well I had my ultrasound

About seven years after my J-pouch surgery I was discovered to have a "suspicious mass" on my right kidney. It was an accidental finding on a CT scan done for other reasons - it caused no symptoms. Based on how it looked on CT the right course of action was to remove it rather than biopsy it - the cancer that it looked like was completely curable at the stage it appeared to be at, and would be totally untreatable if allowed to spread.

The two key surgical choices were open vs. laparoscopic, and complete vs. partial nephrectomy (kidney removal). An open procedure is a difficult surgery to recover from, but adhesions can make the laparoscopic approach difficult or impossible (you can't tell in advance). A partial nephrectomy is technically more challenging for the surgeon, but offers the possibility of retaining function in that kidney.

I chose a laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. This combination is still pretty new, so only fairly young urologists tend to perform them. Mine ended up using a DaVinci robot, but that's really just the surgeon's choice of tools.

After all of that my mass turned out to be benign. I joked that it was "the crappiest great news I've ever gotten." I was completely cured of the cancer I never actually had.

I don't know if your mass is "suspicious" (it would probably require a CT scan to answer that question). If it is, and you've caught it in time, ignoring it could be lethal. I have no idea if your pain has any connection to the mass. For your sake I hope not.

Sonja6,
This has to be a difficult time and I hope all is figured out for the best outcome. I have different 'things' that they are just watching and say aren't "changing" so go on. In the back of my mind I think "but it's not in your body". I'm sorry you are going through this. Please let us know how you are doing.

Thank you for your advice. I actually had a huge complex ovarian cyst removed last year and they told me laparoscopic procedures are not even a option for me. That was my 4th open abdominal surgery. Lots of scar tissue. They were actually really surprised that wasn't cancerous. So now I'm even more concerned. Kidney cancers are high in smokers and unfortunately I've smoked for over half my life. So fingers crossed its not and they can just pluck it out and be done with it. All the waiting is the worst!!

If they catch kidney cancer early enough then surgery is generally completely curative. Good luck!

My step-mother had kidney cancer and they removed the kidney. No chemo or radiation. It's been 10 years since the operation. Of course all are different.....
Good Luck!

Well they say I have a renal cyst. But there not telling me if its simple or complex! And when I asked that they just said they are going to refer me to someone else!! I then asked if the back pain I'm having is associated with it and they just blew me off! So they called back with where they want to refer me to, they gave me the doctors name. It's a OB!!! Why would I go to a OB for a renal cyst!! Especially one that didmt see a grapefruit size complex ovarian cyst! Ridiculous! This is why I use my GI doc like a primary! This ridiculous run around nonsense! I called my GI and now he's working on it. Grrrrrr!!!!

I'd suggest finding a good urologist - I agree that a GYN is a poor choice. Perhaps your GI can help you do that. There ought to be a CT scan in your future, I'd guess. Good luck!

It would have been nice if they would have just admitted they didn't know if it was simple or complex instead of blowing you off with a referral. Plus who hands a patient a phone number and says good luck! Doesn't the referring doctor call the specialists office so you get in right away! I'm glad you have a GI to take care of this for you. My C/R surgeon removed my ovaries when he took out my colon, at my request. I'd already had my uterus removed years ago and the ovaries had quit working so as long as he was in there. What I'm trying to say is you would think a urologist for a kidney cyst but maybe OBGYN's are better at cyst removals off of internal organs and all of the parts are close to each other..... They are all surgeons.