Worried cryotherapy will no longer be an option

Hi everyone 

My gran in her late seventies has recently been diagnosed with kidney cancer, she was diagnosed with bowel cancer late last year and had an operation to remove the tumour, during the scans for this they noticed a small growth on one of her kidneys. We seen the consultant in February who said this growth was possibly cancer (unrelated to the bowel cancer) but they weren’t very concerned and would scan again in 6 months, at which point they would biopsy it and if cancerous she would get cryotherapy. 
In her recent scan it had grown to 4cm and she had a biopsy which confirmed it was cancer. The constant said this was down as an urgent referral as 4cm is the cut off to be eligible for cryotherapy. It’s been 8 weeks since the scan, we’ve had to chase up a date for the cryotherapy procedure which is at a different hospital after a couple of weeks of not hearing anything and that hospital are now saying they want a full body MRI which isn’t until October which will be 10 weeks since the last scan showed the tumour was 4cm.

We are so frustrated and worried that the time they are taking will lead to cryotherapy no longer being an option and feel so let down. Has anyone been in a similar situation? 

  • Hello Daisy007

    I'm sorry to hear about your Gran's diagnosis and the delays that she's been experiencing in being able to access treatment. It's understandable that you have concerns about what this may mean for her. 

    You may want to consider contacting the hospital PALS team for some support. It's part of their role to help resolve concerns or problems when you're using the NHS. 

    If you think it may help to talk things through with one of our nurses for some advice and support you're most welcome to give them a call. They're available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm on 0808 800 4040. 

    I do hope that everything that needs to be put in place for your Gran to start treatment can be achieved quickly and that things progress more smoothly for her. 

    Best wishes, 
    Jenn
    Cancer Chat moderator