The symptoms of kidney cancer in women are pretty much the same as they are seen in men. 

So in my case for example, I encountered all of the most commonly seen kidney cancer symptoms at the same time: blood in the urine, discharge of clots of bloody tissue through the urine, discomfort in either side of the flanks, and a feeling of being inadequately tired all the time.

At first I didn’t make too much about that slight pain above my hip on either side of my lower back. That was back in September of 2009. I was actually doing an unusual amount of physical work around the house – well, unusual for me at least – including repairing our stone patio. So I thought that I just got a little sore from all that pending down and getting up all the time. And as for being tired; aren’t we all being tired all the time? We have jobs, kids, hobbies and a ton of things to do all the time, so I attributed my fatigue to the fact that I was just living a normal life like everybody else, which means people get tired all the time. The last thing I would have attributed that to was to any signs and symptoms of kidney cancer.

But then all of a sudden things got a little bit more serious. I was working out one day and suddenly I felt an urge to pee really badly. I went to the bathroom and I literally started urinating blood. This was not just red urine, this was blood. The weird thing was though; I wasn’t in real pain or anything. So the first time I just ignored it. But then it happened again a couple of days later, but this time I also discharged bloody clots of tissue. I went online to see what diseases carry that symptom and there it was: signs of kidney cancer include blood in the urine.

I was in disbelief, though. After all, just seven months earlier my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. That just couldn’t be true, it couldn’t be cancer but must be something else. I went to see an urologist. First we speculated on kidney stones, considering my relatively young age, being only 37 years. The odds were in my favor as statistically, only 2% of all men in my age-group will get diagnosed with kidney cancer. Well, long story short, I wasn’t that lucky. It turned out to be cancer. My left kidney had to be removed.

All of the renal cancer symptoms can occur in other, very often less severe, health conditions. But don’t fool yourself. If your encounter any of the aforementioned signs, go and see a doctor as soon as possible. If it turns out to be something less serious – Great! But if not, acting quickly can literally safe your life.

Even though the symptoms of kidney cancer in women are exactly the same as they are in men, men are 50% more likely to develop kidney cancer than women.