A woman who was unwittingly battling stage 4 kidney cancer has revealed how she confused a subtle warning sign for the symptoms of menopause. She’s now urging others not to delay getting checked out.

Louise experienced elevated blood pressure, which she initially dismissed as a side effect of menopause – a natural decline in reproductive hormones when a woman reaches her 40s or 50s, as detailed by the NHS. However, this assumption almost proved to be a grave error, which she is now warning others about.

Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is the sixth most common cancer in the UK. Originating in the renal system, the kidneys are a pair of bean-shaped organs located on either side of the spine beneath the ribcage, with the vital role of filtering waste and excess fluid from the bloodstream to produce urine.

Often, kidney cancer doesn’t present distinct symptoms and is typically spotted during tests for other conditions. Speaking out on Kidney Cancer UK’s TikTok channel, Louise shared: “Symptoms are unfortunately vague, especially for women, as it includes high blood pressure, night sweats, blood in your urine and flank pain. GPs often relate these to menopause symptoms.”

Therefore, Louise stresses the importance of “regularly scan[ning] your body”. She said further: “How long have those niggling pains been there? Get them checked – always better to be safe than sorry!”

Regarding her own case, Louise described that she had “high blood pressure but unseen blood” in her urine. She recounted: “I was lucky routine bloods picked up an issue with my liver, prompting ultrasound.

“I have now had two major surgeries to remove cancer and my kidney within the last 15 months. I’m three weeks post open surgery and recovering well.

“The news that all the biopsies came back as not cancer has been amazing. Currently on steroids due to toxicity from the immunotherapy, which means no more Pembro [Pembrolizumab, a type of immunotherapy]. I only had two more to go and I’m happy to stop. Now I can recover and get on with living my life.”

She added, in the caption of the video: “My cancer was the most aggressive at grade 4 so there will always be a high chance of it coming back, but medications and research is changing all the time and I have faith that the surceillance scans will help us nip anything untoward in the bud!”.

What are the symptoms of kidney cancer?

Although kidney cancer often doesn’t cause symptoms, when they do appear, the NHS reports they include:

• blood in your pee
• a lump or swelling in your back, under your ribs, or in your neck
• pain between your ribs and waist that does not go away
• loss of appetite or losing weight without trying to
• feeling tired or having no energy
• a high temperature that does not go away
• sweating a lot, including at night

The NHS recommends seeing your GP if you have lost a noticeable amount of weight, have a high temperature which doesn’t go away, or have no extreme tiredness.

It’s important to note that these symptoms are common, and having them doesn’t mean you definitely have kidney cancer. But it’s important to get them checked by a GP, as early detection means it’s more treatable.

For free support from Kidney Cancer UK’s support line, call 0800 009 2009.