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Stage 1 Kidney Cancer: thoughts about delaying surgery?

Posted by jv1715 @jv1715, Oct 18, 2024

I am new to this site.... My Urologist was going to schedule surgery next month. I mentioned if it would it be ok to wait until spring (April 2025) due to other circumstances. He says it's Stage 1 and slow growing and it's ok to wait for surgery to remove tumor for several months.

Any thoughts?

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ronsale | @ronsale | Jan 5 12:37pm

Make sure that you understand all of the ramifications of surgery and look at alternatives and perhaps get second opinion. Because of my age - - now 82 - - I opted out of surgery even though urologist told me in April of 2023 that it was my only alternative. He did discuss my case with local oncologist who recommended that we try Keytruda infusions; I am scheduled for my tenth treatment this week. Although I have had severe skin rash from the treatments the last CT scan done in October showed no spread of cancer, and the size of the lesion has been reduced slightly. I also had five high dose radiation treatments several months ago to stop bleeding from the malignant kidney tumor; bleeding has stopped for those several months. My next scan is MRI later this month. As for me, decision has up to now been good. Make sure, as I say, that you understand fully what surgery and alternatives mean on your quality of life and remain positive at all times. Reply to jv1715

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1 reply
jv1715 | @jv1715 | Jan 5 4:17pm
In reply to @ronsale "Make sure that you understand all of the ramifications of surgery and look at alternatives and..." + (show)
@ronsale

Make sure that you understand all of the ramifications of surgery and look at alternatives and perhaps get second opinion. Because of my age - - now 82 - - I opted out of surgery even though urologist told me in April of 2023 that it was my only alternative. He did discuss my case with local oncologist who recommended that we try Keytruda infusions; I am scheduled for my tenth treatment this week. Although I have had severe skin rash from the treatments the last CT scan done in October showed no spread of cancer, and the size of the lesion has been reduced slightly. I also had five high dose radiation treatments several months ago to stop bleeding from the malignant kidney tumor; bleeding has stopped for those several months. My next scan is MRI later this month. As for me, decision has up to now been good. Make sure, as I say, that you understand fully what surgery and alternatives mean on your quality of life and remain positive at all times. Reply to jv1715

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Thanks for sharing @ronsale....Doctors are people too; they base their opinions on what they think is best for their patients.
This too shall pass.

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Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | 6 days ago
In reply to @cindysummit "Wednesday is the big day, again. I have all my the scans to determine how things..." + (show)
@cindysummit

Wednesday is the big day, again. I have all my the scans to determine how things look. You know, I am the eternal optimist, but I would be remiss if I did not say that my anxiety level is a little higher than ususal.

I trust the medical staff...from the schedulers to the radiology techs to the doctors. They are good.

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@cindysummit, how was your follow-up appointment? How are you doing?

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cindyc | @cindysummit | 6 days ago

Thank you for remembering.

Scan report received today. No new neoplasm.

Nothing too serious....common duct is more prominent since cholecystectomy and a likely hemangioma within mild thoracic vertebral. No concern expressed with either finding.

Report arrived today in patient portal. Follow-up with doctor in person on Feb 11.

Pretty uneventful.....in the wonderful kind of way.

Thank you so much for remembering.

CindyC
CHrcc

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franklin25 | @franklin25 | 1 day ago

I'm not a doctor, but when they found ccRCC on my right kidney, they said due to apparent calcification it had been there for years. At that time, it had not spread. Hope this helps in some way.

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