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Angela Lee: Covid and Cancer

by | Feb 3, 2025 | Kidney Cancer UK News, Personal Stories - Blogs | 0 comments

A blog for Kidney Cancer Awareness Week 2025 by : Angela Lee

First of all, I want to say how incredibly lucky I feel, and I owe that to the amazing care of the NHS.

My story began in 2018 with a small lump just under my ribs. It felt like a little ball that I could press and move around. Interestingly, it wasn’t always noticeable, but being quite fit at the time, the lump was visible on my body.

Concerned, I went to my doctor, who arranged blood tests and scans. However, nothing abnormal showed up. They suspected a hernia, but the scans didn’t support that diagnosis.

By 2019, my circumstances had changed. I’d started a new job, which meant no more cycling miles to work each day. As a result of this, I gained a bit of weight, and as the year progressed, I started feeling more uncomfortable. The small, moveable lump had grown into something larger – a sizeable ball. I could feel it clearly under my ribs, and pressing on it created a pressure that radiated to my back near my hip.

However, I work in a stressful job in shipping, so I dismissed it, thinking it was just weight-related.

By March 2020, just before the first lockdown, the lump had become more pronounced. I decided to see the doctor again, fearing I wouldn’t get another chance once everything shut down.

The doctor reassured me it was likely due to weight gain or age-related changes, as I was nearing 50. They sent me for more blood tests, but once again, everything came back normal.

I carried on working through the summer of 2020, taking on extra hours while colleagues were furloughed. I also began exercising and dieting in an effort to lose weight. As I slimmed down, however, the lump became even more noticeable. It now felt enormous – like a bowling ball- and caused significant discomfort, especially when sitting upright. I often had to lie flat to relieve the pressure, relying on my recliner for any real comfort. I knew then that something wasn’t right.

When restrictions eased in October 2020, I booked another appointment. This time, I saw a Nurse Practitioner as the GP was unavailable. The nurse examined the lump, found it unusual, and immediately referred me for blood tests and an ultrasound scan.

The blood work came back normal. However, I was lucky that during the ultrasound, the sonographer was thorough and took her time. Later that same day, I received a call from my doctor. They had identified a large mass on my kidney, and their suspicion was kidney cancer. Because of this, I was fast-tracked for a two-week referral.

In November, a CT scan confirmed the mass as a tumour, measuring 13 cm. I met with Mr Lewis later that month, who explained that the best course of action was to remove the entire kidney via keyhole surgery. My surgery was scheduled for 4th December and was a complete success.

Since then, I’ve had several follow-up CT scans, all showing no signs of recurrence. The tumour was confirmed to be a Grade 3, Stage T3a N0 clear cell carcinoma.

I am incredibly grateful for the care I received and the early intervention that allowed me to move forward with my life. I consider myself one of the lucky ones as the tumor hasn’t returned, but I do look back in slight frustration that it took numerous times to be diagnosed. If the nurse practitioner and sonographer hadn’t been as thorough as they were, my journey could have been a lot different. I am grateful for the future I now have ahead of me and hope my journey encourages others to check their bodies for any unusual lumps and bumps. Thank you for taking time out of

your day to read my story.

Angela.

To find out more about Kidney Cancer Awareness Week 2025 and read more blogs go here.

<a href="https://www.kcuk.org.uk/author/mp/" target="_self">Malcolm Packer</a>

Malcolm Packer

Malcolm is Chief Executive Officer at Kidney Cancer UK and Kidney Cancer Scotland and has worked with the charity in various capacities for over 15 years.