Kidney Cancer - husband had it - now me

Darron said:

First question

I am not a smoker, 43 and otherwiexcel good health. The first question they asked me was "do you Smoke"

I don't think there are any clear answers to "what caused my canceR, but yea, 2nd hand smoke isn't good.

As far as spread. Kidney cancer is very unpredictable And doesn't have a set progression for metastasis. All locations are possible locations in any order.

Ttreatments have come a long way since your husband passed, there are now many treatment options out there.

Thanks Darron,

It's just good to have the support. I appreciate it.

Margi

twinthings said:

What are the odds?

It seems crazy to me that both you and your late husband had kidney cancer...what are the odds?  I am not a smoker but was raised by parents who were both chain smokers.  That was back when parents smoked in cars, windows up, and nobody thought twice about it.  Back when you could sit and smoke a cigarette after dinner...in a restuarant...with umpteen other people smoking their after dinner cigarettes.   So, I don't ask myself why me, I ask myself, why not me.  Afterall, I grew up smoking. 

I have never had a PET scan so I can't answer your question but I'd sure be interested in what you find out.

 

I can't believe it. Not only that, he got diagnosed at age 54. And I'm 54.

I met him when he was 30 and I was 22. I believe this started in my late 30s because I started to get back pain.

He was a heavy smoker. He tried to quit several times. He had the surgery where they removed one of his ribs. I had the laprascopic procedure.

If I could go back and do it again, I'd have insisted he quit. Heck -- I think I did.

Now before he got diagnosed, he used a back room in the house to smoke. I am thinking, I will have to have all the carpet in that room removed. Not only that, after he died, I washed the walls and there was this yellowish film all over everything. It makes me wonder how truly carcinogenic cigarettes are.

The PET scan took about 40 minutes. The last ten minutes are very difficult as you must keep still with your arms over your head. It showed increased cellular activity at the nephrectomy site, which I understand can be normal due to inflamation, yet there is also increased cellular activity in the liver and spleen. It was thought that possibly the cancer had spread to my lung, but that is just scar tissue.

SO now I live every day, I wasn't really scared (been thru this before), but I am uspet. It's strange, the first time you go thru this (with a loved one), it's so hard. Now, it doesn't seem as hard, but it was shocking to see how quickly my kids got back into "cancer mode" when I felt nauseous (only a couple of times), they were on the spot with the puke bowl. It made me sad.

I'm lucky so far, (I guess), it's a stage 2 tumor with grade 4 cells. I don't need chemo - but need to get checked every 3 months.

They superglued me shut. It was - strange.

You are right about the smoking. That's how it used to be. I think this stuff - even secondhand smoke - must be really bad. Doctors don't have answers on this, they think we were possibly exposed to something, but I think it's the smoking. He was that additicted to nictotine.