

Michelle :)

On 2/18/2008 MICHBORDX wrote:

Hi there!

  I want to thank you for your prayers. My surgery went very smoothly and I am on the mend. Almost 3 weeks now. How is your wife making out? I appreciated you sharing your story with me....it really did help. I feel after going through this, a university hospital is the way to go. If anyone had to go to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD, I can recommend a fantastic surgeon who was awesome....he even prayed with me and my husband just before I was taken back to the operating room.

Wishing you the best always,

Michelle :)

Hi

I'll be going to Johns Hopkins soon to see what this 2-cm mass on my left kidney is, if I have to have it remove what the name of the dr. you remmend.

Praying for you and all of us with this cancer-----thanks.

cidney