'I'm one of the lucky ones' - Leeds dad's 'hidden killer' kidney cancer discovered by pure chance

Gary Marshall, 56, of Garforth, is now thought to be cancer-free thanks to quick treatment following his early diagnosis which occurred purely by chance in March last year, at the beginning of the pandemic.

When he noticed a slightly swollen leg following some DIY at home, Gary visited his GP who sent him for a scan to see if he had a blockage in his abdomen.

His leg turned out to be a minor issue and a cream cleared that issue up within three days.

But the scan had picked up something far more sinister - a tumour on his kidney.

Symptoms of kidney cancer can include back pain, blood in the urine and fatigue - but for many, like Gary, there are no symptoms at all.

Gary said: “I had none of that. It’s scary that you can have something like that growing inside you and you don’t know about it.”

He added: “I’m one of the really lucky ones. If I hadn’t had that scan I wouldn’t have known about it.

“They got it so early it was a case of removing the kidney itself, and the tumour and surrounding tissue.

“They think they got it all out.”

Gary said alarm bells had started to ring during the scan itself.

“They did one side which took one minute and then they did the other side which took ten minutes. I thought ‘what’s going on?’

“I pushed them and they told me there was something there but I’d need to speak to my doctor.”

He was referred for a CT scan and then a consultant from St James’ Hospital rang him at home to break the news of his devastating diagnosis.

Gary said: “I got the diagnosis on March 31 but they said it could be the end of the year to be treated because of Covid, whereas normally it would be two or three weeks.

“It was, as you can imagine, scary. You know it’s there and you just want it out. It was scary, frustrating, emotional - you name it. You really went from petrified to being angry that you can’t do anything about it.”

Luckily, four weeks after his diagnosis, doctors were able to admit him to hospital for his surgery which took place on April 30.

He said: “I’m really really lucky, a) that they found it and b) that they operated on it.

“I’m cancer free now. I have to go to scans every six months for a couple of years to begin with, and then they get less frequent. Just to make sure nothing else turns up. It does in some people. So it’s just fingers crossed at the moment.”

Remarkably, after his diagnosis and while waiting for his surgery last year, Gary managed to raise over £2,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support through sponsored walks in lockdown.

“I had no symptoms, I just knew it was there. So I needed to do something to take my mind off it,” he said.

Now Gary, who is also a member of Garforth and District Lions Club, volunteers for Kidney Cancer UK and this week is the charity’s sixth annual awareness week.

Thanks to Gary’s help, four buildings in Leeds have signed up to turn green to raise awareness of kidney cancer - Leeds Town Hall, Leeds Civic Hall and the City Museum on Thursday night and the First Direct Arena on Friday.

Gary said: “Having these iconic landmarks lit green to highlight kidney cancer awareness is brilliant - we hope it will raise people’s awareness and start a conversation around kidney cancer.”

Recent research by Kidney Cancer UK found over 49 per cent of patients’ diagnoses were incidental findings or identified during a visit to A&E.

And 46 per cent of patients surveyed were diagnosed at stage three or four - greatly reducing their chance of a successful treatment.

A spokesman from Kidney Cancer UK said: "With over 13,000 people diagnosed every year in the UK, the importance of Kidney Cancer Awareness Week cannot be underestimated.

"This is a notoriously difficult disease to identify. It's reputation as a hidden killer is underpinned by the fourth most common symptom of the disease reported by respondents to our survey as: no symptoms. The top three were 1) pain in the back, flank or side, 2) blood in urine and 3) fatigue.

"This is the seventh most common cancer in the UK and if people show any of these symptoms, they should see their doctor. Caught early kidney cancer is much more treatable than at late stages.”

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