my-kidney-cancer-blog

Another Scare

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:22:53 +0100

My wife's follow-up test all came back okay every since she had her second re-excision done in order to remove her breast cancer tumor. She recently had an MRI done at a different hospital and they called her two days later, asking whether she's aware of a second clip in her breast. During the first surgery, the doctors put a clip in her breast. And we vaguely remember that they put in a second one during one of the re-excision. Because on the new MRI, there is a second one showing up. We asked whether they are sure if this is indeed a clip and not something else they see. They ensured us that it looks like a clip, but they cannot find any mention of it in any of the surgical reports.
On Thursday we picked up the report. Is says that they found suspicious things and then they clarified their findings. One of which is a NEW 1.2cm mass closely located to the initial tumor site. And a few other NEW smaller masses.
The first time I read the report, my heart stood still. After reading it a few more times, we felt a little bit better. First of all, that new mass is exactly in a spot where another benign lump was found when my wife had her biopsy done. It's in the exact same location with the same size. All the other smaller masses have been seen on previous reports, so we have no idea why they refer to them as NEW.
The “new” 1.2 mass – so it says in the report – could be that second ominous clip.
It would be very surprising if between her latest test, which was a couple of month ago, and now, a brand NEW 1.2cm would have developed all of a sudden.
Anyway, because of the long weekend we weren't able to speak to anybody. Hopefully tomorrow we will find out more.

Kidney Cancer Blues

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 22:57:20 +0100

I just went back to New York Presbyterian a couple of weeks ago for my 6 months follow up. They drew some blood and a urine sample. And I was sent for a chest X-Ray. All that is already over 3 weeks ago and since I haven't heard anything back from anybody, I assume that nothing suspicious was found in either test, otherwise somebody would have called me - I guess.....

My wife's latest Ultrasound and Mammogram came back okay, too. Today is actually her "first year cancer-free" anniversary. A year ago her doctor told us that there was no more evidence of her breast cancer.

Other than that, life is back to normal with all the hassle and stress. On the other hand, nothing is "really normal" anymore. Our cancer is always present in way way or the other. We continue to maintain our healthy lifestyle. I can't believe that I used to stay up late every day. Now I NEED to got to bed by 9:45pm at the latest. But I also get up early and I like this new schedule.

I hope this message finds all of you in good health.

Take care.....

Tony

Kidney Cancer Void

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 01:36:54 +0100

Hi everybody:

I hope everybody has been doing fine. I completely forgot about my cancer. Well, not really. The truth of the matter is, there’s not a day going by where I don’t think about either my renal cell carcinoma or my wife’s breast cancer. And that sucks big time. I don’t know if it’s the fear of recurrence, or just that lingering notion of “hey, that could have been the end.” And there are the constant reminders that make sure that there is no possible way to put the whole thing behind you for a while – I’m talking about the freakin’ bills that still keep pouring in for some reason. You’d think that someone with a reasonable health insurance shouldn’t get hammered with too many of those, but I can assure you that this is not case. If you chose to make cancer your hobby, you’d better open your wallet all the way…J

I am scheduled on June 10th for a follow up exam, including the whole program (Cat Scan, X-Ray, etc.) My wife just had an Ultrasound and MRI done, both of which came back okay.

Other than that, we are still going back and forth with our bank. I did a ballsy thing in contacting the CEO of our mortgage company, explaining the ridiculousness of what was going on and it actually worked – the next day we were assigned with a designated person from their executive office, which since made our interactions with them much more reasonable and efficient.

Other than that, I’m feeling okay. Sometimes I get kind of weird pains. Actually, you can hardly call it pains, much more flashes of temporary discomfort. Little pinches on both sides underneath my chest.

I am still on my new schedule and I do like it. Going to bed early and get up early in the morning. I’m also trying to maintain a reasonably healthy lifestyle and get my workouts in on a regular basis.

Lastly, I am really happy that Kristy decided to get into the blogging saddle again. Welcome back, Kristy. And make sure that you visit her new blogging platform at

Fat, Sassy and Metastatic.

Okay, I hope you’re all doing well and I will talk to your later….

Tony

Five months after my RCC diagnosis

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:12:40 +0100

I can’t believe it has been five months already since I received my RCC diagnosis. Recently, I got a few emails from readers of my blog and I am grateful and appreciative of their kind comments. They told me that it helped them in their own cancer journeys and that was, after all, my primary goal in writing and sharing about my own experience as a kidney cancer patient.

Health-wise, things are going fine. It’s remarkable how the body is capable of adjusting to a new situation in such short amount of time. Everything is back to normal.

Other than that, cancer left us with a huge bill and as a matter of fact, we still keep getting invoices from all over the place, for pathology, anesthesia, doctors. And that’s with a relatively good insurance! Well, things are getting very tight now and we are fighting for a home loan modification. I try to deal with the situation but emotionally, it kills me. The thought of an impending foreclosure is not good for a person who is known to be a worrier to begin with. But we shall see, the fight is not over yet.

The rest of the family is doing fine. Ann will have another full check up in a couple of months. We are all desperate for some sunshine after the recent snow and floods. Fortunately, we had no damages done to our property, unlike so many other families in our area.

I hope everybody is well out there. Yes, I feel guilty. I should blog more often and I should check your blogs more frequently, too. Darn.

Did I say that I feel guilty….;-)

Stay healthy.

Back to 'Normal'

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:53:03 +0100

Life has me back. What a strange year it was, 2009. But I am back at work since January 1st and busier than ever. Health-wise I'm doing okay, nothing to complain about. I fully gained my normal strength back and my fitness level seems to go up slowly but continuously. Sometimes it feels a little strange inside my abdomen, right where my left kidney was taken out and also on the other side, were the remaining kidney now has to work twice as hard.

But I'm trying to eat and drink healthy. No more crap that could be detrimental to my health. I drink tons of green Mocha Tea every day and plenty of water.

Ann had an MRI done last week. It was quite nerve wracking, because they had to do re-do the procedure over again. She was in there for quite a while. After that, both her and I were very nervous about the results. It has been eleven months now since she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Two days later she called in to ask for the results. They won't tell her anything over the phone for confidentiality reasons, which I understand. But then they told her, that they were not even allowed to mail her the report directly, but only via her doctors. How stupid is that? Anyway, she asked if she could stop by in person to pick up a copy and that was okay. She drove down to Carlstadt, NJ......and then she called as she was sitting in the car reading the report. She was in tears.

Everything is okay. Absolutely everything. What a relief. It would be foolish to declare victory prematurely, however, this was another huge milestone that was achieved.

I hope you are all doing well and had a great start in 2010.

Talk to you soon.

Tony.

Sorry

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:43:01 +0100

Hi everybody:

I apologize for not having put up any posts here over the past few weeks. The fact of the matter is, my work-life got me back again. And once you’re back into the daily routine there is not much time left for other things. In addition to that, I’ve been working on another Internet project and I might talk a little bit about that later.

My cancer recovery is going very well. Absolutely no pain even during or after heavy workouts. There’s little bit of a pinch every now an then, but that’s it. I do get very tired at times, though, I mean tired beyond that typical afternoon-food coma we all know. But that’s nothing of real concern. I also noticed that my schedule has shifted. I typically go to bed around 9:30pm now and get up at 5:30am the next morning. And I like that a lot.

Other than that: there’s not much to tell you. I get very concerned about my wife’s health condition, even though there is absolutely no indication of new cancer recurrences. It’s in my mind, I get carried away at times and I end up at very dark places. But I guess that’s perfectly normal and as long as I can pull myself out of there, everything is under control.

Alright, that’s it. I do hope all of you are doing okay and had a good start into 2010. Again, I’m sorry for not having posted anything here for a while.

I wish you good health!

Tony

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Happy New Year

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:09:39 +0100

I wish everybody a Happy and Healthy New Year 2010.

I guess I’m not much of a party person. I went to bed before 9:00pm last night and had a good night sleep. Fortunately, there wasn’t too much firework activity going on, on our block.

The recovery process is still going well. Last Monday though, I had to get back to New York Presbyterian because one of my incisions started to discharge a yellowish substances and it started to burn. There is a relatively deep wound now and it looks kind of creepy. The whole head of a Q-Tipp fits in there. It doesn’t really hurt, it is just uncomfortable and I know that something like that could potentially turn into something more serious. So as I said, the doctors checked it out and concluded that I need some antibiotics and just to keep a close eye on the situation. I need to clean it once or twice a day and then cover it up with a piece of gauze. By the way, it’s not advisable to see a doctor between Christmas and New Year. We had to wait for 2.5 hours. And I don’t blame anybody, that’s just the way it is.

But other than that I’m okay. I still stay away from any strenuous activities and I avoid lifting items that are too heavy. My physical fitness is a catastrophe, I get tired from just walking around a little bit. But that’s okay, next week I will go back to work and after another couple of weeks I will probably start working out again (Witek, get the table and the paddles ready!).

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody here from the bottom of my heart for their support and advice. This blog doesn’t have many readers, but those who read it, have given me a great deal of support and help over the past few months and I am truly greatful for that. Yesterday, I received an email from someone who just found out about a 5 cm tumor in one of his kidneys. He told me that my blog helped him to understand what he has to expect during his upcoming cancer journey. I mean, what else can you ask for? This is exactly why I started writing about my wife’s and my cancers. I had the hope that someone in my situation would benefit from my experience. Apparently, it worked.

Some called me “brave” to share publicly my ups and downs. Others were worried over the fact that I had put some photos up on this blog. First of all, I’m the exact opposite of a brave person. What I am, though, is straight forward honest. That can be very tricky or even foolish at times. I might have deprived myself of many good opportunities, I don’t know. But anyway, this is the way I decided to handle my situation. Some people may like it, others may despise it. And that’s okay. In a few months or years down the road, I might look back and retrospectively conclude that it was a mistake. But even then, I will - as always - have Jack Nicholson’s line from in “One flew over the Cuckoo's nest” in the back of my mind, when he said, after failing to lift a bathroom sink and throwing it through the window, in an attempt to escape a mental institution:

“Well at least I tried, didn’t I? At least I tried.”

Take care!

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Life after surgery

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:24:10 +0100

I am happy to report that the recovery process is going remarkably well. There are obviously a few things I can’t do, like stretching, jogging, lifting heavy things, but I can walk and move around normally. What amazes me the most, though; there aren’t any dietary restriction and the fact that I don’t feel any difference living with one kidney only. I thought that there would have been a short period of adjustment until the remaining kidney fully takes over for the missing one. But no, there is absolutely no noticeable difference. Except for avoiding eating foods in excess that are high in potassium, such as bananas and things that cause high levels of uric acids (red meats), I was told that I can eat whatever I want. Well, I personally have a slightly different take on that. First of all, I don’t eat meat at all. I was never a big meat eater to begin with and started completely staying away from any kind of meat shortly after my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. I also don’t eat any sweets, I never had a sweet tooth, so that’s no real sacrifice for me. And as for the alcohol, I stopped drinking completely as of February of this year. The uric acid levels in my body where alarmingly high. Not only that, but I had gout attacks. Anybody who ever had to experience a gout attack knows what I’m talking about. The pain is excruciating and so far only the stent that was inserted into my body after the Cystoscopy, has topped that pain-wise. So I had the choice – staying off of anything that produces high levels of uric acid or to continue suffering from gout attacks. Apparently, this was a no brainer. Instead I joined my wife in living as healthy as possible. Very little processed food only, a lot of green and leafy stuff, green vegetable smoothies with some fruit, veggie juices made of locally grown organic produce, grains like millet, amaranth, brown rice pasta, etc. I still do eat ridiculous big amounts of food and I probably will for the rest of my life. Nonetheless, since we only eat good quality stuff with a low glycemic index, I lost a good amount of weight and I am now in the ‘ideal range’ again. Well, I guess the point is: I feel good and the only thing I miss at this point is to work out again. That, though, is not possible, yet, because it would be certainly detrimental to my recovery process.
But other than that, I’m doing great.

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Pathology Report

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:24:22 +0100

Okay, we just returned from New York Presbyterian and our follow-up visit with my surgeon, Dr. Badani. He was extremely satisfied with the progress of my recovery, which exceeded even his expectations. I had a feeling that he was about to brake some bad news to me as he proceeded to tell me about the pathology report. I will keep it short, because there is not much to tell you anyway: Every thing is clear. The pathology was done on four specimens, the left ureter, a soft tissue sample (perirenal excision), the stent, and the kidney itself. For the data junkies among us, the kidney measured 16.0 x 10.0 x 5.0cm and weighed 429g. The tumor – which was entirely confined to the kidney - came back with 6.5 x 5.5 x 3.5 cm. I spare you the rest, the entire report spans over 3 pages, but as I said, everything is okay and clear. Oh, yes, the stage: pTB1. For those who are unfamiliar with the stages, you may want to read up on it on my Kidney Cancer Stages section of this website. It basically means, that the tumor is confined to the kidney, larger than 4 cm, but smaller than 7 cm. What can I say? Am I happy? Sure. But it will take a little bit until it starts sinking in. I just talked to some of my relatives in Germany and they couldn’t understand that I’m not partying already. I don’t want to party, I need some rest now. Alright, I’ll write a little bit more once I got all my senses back.

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Possibilities

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:32:12 +0100

Well, it was a week ago when I was laying in the ‘Recovery Room’ in the Milstein Building of the Columbia University/Urology section, on the 3^rd floor. I remember that my throat hurt terribly because of the tube that was inserted through my month to help me breathing during the laparoscopic nephrectomy. I recall saying to myself: “here I am now, a kidney cancer patient with Renal Cell Carcinoma, who just had his left kidney removed, and all I’m worrying about is my darn throat.” I’m happy to report that things continue to get better. Laughing and coughing is a little bit of an issue. Yesterday, I was watching the Pink Panther (the cartoon version) and surely enough I had to crack up a few times. Eventually I had to turn off the TV because I couldn’t stand the pain anymore from laughing. On Thursday I will get back to the City to meet with Dr. Badani and discuss the pathology and the next steps. During the nephrectomy, he also removed three quarters of my ureter and sent the most remote (from the kidney) part of it to the lab checking for malignant cell occurrence. I’m used to the drill by now. We went through the same thing with my wife three times in total, waiting for the pathology to come back and after the third time, we eventually got clear margins. In case you’re interested, you can read up on my wife’s breast cancer story here: www.ourbreastcancer.net. So I guess it all depends now on whether the cancer was entirely confined to the kidney, or has made its way already out into the surrounding tissue. We shall see, I’m prepared for either way.

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