William and Jane Gannon filed this medical malpractice action against Lynwood Cleaveland, M. D., John Entrekin, M. D., Deborah G. Goodrich, D. O., and Internal Medicine Associates of Rockdale, P. C., claiming that the appellants negligently failed to diagnose and treat Mr. Gannon’s kidney cancer, which later metastasized. Mr. Gannon died while the suit was pending, and Ms. Gannon amended the complaint to include a wrongful death claim. The appellants moved for summary judgment on the grounds that the personal injury claims the Gannons asserted in the original complaint were barred by the statute of limitation and that Ms. Gannon’s wrongful death claim was barred by the statute of repose. The trial court denied the motions, and the appellants appeal.1 For the reasons that follow, we affirm. Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56 c. A de novo standard of review applies to an appeal from a grant or denial of summary judgment, and we view the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Citations omitted. Murray v. Fitzgerald Convenient Centers , 239 Ga. App. 799 521 SE2d 915 1999. Defendants who move for summary judgment based on an affirmative defense such as the statute of limitation cannot rely on the absence of evidence in the record disproving the affirmative defense. OCGA § 9-11-8 c; Porex Corp. v. Haldopoulos , 284 Ga. App. 510, 511 644 SE2d 349 2007. Viewed in the light most favorable to the Gannons, the evidence shows the following. In June 2000, Mr. Gannon was admitted to the hospital with appendicitis and had surgery to remove his appendix. A CT scan performed during the hospitalization showed two masses in Mr. Gannon’s left kidney. A urinalysis also showed that Mr. Gannon had microscopic hematuria, that is, blood in the urine which is visible only under the microscope. Mr. Gannon was referred to Dr. Cleaveland for a urological consultation regarding the hematuria.
Dr. Cleaveland met with Mr. Gannon at the hospital on June 24, 2000, the day after his surgery. Dr. Cleaveland reviewed the CT scan as well as a renal ultrasound. According to Mr. Gannon, Dr. Cleaveland told him that he had a small cyst in his kidney, which was common, and there was no need to follow up on the cyst, but that he should see his primary care physician about the hematuria after he got out of the hospital. During the consultation, Dr. Cleaveland noticed that Mr. Gannon’s records indicated that Mr. Gannon had demonstrated hematuria since at least 1999, and that he had several problems that could cause hematuria, including renal insufficiency, hypertension, and gout.
