Being assigned a cancer liaison nurse

[Ticketytocker]

a mass has been found in my kidney, no definitive answer as to whether it’s anything serious yet, or just a mass. Mri scan in a few weeks. Is it normal to assign a ‘cancer nurse’ without having had a definitive diagnosis? Is it just someone to chat to in case it’s found to be malignant or is the writing on the wall?

I had this with a huge mass that resulted in me having a hysterectomy. They were not quite sure what it was when I saw the doc beforehand and she was introduced by him in the room ( it was scary and unexpected) - it was all OK , a huge fibroid and I never heard from her. Are you being treated under the "two week rule" as it used to be known. Think it's a bit longer now?

Hi OP.
I work in oncology (but a different specialist area), not a nurse but I work very closely with them. In our team, anyone undergoing investigations gets assigned a specialist nurse. They can usually support with any symptoms from the "mass", even if not a cancerous one.
Usually we need a few tests to confirm diagnosis. I don't know as much about kidney cancer so I don't want to tell you the wrong thing about diagnosis. The McMilllan website is very good so you could look there.
Wishing you all the best.

When I had colposcopy, before my diagnosis of 3c cervical cancer, I didn’t realise the chaperone in the room was who I later found out was a macmillan nurse so I think it’s quite normal and doesn’t mean you have it. Good luck, this bit, where you don’t know is honestly the hardest part of the journey.

Thanks everyone for the reassurance. I did wonder if it was perhaps ‘standard’. Let’s hope.

@Ticketytocker
How did you get on? Thinking of you.