Kidney renal mass biopsy

Hi Trishanna,
Is this a new issue for you? I don't recall you posting about kidney issues before. I'm bringing @kewpie8484 @predictable @lcamino and @upnorthnancy into this conversation, since I think they may have some related experiences with kidney cysts and/or testing. You might also be interested in reading this discussion:

- CYST ON KIDNEYS https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/cyst-on-kidneys/

Have you called your urologist to follow-up? I don't think I would wait for them to call you.

Yes, new issue unfortunately - thanks, Colleen. Just wonder if I'm better off having surgery to remove whatever is there. It's a problem. I'm a bit angry over what happened and no one has called. Do I get a second opinion from a radiologist or from a urologist?

@trishanna, your anxiety and disgust are understandable, and with those under wraps, a conversation with your urologist is called for -- first to find out whether there was a link between the growth on your kidney and the pain and bleeding in your bladder. It's hard to imagine how those symptoms might be related, so the doctor needs to focus on that when you talk to her/him. The second opinion should come from another urologist rather than a radiologist, who is not certified to deal with kidney diseases (only images from radiology).

Colleen Young has included a link to an earlier discussion of cysts on a kidney, and my own experience is featured in that discussion. If you can take a look at that, you'll know better about where I am coming from based on my experience. Martin

Yes, thank you - I took heart from your comments about waiting and watching. Just can't understand this inability to communicate. Radiologist said that the "urologist just sends us his biopsy cases and has no idea of the problems we face. We can't always do what the urologist wants." Sounds like you had a doctor with whom you could communicate. My hunt for anothet urologist is on, but the one I have is very good. In our area we''re a bit limited in excellent-to-good doctors. Btw, did you ever have surgery?

Surgery, @trishanna? Yep. A triple-header from my urologist who aimed especially at my prostate and removed a large piece of it. That cleared out a view of my bladder, which was decorated by a small malignant papillary tumor, which he also removed. Six weeks later, he found a dozen more of those little tumors in my bladder and removed them. All of these procedures were performed via transurethral cystoscope. Now five years later, my annual cystoscope exam discovered no new tumors, and I'm doing fine. A tumor on the outside of my kidney has not grown appreciably, so we're just watching and waiting, not getting ready for any kind of surgery now.

Hi @trishanna,

Here's some information from Mayo Clinic, about kidney cysts: http://mayocl.in/2tG7SL3
@gailb, I saw that you had mentioned “T2 hyperintence right renal lesion that may represent a cyst,” in the past; do you have any insight for @trishanna?

When I saw my doctor, he did an ultrasound and said they found nothing at the time. Must have been a cyst that resolved itself. Sorry I can't be more helpful. Gail B

Thank you Gail!

Appreciate your comments. Things move slowly - going for an MRI this week, ordered by my new urologist at a new facility, who said previous MRI was unacceptable because machine used was "too old." It's now been 3 months and I never heard from previous urologist, except he was quoted as saying "i must come back and have the biopsy." My new highly recommended urologist says absolutely not. We will see. i guess.

Hi, @trishanna. Sorry your kidney mass is still haunting you, but it's good to hear that you may have found a good and attentive urologist. Let me review the points of my own experience that I think provides some questions that your new urologist -- or a third one or fourth -- should talk over with you.

First, my kidney cyst was a secondary image that appeared in an MRI of my bladder, ordered by my urologist after resection of my prostate. In fact, the cyst was (and still is) located on an adrenal gland on the outside of my kidney. It became a subject of interest to my nephrologist, who was diagnosing and treating my hypertension, the cause for which was a mystery. She knew that adrenal tumors can become rogue glands that produce excess amounts of aldosterone, an adrenal hormone that plays a central role in regulating plasma sodium and potassium and arterial blood pressure. But my hypertension was caused by an inherited kidney condition, not an adrenal tumor, and later MRIs showed that the tumor had not grown and remained the consistency of a cyst. So we are waiting watchfully.

Is your blood pressure a problem, @trishanna? Approximately where is the mass located-- in the kidney or on it? Are there any other irregularities that might be blamed on the mass? For example, kidney function, imbalances in electrolytes, excess proteins in your urine, excretion of red blood cells? Has the mass shown any growth over time? Perhaps your new urologist can clarify more in these respects and thereby give you what I got from my medical team -- confidence that my condition is manageable as is and that a decision about surgery can be made calmly and deliberately when the evidence becomes convincing.