Blood in the urine and pain in both sides of the lower abdomen are the most commonly seen symptoms of kidney cancer. Well, since a few months I was bothered by a weird pain, or rather discomfort, in my lower back. But I didn’t think much of it. And there was absolutely no way to consult with a doctor on something ‘little’ like that. Well, things changed a little bit when all of a sudden I started to pee blood. But even then I thought that this will just go away by itself, no need to get overly concerned. However, when I in addition to the blood also discharged little pieces of tissue, I thought to myself that it might be a good idea to see an urologist.
The urologist told me that I probably had kidney stones. I told him that according to what I read online my symptoms were also indicative of kidney cancer – however, he dismissed that thought because considering my age and overall rather good health, the chances of me having kidney cancer were less than 2%.
A Cat-Scan was ordered and two weeks later I received a call from my urologist while I was in my office. He told me that he was sorry, but I just got diagnosed with RCC, renal cell carcinoma or colloquially referred to as kidney cancer. I wasn’t shocked, I kind of knew it. My wife had been diagnosed with breast cancer seven months earlier, so the only logical conclusion that could be drawn from that was that there must be something wrong with our house or the soil in the yard.
It turned out that I was wrong. It was sheer coincidence that we both got diagnosed with cancer. My kidney cancer could have been caused by exposure to asbestos. Its onset goes back as long as 20 years ago and according to the pathology, its characteristics were very similar to mesothelioma and lung cancer. Except for the fact that kidney cancer is highly treatable as long as it is detected when the disease is still confined to the kidney. Luckily, it was in my case. But my left kidney had to be removed a couple of months later.
Don’t fool around if you encounter any unusual symptoms. Don’t be martyr, go and see a doctor as soon as possible – it might safe your life.
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