what's the mysterious object in John's right kidney?

Okay, so like, John has some mass or something in his right kidney.  It may be a cyst or it may be cancer.

Uhm, like, John's local nephrologist (kidney doctor) told us two weeks ago.  I didn't say anything to you all b/c I wanted to wait until we had something more definite on what it was.  But who knows how long that's going to take.

Two weeks ago Dr. Donelan (he's local) told John that he had a mass in his right kidney, according to an ultrasound that the doctor was viewing, and a report.  He also told John he wanted him to have a CT scan in three months, to see if the mass had grown.  That way it would help the doctor determine if the mass was merely a cyst, or if it was kidney cancer.

John and I thought about it for a day or two, then quickly determined that waiting was folly.  Why wait three months to SEE if something is cancer?  I don't know if anything can be done to check anything sooner than the three months, but why not ask Dr. Claxton, John's oncologist, instead of waiting?  We called up Mitzi, Dr. Claxton's nurse, at Hershey Medical Center.  She asked that the ultrasound and report immediately be faxed  to her so that Dr. Claxton could view them.

That was two weeks ago.  It has been a horrible wait.  B/c it has been one mess up after another, from Dr. Donelan's office's end.  Instead of explaining the whole thing, I will just say that Dr. Donelan's office just sent the report YESTERDAY to Hershey.  They used many reasons why they hadn't sent the report earlier than yesterday.  One was b/c they wrote the wrong fax number down on the fax sheet.  It was one number off.  I guess there is a car dealership out there, or something, looking at photos of John's kidney. 

At any rate, Mitzi should be getting the fax today (or maybe got it yesterday evening).  Now she can give it to Dr. Claxton.  We don't have any idea when we will hear back from Mitzi.  Hopefully in the next couple of days.  We of course want Dr. Claxton to have a chance to have a thorough look at everything.

If it is cancer, we won't be surprised.  It is not too terribly rare to get a secondary cancer after a bone marrow transplant.  In John's case, it would be a third cancer if he does have cancer.  If he does have cancer, it would be in no way related to his other two kinds. 

On the other hand, it could just as easily be a cyst. 

Or, I suppose, a kidney stone?  A few months ago a technician told John she thought he had a kidney stone, while performing an ultrasound.  It is coming back to me, he had an ultrasound for another problem.  Why would a technician have the right to attempt to read an ultrasound during a test?  She was not a physician.  And another thing, why weren't we given the results of this before now?  That ultrasound was done months ago.

I guess I shouldn't have brought any of this up.  Until we knew the results for certain.  But this has been awful stressfull.  And all the while, at the same time, I have had to be the Mold Inspector, LOL.  I am getting sooooo stressed.  What's next?  Meanwhile, John has been neutropenic, with no immune system, for a month.  Yes, we went to Hershey a month ago, and we were told the news.  This is the lowest his immune system has been since about his stem cell transplant.  *Sigh**

But John is staying out of bed and doing things!  He is happy!

Okay, we will keep you updated.  We really are generally upbeat.  Just somewhat exhausted, LOL.

Loving you,  Krissy :)

Tags: cyst, cancer, kidney stone, which one?, stress