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