"Kidney cancer - a non-invasive treatment"

I live in North Yorkshire. In 2024 I was diagnosed with kidney cancer. The urologist at Airedale hospital outlined the options for treatment which were: remove the kidney, remove part of the kidney or have the cancer frozen off. After discussion with him and his colleague at Bradford I was referred to Prof Wah at St James, Leeds for freezing the cancer off. 

Prof Wah was conducting a pioneering trial for removing kidney cancers using focused ultrasound, a non-invasive treatment. I was offered a place in the trial. I was treated in October 2024 at St James's hospital. Despite being out for nearly 4 hours I only had to stay in overnight and was discharged the following day. Within 10 days I felt back to normal.

The follow-up scans went on for 6 months. After each scan I got a reassuring phone call with the results. On each occasion the lesion had shrunk in the way the professor had expected. I recently met with the professor who gave me the all clear. St James's will continue to monitor my progress on a regular basis.

When I was diagnosed with cancer I did not have any symptoms so  I was in a state of shock. However the calm professionalism of the three consultants who I saw and the amazing treatment at St James's made me realise that I was very lucky to have been accepted onto the trial. Had that not been the case then Professor Wah would have frozen the cancer off which is the next least intrusive treatment.

Despite living in North Yorkshire all my consultations and treatment took place in West Yorkshire. At all 3 hospitals I was dealt with in a timely manner. I always felt that I was being treated with the necessary urgency and that my feelings about surgery were taken into account.

It is so comforting to have St James's hospital, a regional centre for cancer treatment, just a 40 minute train journey away.