DP in hospital found a growth on his kidney

[BG2015]

DP has had trouble with waking up in the night for 2 years or so. He’s been to see his GP and had prostate tests, decided it was an enlarged prostate. PSA levels were fine. He’s 55 next month.

Last week at work his urine was bright red. He went to A & E and was examined, bloods done etc and dr said it’s probably a burst blood vessel in his bladder and booked him in for a CT scan.

Yesterday he woke up to peeing bright red blood again, went to work but then began to feel excruciating pain in his back so his colleague took him to A & E. CT scan shows a small growth on his kidney.

The dr reckons it’s been there for 5 years. They’ve admitted him and are doing further tests today. I saw him briefly last night after dropping him some things off. He looked awful but had been given morphine. He says there’s a possibility they will remove his kidney.

He’s been well in himself. No weight loss, eating well. Tired sometimes but when you wake 2/3 times a might to wee that’s expected.

He’s thinking the worst as the majority of his family have had cancer. His mum died in her fifties, he was only 18.

I’m so worried. We’ve only been together 6 years and I’m planning on another 20 years with him at least.

2020 is just the shittiest year

I’m sorry I missed the thread until now.

I just wanted to add my mums experience. She had to have one removed and only had a limited functioning second one (around 20%) so we assumed that she would be on dialysis and she was prepped for that. Mum was in her 60s then, overweight, slight heart issues, arthritis all over - not the healthiest of specimens.

Anyway, it turns out that you can function perfectly well with part of one kidney - she had to watch her diet (no booze, chocolate, bananas...) and fluid intake/output but was functioning perfectly normally in a short period of time (considering the op).

I wish you and your DH all the best for his recovery.

Glad the surgery seems to have gone well. I have a relative who had one kidney removed in the same way as your DH for kidney cancer ( due to being a heavy smoker) they have been absolutely fine since.
I also have a dc with only one kidney, they were born like that and we didn’t find out for years so weren’t even taking any precautions like no contact sports 😳 they are also fit and well.

He's doing well to be home after one day.

What you need next is information.

What stage of cancer is it (if it is cancer)?
How big was the tumour? (that has a grading as well.)
Is there any sign of it in his lymph nodes?
Has it spread anywhere else (CT /PET scans and MRI needed.)

Depending on all of the above he may need chemo or radiotherapy or immunotherapy treatment.

He will also need scans for several years to come to check it's not spread.

He said he will either get further information (appointments:meetings are limited due to covid) in about 2 weeks which I presume will tell him the histology results. Whether that's a letter, phone call or appointment who knows.

The wind has arrived so he's drinking lemonade- he can't stand peppermint tea although I know I had capsules with my hysterectomy but didn't find them much help.

He's had a shower and his colour looks better. I know from experience rest is the major thing now.

Thank you for all your posts of positive experiences and support

Mums surgeon told her that if he had to get cancer then the kidney is the place he’d want it! Not quite sure why - maybe because any rumour would be more ‘contained’ in a tough old kidney!

Oh - if you have any Middle Eastern shops near go and get some mint water. It’s just a distilled liquid - like a cordial (so don’t drink it near). It translates as ‘sweaty mint’ (mmmmm) but you dilute it and it tastes quite nice when ice cold.

Mums surgeon told her that if he had to get cancer then the kidney is the place he’d want it It's because we have 2 and 1 can usually do the job ok. The important thing is the histology to see what is going on and if the cancer cells are aggressive or slow growing.

I've been to get him some peppermint capsules as he's in agony with the wind now.

He's had this tumour for 5 or 6 years according to the dr so hopefully it's very slow growing.

Hi op- how is your DH doing now?

He is doing really well.

He had a couple of rough nights with pain/wind but is now able to get out of bed on his own and is walking a few steps from bed to the sofa. He's walked slowly down the stairs to our kitchen twice too to eat.

He's still in a bit of pain and sleeping on his back is annoying him but he's definitely on the mend now. I don't think he realised how hard it would be.

I sent you a DM Brigit asking about time scale for driving.

@BG2015 Timescale for driving is usually 3-4 weeks but they have to be able to do an emergency stop without being conscious of pulling on the wound (and therefore not stopping as quickly as needed.)

Jingle are you a doctor?

@BG2015 sent you a PM.

DH had a massive operation 5 years ago, and his surgeon told him that he was safe to drive if he could safely do an emergency stop.

DP has a telephone appointment with the consultant on the 28th September.

We're presuming this is good as surely if he needed further treatment it would be happening fairly soon.

Can anyone enlighten me whose had experience of this

I think that's good news. I had my appointment with my consultant about 2 months after my op and was then told that I would have a scan after 6 months and then every year after that for 5 years. Have you had a call from one of the specialist nurses yet?

He had a call the evening he came out of hospital asking him about his urine output.

We've got a key worker we can ring which we have done a couple of times. But no specialist nurse has rung him yet. I suppose different trusts do things differently.

@BG2015 I think it's probably good news BUT on the other hand, if he needed chemo, they would not start that soon because his body has to recover from the trauma of the operation. The histology of the tumour ought to be available in a week or two, so I think you or his GP should ask for the information on that asap, for peace of mind, rather than waiting 5 weeks. The tumour and type of cancer cell (if it is cancer) will be graded and that will determine treatment.

I got the call from the specialist nurse nearly a month after my op and she told me it was cancer. I think they do take their time unfortunately

Ok you speak sense! I suppose we're clutching at straws.

Hi- just wondering today how is your DH now?

He's doing so well. He's started driving this week and plans to go back to work next week.

He's still not had any results back yet even after ringing to speak to his key worker. He's got a kidney function test next week too.

Can't believe how quickly he's bounced back.

Oh that's really good to hear- the recovery from the keyhole surgery is so much quicker. Hope you get some answers soon- the waiting is awful. We were lucky as DH had his done privately and the surgeon called him at home four days after the surgery with the results. 5 weeks does seem a really long time to have to,wait.

Do be careful @BG2015 that he doesn't overdo it. My family member was signed off for 3 months and then had a staged return to work- HR insisted on nothing less. It's a major op and he may feel more tired than he thinks once he is working. I'm actually a bit shocked he was allowed out after 24 hours. That time is critical and the person I know was wired up to a remote heart monitor for the first 24 hours, with round the clock observations of BP etc, they were in for 4 nights, (could have left after 3 but had a long journey home and asked for another night) . This was at a top rated private London hospital.

Your DH needs to make sure he doesn't do too much early on because although he feels okay, his body is heeling inside.

He is going to take it easy. Unfortunately if he doesn't work he doesn't get paid.