In 2013, Marissa Willis noticed a pain on her left side that wouldn’t go away.  It got so bad that so that she went to an urgent care.  They took an x-ray and it revealed a large mass covering the area where her kidney should be.  She then got referred to her primary care`physician, which led to a surgical procedure, a radical left nephrectomy, to remove the tumor.  After the surgery, Marissa was told she had been diagnosed with Stage II kidney cancer.  She shares her story with the @CancerInterviews podcast.

 

When Marissa Willis of Blue Springs, Missouri felt a “weird sensation” in her left side, she thought perhaps she had pulled a muscle from working out too much, that or a hernia.  It was on a Sunday afternoon that she decided to go an urgent care, where x-rays were taken.  They showed a large mass, which looked like a cloud covering where her kidney should be on the left side of her intestine.  Nobody viewing the image could identify the problem. 

 

Marissa next went to her primary care physician, who ordered an ultrasound.  That began a ten-day process of referrals and tests, and she was optimistic they would determine what was wrong with her.  At this time, she didn’t have any of the symptoms of kidney cancer, such as fatigue, unexplained weight loss or flank pain, which one can feel on either side of their back. 

 

At the University of Kansas Medical Center in the Kansas City area, Marissa was told doctors wouldn’t know what was wrong with her until the tumor was removed.  They performed a radical left nephrectomy, which removed the tumor, her left kidney and the adrenal gland that was sitting on the kidney.  Five days after the surgery, Marissa was tld she had Stage II kidney cancer.  Her medical team said that the cancer was slow-growing and estimated it had been in her kidney for close to five years. 

 

About nine months later, the cancer resurfaced, but the nodules were so small, less than a centimeter, that doctors decided to opt for active surveillance.  That said, Marissa is grateful for the proactive work for her care team, which led to early detection of cancer in Stage II.

 

Marissa Willis is happy to say she is able to return to the active lifestyle she enjoyed before her diagnosis.  The one change she has to live with is that of watching her diet.  She is working with a dietician to monitor her sodium and protein consumption. 

 

Her advice to anyone diagnosed with cancer is to rely on those closest to them, family, friends, co-workers and their care team, because all of them will be needed. 

 

Additional Resources:

 

Kidney Cancer Association: https://www.kidneycancer.org