WOW Did Not Expect This! :(

JoanneNH said:

I had my surgery at

I had my surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock also.

 

Wow Bonnie - what a kick in the pants. I often wondered whether partials are worth it as well. It seems a lot of people get recurrence. And good for you, for bouncing back from your surgery so quickly!

You have the exact staging as me - sinus invasion and lymphovascular invasion - stage 3a. I will be very curious to hear what they have to say about it all. (I don't want to sound like a broken record, but that lymphovascular invasion really worries me!) Keep the CT scans coming! I know Nano once reported that cancer from radiation from many CT scans can take decades to appear - so what is all the worry about??? Most of us are over 50 as it is!! (I will tell you my age, but don't ask me my weight!)

Brea - I am thinking of you and praying for you to be healthy and feeling good again!! You certainly have had more than your fair share!

Hugs

Jojo

Bonngo said:

Johns Hopkins Results

Well, I received Johns Hopkins pathology results emailed today from my oncologist which are posted below.  Not sure if it really changes anything from the stage T3a diagnosis, but will see him again in July with my list of questions.  Saw the nephrologist last week and my gfr went up to 47 woo hoo!

I know a lot of you have been at this stage a lot longer than me, and I admire your strength and determination.  Thank you all for your support.  JoanneNH I sent you a private message.  

AP SUPPL REPORT

Patient's prior partial nephrectomy, performed at Dartmouth-Hitchcock
Medical Center in 1/2012, is reviewed. Our current tumor
is morphologically identical to the prior tumor, but lacks areas of renal
cell carcinoma, clear cell type, which are unequivocally present in the
prior tumor. The rest of the current tumor is submitted for microscopic
examination, and does not show a clear cell component. Based
on this review, as well as consultation with Dr. Pedram Argani of Johns
Hopkins, the diagnosis is amended to the following:

Right kidney, nephrectomy:
Renal cell carcinoma, unclassified, Fuhrman nuclear grade 3/4,
consistent with recurrence of patient's prior renal cell carcinoma.

I was diagnosed with Stage 3 that extended into my vena cava in Septmber.  I had a full Nephrectomy and tumor removed from the vena cava this past September and have been having regular CT scans, one post-op, and then again at 1 month and 3 months.  At 6 months I had an MRI that shows there is still tumor in my vena cava and it appears it is tumor that was there the entire time.   The CT is not as good at looking at the surgical site, but for looking at things like the lungs.  My recommendation is to be monitored my MRI in addtion to CT.  I am now faced with having to have a second surgery almost 9 months later that I think would have been discovered immediately if an MRI was done right after operating.  

Bonngo said:

I am sorry to hear that you

I am sorry to hear that you may have to undergo a second surgery...I know how that feels. Hoping they can surgically remove any remaining tumor.   It's a fine line to know how often to have scans as I stated above, I feel that if they had checked me every year with a CT Scan instead of every other when I was Stage 1, I may have avoided all this. Now that I am at Stage 3, I will be having MRI/CT scans alternating every 3 months along with chest x-rays.  

Bonnie, I’m so sorry you’re facing another surgery but I'm confused about the report. If you had clear cell carcinoma before and this tumor lacks clear cells, (“does not show clear cell component” according to report) and is now called “unclassified” then how can it be a recurrence?