First follow-up results

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 said:

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 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 said:

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

Texas_wedge said:

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 said:

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 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 said:

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