Kidney cancer

i have diverticulitis...in january i went in for emergency surgery.. one of my sacks exploded and now my intestines was leaking waste into my body.. after the surgery i woke up in a lot of pain and i could barely breath..they rushed me to the intensive care were i was put in a drug induced coma to give my lungs time to heal.. my docter told my family that i might not make it..when i woke up i had a bag hanging on me (Colostomy)..i spent 2 weeks in the hospital...my docter tells me that i was very lucky to be alive.. a month after the surgery i was told i had cancer in my kidney.. i am going in at the end of Aug to take down my colostomy...at the same time my docter wants to remove the kidney with the cancer..i dont want to lose my kidney so i asked for a partial..that will mean 2 major surgerys only months apart..i dont know the pro and cons of keeping or removing your kidney but i don't want to loose something that i might need later...what is it like to live with one kidney???

My husband, Dave, had his entire left kidney and adrenal gland removed due to cancer.  Your body is a wonderful thing!  You can live a perfectly normal life with only one kidney.  Dave is not having any trouble whatsoever with only having one kidney.  He eats and drinks the same amount, urinates just fine, and has no problems other than the pain of surgery.  Lots of people donate a kidney to help a loved one who has no good kidney.  If you couldn't live with just one kidney, people wouldn't be willing to donate a kidney to anyone. 

It is really scary, though, everything you're going through.  You've been through so much already.  My suggestion is to get rid of the entire kidney if there's any chance the cancer has spread within that kidney.  You don't want to find out later that the part of kidney they left in place now has cancer, and then that will be another surgery.  That's just my own two cents' worth.  Your doctor will be able to let you know if the cancer is contained to a small spot within that kidney and whether it is best to totally remove the entire kidney or try to keep part of it.

Good luck,

Nancy

On 7/30/2009 Twiddles wrote:

My husband, Dave, had his entire left kidney and adrenal gland removed due to cancer.  Your body is a wonderful thing!  You can live a perfectly normal life with only one kidney.  Dave is not having any trouble whatsoever with only having one kidney.  He eats and drinks the same amount, urinates just fine, and has no problems other than the pain of surgery.  Lots of people donate a kidney to help a loved one who has no good kidney.  If you couldn't live with just one kidney, people wouldn't be willing to donate a kidney to anyone. 

It is really scary, though, everything you're going through.  You've been through so much already.  My suggestion is to get rid of the entire kidney if there's any chance the cancer has spread within that kidney.  You don't want to find out later that the part of kidney they left in place now has cancer, and then that will be another surgery.  That's just my own two cents' worth.  Your doctor will be able to let you know if the cancer is contained to a small spot within that kidney and whether it is best to totally remove the entire kidney or try to keep part of it.

Good luck,

Nancy

my doctor told me that the cancer is slow growing.. he said that some people live for yrs with this cancer..i am going to talk to him next week..thanks for the advice...

I had my kidney removed in February of this year and I have been functioning pretty much the same as before. There are some restrictions as to medications; no anti-inflammatory medications and watch out for contrast dyes when having a scan. My recovery was very quick, considering that I am 71 years old. However, I had a laparoscopic surgery. With your previous operation, the surgeon may go for a longer length incision to remove your kidney. The cancer was contained within the kidney, so no meds or radiation for me. The location of the cancer made it impossible to do a partial removal of the kidney. Of course, I will have to have scans every so often to make sure that the cancer has not returned to other parts of the body. Good luck on upcoming surgery.

I have had a full removal of my kidney and glands on the 28th May 2008, I have been for my  yearly check up and everything looked good, doesn't seem to be any cancer, or at least nothing that showed up on the CT scan.

I can honestly say living with one kidney, is no different to having two, the operation has not affected me in the slightest.  I had keyhole surgery and a fantastic consultant and his team, I was in hospital 48 hours and returned home, don't worry about the kidney you can easily function on one.  I am 65 now and still working I feel fit and healthy so don't worry, really I can honestly say that.  Good luck

On 7/30/2009 dogmen66 wrote:

i have diverticulitis...in january i went in for emergency surgery.. one of my sacks exploded and now my intestines was leaking waste into my body.. after the surgery i woke up in a lot of pain and i could barely breath..they rushed me to the intensive care were i was put in a drug induced coma to give my lungs time to heal.. my docter told my family that i might not make it..when i woke up i had a bag hanging on me (Colostomy)..i spent 2 weeks in the hospital...my docter tells me that i was very lucky to be alive.. a month after the surgery i was told i had cancer in my kidney.. i am going in at the end of Aug to take down my colostomy...at the same time my docter wants to remove the kidney with the cancer..i dont want to lose my kidney so i asked for a partial..that will mean 2 major surgerys only months apart..i dont know the pro and cons of keeping or removing your kidney but i don't want to loose something that i might need later...what is it like to live with one kidney???