‘I had to have an entire kidney removed after my persistent back pain turned out to be cancer’

A father-of-three from Essex was told his prolonged back pain could be kidney cancer as he celebrated his 40th birthday at a restaurant with his wife and friends.

Paul Souter, now aged 43, initially tried acupuncture and sport massages for the pain in his lower back that would regularly come and go, but a debilitating back spasm prompted him to get a scan to investigate this further.

“I enjoy playing golf and football and have always been quite active, but there would just be days where I couldn’t do anything because my back was hurting so much,” Paul told PA Real Life.

“I tried acupuncture and sport massages, but one day I had a back spasm and just couldn’t get off the floor. It was so bad that I booked in to get a scan to get it checked out.”

Paul, who works as a project director for a building company in Essex, was out celebrating his milestone birthday with his wife Kerry and friends at the Ivy Asia in London when he received an alarming phone call about the results.

“We knew the call was coming through, so went into a private room and the doctor said ‘your back actually looks okay, it’s just wear and tear, but I can see something on your kidney that doesn’t look right, and you just need to go and get it checked out’,” shared Paul.

“We had to go through that night knowing something was wrong and had to put on a brave face because no-one else knew.”

Results from Kidney Cancer UK’s Patient Survey 2025 highlighted that Paul is not alone, as more than half of patients (54%) who were surveyed said they were diagnosed with kidney cancer incidentally during scans for other conditions rather than through proactive investigation.

Paul said he “blacked out” during the appointment where he was diagnosed with kidney cancer on March 2, 2022.

“When you hear the word cancer, there’s nothing that can prepare you for it,” said Paul.

“I completely blacked out and zoned out into a different world during that appointment. Luckily my wife was with me so she could listen to everything that was going on.

“I phoned my mum straight afterwards and just broke down in the car on the way back home.”

Although the two-centimetre tumour in his left kidney was slow growing, he was advised to think about treatment to stop it from spreading.

“After further investigation, they found that the tumour had arteries wrapped around it,” said Paul.

“When we saw a specialist in Watford he said if we did a partial nephrectomy [which cuts out the tumour] and if my arteries got (caught) during the operation, then I would bleed out in minutes.

“So, we decided to go for a total nephrectomy, that would remove my whole kidney.”

Paul said one of the most heart-breaking moments was having to break the news his eldest son Jaiden, now aged 19, who was studying for his GCSEs at the time.

“We sat in the garden with him and told him that I was going in for an operation and reassured him that I would come back home,” recollected Paul.

“It was obviously heart-breaking. He knew what it was, and he knew it was bad. It was a really tough time for him. It’s not a conversation you ever want to have with your children.

“My youngest children, Archie and Belle, knew something was wrong, but we didn’t explain to them the details. All I said to them was that I’m just popping out to the hospital to have minor operation.”

Less than eight weeks after his initial diagnosis, Paul had the operation to remove his kidney on April 29.

Despite concerns about his rising blood pressure during the surgery, he returned home within days.

“I didn’t want the kids to come home from school and see me lying in bed looking ill, so when they came back I sat downstairs at the dining table and tried to make it as normal as possible,” said the stoic dad.

“Within an hour of talking to them, they kind of forgot I’d even been in hospital and it just went back to normal life.”

Walking and counselling played a major role in his recovery.

“Kidney Cancer UK was absolutely brilliant, the counselling they provided was incredible,” said Paul.

“Initially I tried to put off counselling, like many men do, and said ‘I’m not doing that, I don’t need that’ – but it’s one of the best things I have ever done.

“I would go for a walks during my counselling sessions while I talked to the counsellor on the phone, so walking became my therapy. I started off by walking around the house, then around the garden and just increased the distance over time.

“Being out in the fresh air gave me time to think and digest what I’d been through.”

Keen to raise money for Kidney Cancer UK, Paul completed an Ultra Challenges Winter Walk in London, which was the length of a marathon, just nine months after his surgery.

“I wanted to do something to prove that I could do something, and to prove that my body was capable,” said Paul.

“The walk started at The Oval Cricket Ground, and it was 26 miles in total.

“The reaction from everyone was incredible. A lot of people thought I was mad but everyone was really supportive. We raised around £2,500.”

It was an emotional milestone, made even more significant because it was the last time Paul saw his father before he passed away.

“The walk marathon was in January and then a month later I was watching my daughter playing football when I received a call saying that there was an ambulance at my dad’s house,” shared Paul.

“He had a blood clot in his leg that went up to his lung and he passed away, aged just 65.

“Within less than a year, I had been diagnosed with cancer, had surgery on my kidney, had completed the walk challenge and lost my dad.”

Despite the years that have passed since the diagnosis, Paul said the shock still remains, even after being given the all-clear in spring 2025 and now needing yearly scans.

“We are still processing it every single day to be honest,” said Paul.

“It’s still such a shock. Even to look back now at everything I’ve been through, it just still seems really surreal.

“I still don’t think I have digested all of it really. Mentally, there’s good days and bad days.

“Sometimes I just get lost in my own thoughts, and have to snap myself out of it.”

Paul has undertaken four more charity walks since, and has no plans to slow down.

“I’m keen to do The Three Peaks challenge at some point and hopefully a marathon once my body is in the right physical condition to do it,” said Paul.

“Doing these endurance challenges has given me something positive to focus on and has helped connect me with like-minded people who have been through similar experiences.”

To find out more about kidney care or to seek support visit https://www.kcuk.org.uk/