Hello Mac, 

Just wanted to warmly welcome you to our forum. I bet it is nice and sunny in Australia at the moment and it must be a lovely place to live with your lovely fiance. You've done the right thing to join this forum for support as you will be able to talk to others here who may have had the same diagnosis and got to the other side of treatment and they will be able to relate to how you are feeling at the moment and hopefully they will have some useful tips for you on what to expect after the surgery. 

I know it is understandably a very anxious time for you but it is good news that it was caught and that it is localised and hasn't spread and I hope the urologist's words have reassured you. 

We have some in depth information on our website on kidney/renal cancer which you can access here. It includes a section on treatment  and in particular on surgery for kidney cancer that has not spread. I hope all this will be of interest to you and will help you prepare for the operation day. 

If you click on 'search forum' in the blue banner at the top of the page and type in keywords such as 'kidney cancer' or 'radical nephrectomy', you will be able to find other past relevant threads on the subject and respond to any that you wish to engage with. For example, I did a little search for you and found this thread where members like [@Dannii_mul]‍ or [@monicabee]‍ have been sharing radical nephrectomy experiences. [@sazwats]‍ has also been through it all before as you can read here and would be another great person for you to connect with. So you're definitely not alone and I hope you will get chatting here with others who have been or currently are in the same boat.

We're all here for you anytime you need to talk so do keep in touch and let us know how things go for you. Hopefully you won't need to wait too long for the surgery. 

Best wishes, 

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

Hi Mac

I’ve only just received this notification- sorry.

I’m guessing you’ve possibly had your nephrectomy by now or very close to it?

i had a radical nephrectomy of my left kidney and 9.7cm malignant mass in September last year - no evidence of spread to anywhere else so fingers crossed  

Your mind is a horrible place whilst waiting and possibly afterwards for a while too - I was 48 when diagnosed and have a 11 & 9 year old and thought I would die and never see them grow up - I hated the place my mind took me too BUT i had - and still do - have great faith in my consultant and his team!

the operation is a scary thought but please take your time with your recovery! It took around 6 weeks for me to feel ‘normal’ and recovered though my mental journey took longer - please be kind to yourself!

if you’d like to ask anything about the surgery or afterwards, please message me x

Hi sazwats 

thanks for taking the time to reply . I must say It’s been an emotional few months and fingers crossed now the worst of it is behind me, 

you are correct i have now had my surgery and am currently 8 days post radical nephrectomy , the surgery went really well and I am feeling really good and really importantly .. my mind is in a better place now that I have had the tumor removed , I’m feeling thankful 

I am a bit sore around the abdomen but my appetite is back to normal and can feel myself getting stronger every day 

i am awaiting my pathology results and follow up from the hospital ( this Wednesday ) to confirm what type and grade the tumor was ...( the doctors said I’m too young for clear cell RCC so they are doing some genetic testing )... that is probably playing on my mind a bit.....but hey it is what it is, and it’s not in my body any more so I now have to live my life in the percentile chance that it’s gone and never coming back 

Thanks

Mac 

Aww I’m glad you’re through that part! Once ‘the ***’ is out then you do feel a little more in control of things once again!

You’re getting your results quickly - I had to wait 6 weeks - which was mentally a struggle BUT onwards and upwards and we are in a better place than some :)