Reading your stories tells me just how lucky I am. My doctor sent me to the ER thinking I was having appedicitis. The appredix was fine, but the CT scan revealed a 2cm mass in my right kidney. The immediate response from the on-call urologist was that I needed a full nephrectomy. I was in shock.
I went as far as having my follow-up appointment with him. When I was asking questions, I felt his answers were vague, if not rude. He made the comment that too many people read something on the internet and don't listen to their doctors. I started doing research and went to another urologist.
Long story short, I found a doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital who does a procedure called cryoablation. This is where they stick probes into the mass and freeze it.
The good news is that I get to keep my kidney. It is very non-invasive. You're usually released 4 hours after the procedure. It has a 95% accuracy rate and even if it comes back, they just do it again.
The bad news is if you're young (I'm 34) you have to really fight to have this done. They prefer to try new treatments on patients in their 60s or 70s where a nephretomy would cause them greater risk. It's new so most doctors won't do it. Side-effects are minimal - you have a chance of some numbness on your side. The only other drawback is that this is new, so there is no long term results. I'm willing to take that chance.
I'm lucky that I had pain. They found this at stage 1, so my odds are great. I almost feel like I was let off lightly.
This procedure is not for everyone, but if you're interested, here's the link to an article about it: http://www.newsmax.com/health/cryoablation_cancer/2008/03/17
Jack