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Kidney tumors in remaining kidney: What are our options?

Posted by daughterofpatient22 @daughterofpatient22, Jun 12, 2024

Hi Everyone,
My dad had a kidney removed in 1997 because they found (when testing for something unrelated) a large tumor in his kidney. In 2007 they found two lesions in his remaining kidney. His dr at the time said that if could try to go in and remove it but he would risk losing his only kidney then be on dialysis. We chose active surveillance. For 16 years there was very little to no movement in these lesions. Unfortunately, he went in for his annual sonogram last week and one of the two tumors doubled in size. It's about 5.1X2.7X6.2. We spoke with the surgeon who shares our concern. Dad is 82 and we are hoping he doesn't have to be in that tough situation of going into surgery, possibly losing his remaining kidney. I've been reading up on radiation and ways they could freeze a kidney tumor (cyroablation) but for some reason my dads doctor dismissed any option but surgery or waiting. I have no idea what caused such a growth after it being stable for 16 years and wondering if anyone has information on what could have caused this, how to avoid tumor growth, and cryoablation, or any other advice or information you can offer. My dad is very vibrant and active. Thank you.

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daughterofpatient22 | @daughterofpatient22 | Jan 28 3:48pm

Hi Everyone,
I am hoping for some feedback and support. The nutshell is that my Dad has one kidney because about 20 years one was removed because they found a large tumor. Fast forward, 2007 they found two small "lesions". His doctor recommended watching them. For 17 years they were stable - unchanged. Suddenly, in June 2024, they grew from about 2 cm to 6.7 cm. The second one is a bit smaller. His doctor wants to see him every 3 months. He is going for scans this week and I'm super nervous. He recently had bloodwork and his creatinine number was 1.4 (stable for him) but he is very fatigue. He will wake up, have breakfast, then lay down again. If he does a task, he gets tired pretty quickly. The negatives are that he eats but doesn't have too much of an appetite and he is fatigue. He does not have any body pains or blood in his urine. Has anyone experienced this fatigue? I'm worried about it spreading or anything else.

Thank you in advance.

REPLY
1 reply
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Feb 9 5:17pm
In reply to @daughterofpatient22 "Hi Everyone, I am hoping for some feedback and support. The nutshell is that my Dad..." + (show)
@daughterofpatient22

Hi Everyone,
I am hoping for some feedback and support. The nutshell is that my Dad has one kidney because about 20 years one was removed because they found a large tumor. Fast forward, 2007 they found two small "lesions". His doctor recommended watching them. For 17 years they were stable - unchanged. Suddenly, in June 2024, they grew from about 2 cm to 6.7 cm. The second one is a bit smaller. His doctor wants to see him every 3 months. He is going for scans this week and I'm super nervous. He recently had bloodwork and his creatinine number was 1.4 (stable for him) but he is very fatigue. He will wake up, have breakfast, then lay down again. If he does a task, he gets tired pretty quickly. The negatives are that he eats but doesn't have too much of an appetite and he is fatigue. He does not have any body pains or blood in his urine. Has anyone experienced this fatigue? I'm worried about it spreading or anything else.

Thank you in advance.

Jump to this post

@daughterofpatient22, thank goodness your father's tumors were being monitored and the care team saw this recent growth. What did the scans show? Will he continued to be observed or are they suggesting treatment at this time?

REPLY
1 reply
conniefg | @conniefg | Feb 10 9:55am
In reply to @colleenyoung "@daughterofpatient22, thank goodness your father's tumors were being monitored and the care team saw this recent..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

@daughterofpatient22, thank goodness your father's tumors were being monitored and the care team saw this recent growth. What did the scans show? Will he continued to be observed or are they suggesting treatment at this time?

Jump to this post

Sorry about the tumors on the single kidney. My husband has a small tumor on his only kidney as well. A few months ago he had his right kidney and very large tumor removed. The 1.8 cm tumor on the left side, they are just watching.

REPLY
daughterofpatient22 | @daughterofpatient22 | Feb 10 9:57am

It grew a bit more to 8cm. The dr said that the most common place it would move to is the lungs and the lungs are clear. The doctor basically said that he doesn't think that at 83 years old that my father will end up having to deal with this destroying his kidney (unless he lived to 105). He said if he was 50 or 60, he would suggest surgery. My father is feeling fatigue, no appetite, and has lost weight but we think he also has a uti (waiting on the urine culture). Hoping that is from the UTI because he said that the kidney function is stable at 1.4 and GFR is 50 so anything he is feeling isn't from the kidney or tumor. The MRI also checked and the pancreas, spleen, and liver are all clean.

REPLY
1 reply
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | 1 day ago
In reply to @daughterofpatient22 "It grew a bit more to 8cm. The dr said that the most common place it..." + (show)
@daughterofpatient22

It grew a bit more to 8cm. The dr said that the most common place it would move to is the lungs and the lungs are clear. The doctor basically said that he doesn't think that at 83 years old that my father will end up having to deal with this destroying his kidney (unless he lived to 105). He said if he was 50 or 60, he would suggest surgery. My father is feeling fatigue, no appetite, and has lost weight but we think he also has a uti (waiting on the urine culture). Hoping that is from the UTI because he said that the kidney function is stable at 1.4 and GFR is 50 so anything he is feeling isn't from the kidney or tumor. The MRI also checked and the pancreas, spleen, and liver are all clean.

Jump to this post

@daughterofpatient22, how is your dad doing? Were the symptoms from a urinary tract infection?

REPLY
1 reply
daughterofpatient22 | @daughterofpatient22 | 23 hours ago
In reply to @colleenyoung "@daughterofpatient22, how is your dad doing? Were the symptoms from a urinary tract infection?" + (show)
@colleenyoung

@daughterofpatient22, how is your dad doing? Were the symptoms from a urinary tract infection?

Jump to this post

Hi Colleen,
Thank you for checking in. It seems that the antibiotics are helping the UTI and he has less burning sensation but still very fatigue. He was on Xanax and his doctor switched him to Zoloft so he was warned that he may get some side effects from that but he has been feeling fatigue, nauseous, and no appetite. His iron level is at 20 and the minimum it should be is 59 so his primary care doctor gave him iron pills. not sure what could be causing him to feel this way.

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