Cancer Survivors Network - Adults that had Wilms Tumor as a child - Comments

hey Antonio

charliesgirl13 — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:17:00 -0500

My name is Jenny...I had wilms when I was 4 months old. I went through chemo and radiation for a few years. I am healthy today and I'm 38. The reason I'm writing is because I've suffered with depression all my life and anger with god...do you know if that's normal for our type of trauma. I never put it together until I read your post. Feel free to respond. Hope you enjoyed your thanksgiving.

hey Antonio

charliesgirl13 — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:16:44 -0500

My name is Jenny...I had wilms when I was 4 months old. I went through chemo and radiation for a few years. I am healthy today and I'm 38. I do suffer for kidney pain if I drink too much. The reason I'm writing is because I've suffered with depression all my life and anger with god...do you know if that's normal for our type of trauma. I never put it together until I read your post. Feel free to respond. Hope you enjoyed your thanksgiving.

hey Antonio

charliesgirl13 — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:16:44 -0500

My name is Jenny...I had wilms when I was 4 months old. I went through chemo and radiation for a few years. I am healthy today and I'm 38. I do suffer kidney pain if I drink too much. The reason I'm writing is because I've suffered with depression all my life and anger with god...do you know if that's normal for our type of trauma. I never put it together until I read your post. Feel free to respond. Hope you enjoyed your thanksgiving.

hey Antonio

charliesgirl13 — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:15:08 -0500

My name is Jenny...I had wilms when I was 4 months old. I went through chemo and radiation for a few years. I am healthy today. I do suffer for kidney pain if I drink too much. The reason I'm writing is because I've suffered with depression all my life and anger with god...do you know if that's normal for our type of trauma. I never put it together until I read your post. Feel free to respond. Hope you enjoyed your thanksgiving.

mroyal60 — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 03:14:49 -0400

having children after WT

zumomma — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:30:55 -0400

Hello
I am a long term WT survivor and have had 6 children. All were born early, including 2 micro preemies who did not survive. All of my children are "normal" (lol) and healthy.
getting pregnant was not the problem, but I did have quite a few complications. I am quite a bit older than you and treatments have changed a great deal. I would encourage you to look into the pregnancy study done by the NWTS. Pat Norkool, in the Seattle NWTS office, is a wonderful resource person and can help you find any info available regarding the pregnancy studies. You can get her contact info and I think read the pregnancy study on the Nat'l wilm's tumor study website. I don't want to misquote any statistics, but there seem to be more problems with carrying to term than in conceiving. After my first 2 pregnancies, I had a procedure called a cervical cerclage to help prevent preterm labor. This enabled me to carry my other 4 children to 34-37 weeks.

You are wise to be seeking info now and yes, there IS hope! Don't be afriad to ask lots of questions-and keep asking different people until you feel you have a sufficient answer.

HTH,
Zumomma

Having Children after Wilm's

YDH — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:59:57 -0400

I am new to this discussion group, but I wanted to comment to you regarding having children. I am 46 years old, I had my left kidney removed due to Wilm's tumor when I was 3 years old. I have 2 children now, my daughter is 20 and my son is 18. I had some problem carrying my daughter because of my body structure from the cancer and radiation, but she came out healthy. When I became pregnant with my son, I had no problems what so ever. Don't give up hope! :)

Having Children after Wilm's Tumor

madaboutkale — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:17:04 -0400

I was told that I would never have children from the chemo and radiation I received when I was younger. And I have had no problem getting pregnant. I have successfully had two children in my mid 30s. Also, almost all of the Wilm's tumor survivors I've spoken to have had very little problems in this area. So, I wouldn't count yourself out. :) Good luck with everything!

Having Children after Childhood Wilms Tumor

DulaEllis — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:38:06 -0400

I was just wondering if any of you have children? I'm 19, I had a Wilms Tumor in my left kindey when I was three. THe kidney was removed.. I'm 16years in remission.. But again, do any of you have children? Im begining to doubt that I am able to have any children.. :( Just looking for some hope.

Depression, etc

Dalit — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:08:00 -0400

Hi,

I had bilateral wilms tumor when I was 10 months - went into remission at about 3. I'm now 28, and have suffered depression for the last 10 years. Therapy has given me various insights, but it's still difficult. I attribute this largely to the trauma and instability of the first years of my life, and not having the room to socially and mentally develop during that time. I've always felt a sense that my body - and the world -weren't safe places.
More recently I was diagnosed with Premature Ovarian Failure, and I won't be able to have children without donor eggs. Learning this coincided with the onset of the depression...

I'm getting married in a few months, and while this is no doubt an exciting change - I feel saddened by the fact that I can't foresee my quality of life ever improving due to the depression, and I feel guilty that I am about to inflict that on another person (who loves me dearly).a
Anyway, would love to communicate.
Best

Wilms Long term effects - foot pain

dnkaps8 — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:49:48 -0400

My little boy was diagnosed with Wilms when he was 16 months old. He had his kidney removed and went through chemo. He is now 8. For the past year he has had terrible foot problems. His feet always hurt, primarily in the heel and back of his foot. He can't seem to walk for very long without major pain. He has begun "slapping" his feet when he walks - just lifting up the whole foot instead of rolling it. I was wondering if any long term survivors experienced this kind of pain and if it could be related to chemo. He was on vincristine and actinomycin.

My wilms story

lululove — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:57:55 -0400

Hi there all,
I had Wilms Tumor stage IV as a child aged three, which resulted in a left neprhectomy. After radiotherapy and chemotherapy it spread to my lungs where I had further radiotherapy and chemo. Around 15 years later I became very short of breath (tho was always breathless post treatment) and after several years of misdiagnosis I was told I had developed pulmonary fibrosis. The docs think this was due to the radiotherapy I had to my chest area all those years back. I was told I had a year to live if I did not get a life saving lung transplant. I was immediately put on 24 hour oxygen therapy and strongly advised to keep away from potential germs: crowds, shopping centres, doctors surgeries were a 'no no'. I became wheelchair bound and wholly dependent on my mother for bathing, dressing, speaking on my behalf...One transplant centre rejected me after months of application as they feared I would not make the op and there were concerns regarding cardiomyopathy I had from the cancer treatment and whether the lungs were stuck to my chest wall due to the radiotherapy. Luckily a transplant centre placed me on their urgent list and nine months later I received a single lung transplant thanks to my donor and their family. The op wasn't wholly successful, my lung function is a mere 25%, I developed PTLD (Post Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disease) last year and heart failure. I was on chemo to reduce the tumours in my liver and native lung. My life expectancy is short now but I feel very blessed. Prior to being ill I was a successful primary school teacher and part time travel consultant. I will not be able to have children which saddens me but I can give in other ways. i do a lot of fundraising and promote awareness about organ donation and transplantation. At 29 I feel like a lot of my years have been taken away from me, wrapped up in medical procedures an d diagnoses but for some reason, I am still here to tell the tale. I like to live for the moment and look on the bright side of life!!!

I was told I would have an early menopause...as yet this has not happened (despite everything else) but I wondered if any other Wilms' adult survivors have experienced this?

Survivor

mrlongtooth — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:28:21 -0500

Hello
My name is Antonio. I am new to this site, and also interested in making contact with adult survivors of wilms tumor. I had a nephrectomy, chemo, and radiation treatment when I was 3 years old. I have been cancer free for 31 years. I am relatively healthy, but much like others here, continue to have back and hip pain. I am used to physical pain, as it has been there my whole life. The thing I have found to be most challenging has been emotional/mental/spiritual. I have dealt with depression through most of my young life. Though I am glad to say I hadn't had any symptoms of depression in the last ten years, I have recently endured some difficult challenges that have pushed back into depression. I am familiar with this condition and know where to get the help I need, but it has been surprising and disappointing to see that I STILL have to face difficulties that relate to having had cancer as a child.

N/A

username32 — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:15:51 -0400

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Wilms tumor

tesslynn32 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:58:09 -0400

Hi Elizabeth, my name is Jessica. I am 33 years old and was diagnosed at the age of 3 with Wilms tumor and have been cancer free for 30 years. I would love to talk to you, you can reply here or you can e-mail me at swtcountrygirl28@aol.com.

Jessica

Adults that had Wilms Tumor as a child

Elizabeth2009 — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:12:44 -0400

Hello
My name is Elizabeth and i am looking for anyone else, who had wilms tumor as a child or know anyone that did? I am 28 years old right now, I have been cancer free for 22 years.