First follow-up results

Jamie1.3cm
Jamie1.3cm Member Posts: 188
Had my first follow-up ct scan since my rcc kidney surgery last June.

Haven't spoken to the dr yet, but I got the radiologist's report. No sign of any more rcc. Now have a "new normal" for my kidney, which we'll use as baseline from now on. Do have a kidney stone in left kidney, so that will be something to look forward to.

Lesion on liver that we've been watching for several years, suddenly doubled in size over the past 6 months: 4 mm to 9 mm. So, that will be my next priority. Guess I better go set up shop in the liver cancer forum.

This should be fun.
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Comments

  • Minnesota Girl
    Minnesota Girl Member Posts: 119
    Mixed blessings
    I'm very glad your kidney CT looks good. I'm going to keep hoping that whatever on your liver is just something pesky and stupid. If it IS something more, your terrific attitude will serve you well!
  • Texas_wedge
    Texas_wedge Member Posts: 2,798
    First follow-up
    Jamie,

    I echo Minnesota Girl's sentiments and you've already been monitoring your liver lesion so you're well geared up to take whatever action is indicated. The liver cancer forum is a gloomier place than this so if you do join their numbers your intelligent analysis and positive attitude will be well received there and will give that community a lift for which I'm sure many will be grateful. Best wishes on all fronts .
  • Jamie1.3cm
    Jamie1.3cm Member Posts: 188

    First follow-up
    Jamie,

    I echo Minnesota Girl's sentiments and you've already been monitoring your liver lesion so you're well geared up to take whatever action is indicated. The liver cancer forum is a gloomier place than this so if you do join their numbers your intelligent analysis and positive attitude will be well received there and will give that community a lift for which I'm sure many will be grateful. Best wishes on all fronts .

    you're right...
    The liver forum is very doom and gloom. And most of the members are care-givers, not patients. That changes the environment a lot.

    Urologist did call to confirm that kidney cancer is gone. Yay!

    Primary care doc called to say I now need an MRI of the liver, and there's still a chance it could be nothing -- cyst or something similar.
  • Texas_wedge
    Texas_wedge Member Posts: 2,798

    you're right...
    The liver forum is very doom and gloom. And most of the members are care-givers, not patients. That changes the environment a lot.

    Urologist did call to confirm that kidney cancer is gone. Yay!

    Primary care doc called to say I now need an MRI of the liver, and there's still a chance it could be nothing -- cyst or something similar.

    Liver lesion
    We'll pray it's benign or readily treatable. If so, then now that you're clear of kidney cancer you could soon be into clear water.

    Keep us posted and don't quit this forum - your contributions are too valuable.
  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member

    you're right...
    The liver forum is very doom and gloom. And most of the members are care-givers, not patients. That changes the environment a lot.

    Urologist did call to confirm that kidney cancer is gone. Yay!

    Primary care doc called to say I now need an MRI of the liver, and there's still a chance it could be nothing -- cyst or something similar.

    liver lesion
    Hey Jamie, you've been through alot. Don't let this minor change be more than that. Lets hope it is a cyst. Been told I have one too. Nothing gonna break our stride. If this forum lacks anything, it is that we can't reach out and hold someones hand physically. However, mine is here.
    fox. Fly.
  • rae_rae
    rae_rae Member Posts: 300 Member
    foxhd said:

    liver lesion
    Hey Jamie, you've been through alot. Don't let this minor change be more than that. Lets hope it is a cyst. Been told I have one too. Nothing gonna break our stride. If this forum lacks anything, it is that we can't reach out and hold someones hand physically. However, mine is here.
    fox. Fly.

    Praying that its just a fur
    Praying that its just a fur ball ;)
    Thinking about you and Merry Christmas
  • Jamie1.3cm
    Jamie1.3cm Member Posts: 188
    rae_rae said:

    Praying that its just a fur
    Praying that its just a fur ball ;)
    Thinking about you and Merry Christmas

    thanks...
    ... I think I will just continue to hang out here. Still waiting for MRI scheduler to call.

    hey, rae_rae, I forgot about your fur ball! : ) yes! I hope mine's a fur ball, too! It would stand to reason: I've always had a very close relationship with my cat.
  • garym
    garym Member Posts: 1,647

    thanks...
    ... I think I will just continue to hang out here. Still waiting for MRI scheduler to call.

    hey, rae_rae, I forgot about your fur ball! : ) yes! I hope mine's a fur ball, too! It would stand to reason: I've always had a very close relationship with my cat.

    Please do hang around here...
    Jamie,

    I am glad that you decided to continue to hang out here, your posts are always among the most thoughtful and knowledgeable on the board. Ordinarily I wouldn't wish a fur ball on my worst enemy, but I too will pray for one for you.

    Merry Christmas,

    Gary
  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member
    garym said:

    Please do hang around here...
    Jamie,

    I am glad that you decided to continue to hang out here, your posts are always among the most thoughtful and knowledgeable on the board. Ordinarily I wouldn't wish a fur ball on my worst enemy, but I too will pray for one for you.

    Merry Christmas,

    Gary

    Fur Ball
    HA,HA, HA, that is funny.
  • Jamie1.3cm
    Jamie1.3cm Member Posts: 188
    foxhd said:

    Fur Ball
    HA,HA, HA, that is funny.

    MRI Wednesday
    Scheduler called: MRI will be Wednesday. I'll keep you posted. Here's hoping it looks like orange and white tabby cat fur. Or black and white, she sheds more than he does. : )

    Aaaack! Aaaack! (That's me coughing it up.)
  • Texas_wedge
    Texas_wedge Member Posts: 2,798

    MRI Wednesday
    Scheduler called: MRI will be Wednesday. I'll keep you posted. Here's hoping it looks like orange and white tabby cat fur. Or black and white, she sheds more than he does. : )

    Aaaack! Aaaack! (That's me coughing it up.)

    MRI & MICHIGAN
    We've got a bunch of very well-informed and bright people on this thread already. So, can anyone point me to any material indicating which scans, screening etc are best for which purposes? Sonograms, MRI, CT are all useful but what are their particular strengths?

    I was so intrigued by the fur ball banter that I Googled "rae_rae fur ball" and immediately got to the "Recurrence" thread started by Rae back in July. In that discussion, Jamie mentioned a support site in the UK - Jamie could you be so kind as to post the url?

    Finally, something struck me that I'd like to explore. RCC is pretty much of a mystery in aetiological terms. Does anyone know of any authoritative (or even any speculative) epidemiology work in this field? What prompted this thought is my having noticed the large number of participants in KC threads who live in Michigan. Could those who do please confirm whether they've spent most of their recent years in that part of the world. Cancer is all too common but only about 3% are KC cases. I wonder if cancers are commoner in Michigan and KC in particular. This is probably idle and pointless rumination but who knows - since it's so mysterious any straws in the wind could prove informative.
  • rae_rae
    rae_rae Member Posts: 300 Member

    MRI & MICHIGAN
    We've got a bunch of very well-informed and bright people on this thread already. So, can anyone point me to any material indicating which scans, screening etc are best for which purposes? Sonograms, MRI, CT are all useful but what are their particular strengths?

    I was so intrigued by the fur ball banter that I Googled "rae_rae fur ball" and immediately got to the "Recurrence" thread started by Rae back in July. In that discussion, Jamie mentioned a support site in the UK - Jamie could you be so kind as to post the url?

    Finally, something struck me that I'd like to explore. RCC is pretty much of a mystery in aetiological terms. Does anyone know of any authoritative (or even any speculative) epidemiology work in this field? What prompted this thought is my having noticed the large number of participants in KC threads who live in Michigan. Could those who do please confirm whether they've spent most of their recent years in that part of the world. Cancer is all too common but only about 3% are KC cases. I wonder if cancers are commoner in Michigan and KC in particular. This is probably idle and pointless rumination but who knows - since it's so mysterious any straws in the wind could prove informative.

    Wishing you multi-colored
    Wishing you multi-colored furball result for your MRI! watch where you cough that thing up.
    Texas-wedge: I am, as you probably already gathered, in Michigan. My father also had kidney cancer. We were both born and raised here. I work at a golf resort...maybe we should also query golfers?
  • Texas_wedge
    Texas_wedge Member Posts: 2,798
    rae_rae said:

    Wishing you multi-colored
    Wishing you multi-colored furball result for your MRI! watch where you cough that thing up.
    Texas-wedge: I am, as you probably already gathered, in Michigan. My father also had kidney cancer. We were both born and raised here. I work at a golf resort...maybe we should also query golfers?

    Michigan and golf!
    You're in Michigan, Rae and on that thread ("Recurrence") so were aedney and lkhof9, likewise iceman, garym (and I've only been looking about me here since end of last month).

    I can take a leg pull though - golf! But, wait a minute, there's garym, foxhd, you work at a golf resort, I live on a golf resort ......
  • Texas_wedge
    Texas_wedge Member Posts: 2,798

    Michigan and golf!
    You're in Michigan, Rae and on that thread ("Recurrence") so were aedney and lkhof9, likewise iceman, garym (and I've only been looking about me here since end of last month).

    I can take a leg pull though - golf! But, wait a minute, there's garym, foxhd, you work at a golf resort, I live on a golf resort ......

    RCC research
    “Our understanding of how kidney cancer develops had already markedly improved through identification of three new mutated cancer genes, each of which makes a small contribution to the disease” said Professor Mike Stratton, Director of the Sanger Institute and co-Head of the Cancer Genome Project. “Now, our discovery of PBRM1 mutations in one in three kidney cancers is a major advance. We think we may have an almost complete understanding of the set of abnormal genes that drive this cancer and our understanding of the disease has been transformed by the realisation that most of these genes are involved in providing the structure that encases DNA in the cell and that regulates its function. This insight will provide us with many new therapeutic directions for this cancer.”

    This is from a report published in the world's top science journal, Nature, in Jan. 2011 of a study carried out by researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (UK), the National Cancer Centre of Singapore, and Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

    Michigan again! I notice that in March "I, Rick Snyder, Governor of Michigan, do hereby proclaim March 2011 as Kidney Cancer Awareness Month and March 10, 2011 as World Kidney Day in Michigan." I wonder how many Michiganders were aware of that!
  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member

    Michigan and golf!
    You're in Michigan, Rae and on that thread ("Recurrence") so were aedney and lkhof9, likewise iceman, garym (and I've only been looking about me here since end of last month).

    I can take a leg pull though - golf! But, wait a minute, there's garym, foxhd, you work at a golf resort, I live on a golf resort ......

    golf
    My back yard is a golf course....If any one needs golf balls , let me know.
  • garym
    garym Member Posts: 1,647
    foxhd said:

    golf
    My back yard is a golf course....If any one needs golf balls , let me know.

    Michigan & RCC...
    If you are familiar with my story then you know that seven people close to me died from RCC prior to my own dx. None of these people were blood relatives, one was my father in-law whom I played golf with every Saturday for over 20 years. I have wondered about, but not researched, any connection to RCC especially in West Michigan where I have spent my whole life. I am aware of the study in Grand Rapids (20 miles north of me), but again have not paid it much attention. Now I'm wondering if I can't see the forest for the trees, I don't believe in coincidence. I'm also wondering about the chemicals used on golf courses, especially from forty years ago or so. I should have been more careful about licking my balls while golfing, no pun intended.
  • Texas_wedge
    Texas_wedge Member Posts: 2,798
    garym said:

    Michigan & RCC...
    If you are familiar with my story then you know that seven people close to me died from RCC prior to my own dx. None of these people were blood relatives, one was my father in-law whom I played golf with every Saturday for over 20 years. I have wondered about, but not researched, any connection to RCC especially in West Michigan where I have spent my whole life. I am aware of the study in Grand Rapids (20 miles north of me), but again have not paid it much attention. Now I'm wondering if I can't see the forest for the trees, I don't believe in coincidence. I'm also wondering about the chemicals used on golf courses, especially from forty years ago or so. I should have been more careful about licking my balls while golfing, no pun intended.

    Michigan RCC and golf
    Since his backyard is a golf course, we need to know if a fox licks his balls. Then there's Mike - got a new golf bag for Christmas - he's a golfer (but maybe not a Michigander?). Then there's Rae who works on a golf course but your explanation (of licking your balls) wouldn't apply to her - she'd be too young to be in that ancient golfing practice!

    I do wonder about Michigan though - petrochemicals etc. - do you think there might be anything in the idea?
  • braswelm
    braswelm Member Posts: 41

    Michigan RCC and golf
    Since his backyard is a golf course, we need to know if a fox licks his balls. Then there's Mike - got a new golf bag for Christmas - he's a golfer (but maybe not a Michigander?). Then there's Rae who works on a golf course but your explanation (of licking your balls) wouldn't apply to her - she'd be too young to be in that ancient golfing practice!

    I do wonder about Michigan though - petrochemicals etc. - do you think there might be anything in the idea?

    RCC and golf
    Hey Texas_wedge, I live in Alabama, much warmer than Michigan, but have been playing for almost 25 years. Probably no connection. And I never lick my balls.
    My GP doc told me he used to rarely see kidney cancer, but I was his 5th patient with it this year. I wonder about OTC drugs.....
    By the way, where in the UK do you live? My maternal GGGG Grandfather came over from Ireland, but the ancestral home seems to be Stirling, Scotland. My mother's maiden name was Sterling (the American spelling)
    It's on my bucket list to visit Stirling Castle and go over to St. Andrews too.
    Mike
  • Texas_wedge
    Texas_wedge Member Posts: 2,798
    braswelm said:

    RCC and golf
    Hey Texas_wedge, I live in Alabama, much warmer than Michigan, but have been playing for almost 25 years. Probably no connection. And I never lick my balls.
    My GP doc told me he used to rarely see kidney cancer, but I was his 5th patient with it this year. I wonder about OTC drugs.....
    By the way, where in the UK do you live? My maternal GGGG Grandfather came over from Ireland, but the ancestral home seems to be Stirling, Scotland. My mother's maiden name was Sterling (the American spelling)
    It's on my bucket list to visit Stirling Castle and go over to St. Andrews too.
    Mike

    RCC golf and Michigan
    Hi Mike. Alabama would be a bit warm for me! I'm a Londoner (last few generations were all London but my ancestry is entirely Welsh and Irish if names are anything to go by). We live in N.E. Scotland. Since you're a golfer, all I need say is that we're just north of Carnoustie (where I usually play three times a week) and St. Andrews and not too far away from Gleneagles and Loch Lomond, but a little south of where Donald Trump is about to open "the best golf course in the world". We're also an hour and a half's drive from Stirling Castle which is very dramatically situated and very much worth seeing.

    The putative RCC connection with golf makes a nice joke to keep the tone of the thread light and fun but I really do wonder if Michigan might have an over-representation of KC cases. I'm intrigued by your GP's remark and also your comment about over the counter meds. I suspect the apparent increase in incidence is simply an artefact of better detection - probably due to all the new technology available (scans, etc). That said, you may have a good point about the availability of painkillers over the counter. Ibuprofen seems to be bad in respect of kidney disease (other than our situation of kidney cancer) since it is not a good drug for anyone with high blood pressure.

    T.
  • Jamie1.3cm
    Jamie1.3cm Member Posts: 188
    foxhd said:

    golf
    My back yard is a golf course....If any one needs golf balls , let me know.

    coincidence?
    I don't believe in overwhelming "coincidences" either. I believe in patterns, and patterns have meaning. We do seem to have a lot of RCC patients in both Michigan and Texas. That said, I also believe that medical issues usually have more than one cause; thus, it can be challenging to track down.

    Had my MRI this afternoon. Ugh. Not as easy as a CT scan. Longer. Lots of long breath holding. Boring.

    PLEASE let it be a fur ball!