Cryoablation for kidney tumor: What's it like? And the recover?

@donnachaidh While we wait for others to chime in, what has your doctor told you to expect?

@collegeprof is the only person who comes to mind at the moment, who had a similar procedure done.
Ginger

Good morning! I’ve had this done twice and am going for my third June 23rd! All of mine have been in my liver.
The procedures for me have been super easy, especially if you have the ablation done by Interventional Radiology- it’s similar to getting a biopsy done. One poke! I think I had maybe two Tylenol total during the three day recovery period. If you have it done by laparoscopic, recovery is a little longer but still quite tolerable. Of course pain depends on where the lesion is, etc , but I’d say recovery is easy and fast.
I have Chromophobe subtype and the ablations have worked well for me. No recurrence in the area that have been ablated over the last three years.
After having open surgery twice (nephrectomy and liver wedge resection), I’d chose either procedure style for ablation every time if given the option!
Good luck! And feel free to ask me anymore questions if I can be of help. Teri

Hi Teri - thank you for your response. You can probably tell already, but I'm nervous and a bit scared. Ok...maybe a lot scared. Not only for the procedure itself, but about the cancer coming back. The when and where of it all.
This week I'm to be contacted by an interventional radiologist. The kidney tumor is now 1.7 to 1.8 cm. Glad you talked about recovery. A friend of mine who is a CNA is going to look after me for a few days. I'll have to make sure I get her a coffee shop gift certificate as a thank you gift.

@tlwight Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect! And, thank you so much for stepping up to answer the questions! There is nothing like having someone who has "been there done that" to give their experience.
Ginger

@gingerw
Hi Ginger - my doctor left the choice up to me about traditional surgery versus ablation. He didn't say much about either procedure which isn't great for a detailed oriented person. There is something wrong with our system when a patient has to watch procedure YouTube videos and read articles from the web in order to make a decision about their treatment. In days of yore, the surgeon would announce your need for an operation and tell you what day to be at hospital. But our litigous society has changed all that now.

@donnachaidh Hi Donna! Happy to help! It sounds like you will be well taken care of post procedure, so that is one worry taken care of. As for the rest of the worry/concern/anxiety… just go day by day and allow all the feelings to process. It gets easier with time, for sure.
I’m here if you need to talk!

@donnachaidh Perhaps a second opinion is in order?
Ginger

Depending on subtype or rare variant a visit for a second opinion at a NCI would not hurt.

@gingerw @donnachaidh
Sorry for the delay. What a great memory you have, Ginger. Yes, I have had cryoablation on my right kidney due to cancerous small mass. This was an out-patient procedure at a hospital done by an interventional radiologist. As I recall, the procedure was less than an hour and quite painless. You follow up with an Xray annually for 5 years. and after that, no more worries, at least in my case where it has been over 10 years. Cryoablation for me disapated that mass, and I remain cancer free over more than 10 years.

@tlwight my oncologist said for my kidney tumor this type of removal is the easiest too. He just told me about it today, interventional radiology .