Pain-Free and Active Following Delicate Surgery of Kidneys and Ureter
February 19, 2024
Amazed. Grateful. Fortunate. All words that Kathy uses to describe her treatment for kidney and ureter cancer. “It’s been quite a journey,” she adds.
It was years ago that Kathy, then 79, had a tumor removed from her left kidney. “They got it all,” she says.
But a few years later a new cancer was detected in her right ureter, the tube which carries urine from the kidney to the bladder. MidLantic Urology’s Dr. David Cahn, who Kathy quickly refers to as “an expert in his field,” was able to remove Kathy’s tumor and save her from going on dialysis by reconstructing a new ureter from a portion of her bladder.
“The surgery was extensive,” Kathy remembers. “But I was able to come home and take care of myself. I live alone and I’m very active. I get out a lot and do a lot of things and have a lot of friends.”
Kathy’s follow-up care has included intensive surveillance and a year of immunotherapy. “I’m just so grateful I didn’t have to go on dialysis. My sister had been on dialysis for eight years. I don’t think she had the great doctors available to her like I did.”
Two years post-surgery, Kathy has been cancer free. “I have no pain. I can get out and do what I want to do,” Kathy says as she prepares to celebrate her 83rd birthday. “I’m so grateful I had such wonderful doctors. Dr. Cahn is not only an excellent surgeon but a compassionate man.”
Dr. David Cahn, DO, MBS, FACOS, is a urologic oncologist, specializing in cancers of the kidney, ureter, bladder, and prostate. Learn more about Dr. Cahn.