Im scared for my Mom

ScaredJeff28

Hi everyone, I hope you all are doing well and keeping up the fight! I hope you can give me some words of encouragement. It was just this week that they found a tumor about lemon sized on my mom's kidney and they said it metastasized to her lungs and there are small nodules on her lungs and today they just found (with a CAT scan with radiocontrast) another tumor in her chest and it is pressing on some veins to her heart and making her arms swell up. The Dr's want to give her some radiation to the tumor in her chest alone tomorrow to shrink it but I am so scared and I dont know what to expect because she hasnt eaten the past few days because she has trouble breathing and swallowing. I have never been so scared in my life and I hope someone here can give me some words of encouragement. My mom is 63 and one Dr said he doesnt see this as terminal at all but I am SOO scared, please someone talk with me and tell me some information I may use to help me understand... Thanks...

Chicago

Hey Jeff,

Sorry to hear about your mom's difficulty. There is nothing unusual about feeling scared (her or you). It is encouraging though, that her doctor is hopeful. I have been told that kidney cancer is not easy to treat after it has metastacized, but it is still treatable in some cases.

They will probably want to remove the kidney with the tumor immediately. I understand that removal of the main tumor alone can result in a remission of the rest of the cancer in the body in a small percentage of cases. And it should at least help whatever treatment they go for with the rest of the body.

There are also different types of kidney cancer cells that your mom's cancer may be. Some are more treatable than others. You didn't mention where she is being treated. Some places are really advanced in dealing with this disease. They will be the ones to best advise you how best to approach this.

Just be there for her now. She'll need your support. Keep us informed.

tracy75

im so sorry to hear about your mom. i know the feeling. When my father was diagnosed i felt my whole world crashing down. The only way I have been coping is by trying to find out everyhting there is to know about renal cell carcinoma and what type of treatments are out there. The problem is, when it comes to my father there are'nt many. He also had a tumor the size of a grapefruit in his kidney. They removed the whole kidney about 2 years ago. He is now recouperating from a biopsy on his lungs. Both lungs have noduels that have multiplied with in the past 2 years. He also has COPD (lung disease) and had some difficulty with breathing, but now after the biopsy his breathing is so much worse. This will affect what type of treatment is available for him. The 2 im sure you have heard of by now is interferon and interleukin -2. The last doctor we saw recommended a LOW dose of the interleukin -2 because the side affects are very severe. But all the doctors we have spoken to have said that this cancer (which is clear cell rcc) is very slow moving cancer, and finding the right treatment can help enormously to slow the growth. Have they suggested removing the kidney? What about removing the tumor in her chest? Im located in Long Island, NY and i was recommended to see an oncologist that specializes in Renal cell carcinoma. She's from Our Lady of Mercy in the Bronx. We were going to contact an oncologist from Memorial Sloan Kettering, but we heard that some of the interleukin treatments they do not even perform because there are too risky. Please be careful when you are looking information up on the internet, there's a lot out there but some of it isnt always 100% true. Every person is different, and how your mother handles a treatment is different from how others may. So dont be discouraged from your findings, im sure theres many survivors out there, and your mother will be one of them!