what causes kidney cancer?

Uncledenny
Uncledenny Member Posts: 13
edited March 2014 in Kidney Cancer #1
I turn 50 next week. 3 months ago I had my kidney removed .80% of it was covered in tumor.Luckily it was localized and has not spread,I have another CT scan next week. I had no signs or symptoms. The first 30 years of my life I was not so concerned about my health. I had the average American diet but was around second hand smoke a lot,at home and the work place. The last 20 years of my life I have devoted myself to good health. I ate a diet with lots of organic fruits and veges,eggs,chicken and fish. I would do a juice cleansing 4 times a year. I felt great. I went to the gym at least 2x a week and rode my bike back and forth to work,100 miles a week. I had all but one of the amalgam fillings removed from my teeth. I use only green cleaning products in my condo.
So what happened? My lung x - ray last week was clear,thank god. I just wish I knew what happened. If I know what went wrong I can correct it. Is my condo toxic? A year before I moved in, the building was treated heavily for a bed bug problem. My condo was the focal point of the treatment. (Wish I knew that before I bought the condo!) I have been here for 5 years and didn`t find out until just recently. No one else in the building seems to have been affected.
OK, we live in a toxic world. Maybe it was just years of differant toxins building up,maybe it wasn`t just 1 or 2 things. I don`t know,wish I did. Cancer is a MONSTER. Sometimes I feel it is just waiting for me around the corner and sometimes I feel I`ll be OK.

Comments

  • icemantoo
    icemantoo Member Posts: 3,361 Member
    #2
    There is no 1 answer
    I guess if you could answer this question definatively you could be rich and famous. Being a male between 50 and 70 increases our risk. So does smoking. You like I have never smoked, but we both have been exposed to second hand smoke, One thing we could do is stand up to those personal freedom nuts who think they have a right to smoke in public. Michigan where I live just 8 months ago stopped smoking in restauants. Omtario just across the river has baned smoking in Casinos as well. They are much more concerned with our health care costs than here in the US.
  • Uncledenny
    Uncledenny Member Posts: 13
    #3
    icemantoo said:

    There is no 1 answer
    I guess if you could answer this question definatively you could be rich and famous. Being a male between 50 and 70 increases our risk. So does smoking. You like I have never smoked, but we both have been exposed to second hand smoke, One thing we could do is stand up to those personal freedom nuts who think they have a right to smoke in public. Michigan where I live just 8 months ago stopped smoking in restauants. Omtario just across the river has baned smoking in Casinos as well. They are much more concerned with our health care costs than here in the US.

    second hand smoke
    OK,so second hand smoke is a big contributor to cancer,but I always thought it would effect the lungs first. But I don`t know. People that smoke at least have a filter on the cigarette,there is no filter from second hand smoke.
  • KCFighter
    KCFighter Member Posts: 50
    #4
    Wish I knew
    Uncledenny - wow, can I relate to your final sentence! I'm going for my 5 year check up in April and continue to worry about recurrence. Each year, the feeling that I'll be okay grows stronger but the worry will probably never fully leave me.

    I was a fit & healthy woman in my mid-30s when diagnosed. Like you, I've wondered why this happened. Was it something I did that I could change to control the possibility of recurrence?

    If you don't have a family history of cancer and/or kidney issues, I do have something to offer for consideration. I recently read an article in Women's Health titled "Is Your Health On The Line?" It talks about impacts of nonthermal radio frequency radation on DNA. DNA damage sets the stage for cancer. I've been seeing more & more in mainstream media on the potential concerns with cell phones, bluetooth devices of all kinds, and even dimmer switches beleive it or not. Also, if you're worried about your condo, you might consider having someone come in to test the air quality in the unit.
  • MandyBear
    MandyBear Member Posts: 14
    #5
    KCFighter said:

    Wish I knew
    Uncledenny - wow, can I relate to your final sentence! I'm going for my 5 year check up in April and continue to worry about recurrence. Each year, the feeling that I'll be okay grows stronger but the worry will probably never fully leave me.

    I was a fit & healthy woman in my mid-30s when diagnosed. Like you, I've wondered why this happened. Was it something I did that I could change to control the possibility of recurrence?

    If you don't have a family history of cancer and/or kidney issues, I do have something to offer for consideration. I recently read an article in Women's Health titled "Is Your Health On The Line?" It talks about impacts of nonthermal radio frequency radation on DNA. DNA damage sets the stage for cancer. I've been seeing more & more in mainstream media on the potential concerns with cell phones, bluetooth devices of all kinds, and even dimmer switches beleive it or not. Also, if you're worried about your condo, you might consider having someone come in to test the air quality in the unit.

    Causes of KC
    There is plenty of new research out there that implicates faulty genes. I just read something on the BBC about it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12225128

    I am a 30 year survivor of renal cell carcinoma; they surgically removed the entire kidney and adrenal gland. The tumor was the size of a football.

    We may never know how we got the disease. I quit wondering after many, many years and started focusing on gaining better healthy habits like eating well and never being around smokers. I know it's scary and we always want answers. Sometimes there just aren't going to be any that make sense to us. You're not alone in having those questions.
  • MandyBear
    MandyBear Member Posts: 14
    #6
    icemantoo said:

    There is no 1 answer
    I guess if you could answer this question definatively you could be rich and famous. Being a male between 50 and 70 increases our risk. So does smoking. You like I have never smoked, but we both have been exposed to second hand smoke, One thing we could do is stand up to those personal freedom nuts who think they have a right to smoke in public. Michigan where I live just 8 months ago stopped smoking in restauants. Omtario just across the river has baned smoking in Casinos as well. They are much more concerned with our health care costs than here in the US.

    Long Term Survivor
    I was 29, a female and slender. Sigh...bone of the usual risk factors.
    Anyway I am vehement about not going around smokers. Both of my parents smoked for the first 17 years of my life. That was enough. I'd highly recommend everyone stay away from second hand smoke. I will walk away if someone is smoking and that includes avoiding certain family members who smoke. It's healthier all the way around. Congrats on your survival and staying healthy!
  • Jamie1.3cm
    Jamie1.3cm Member Posts: 188
    #7
    MandyBear said:

    Causes of KC
    There is plenty of new research out there that implicates faulty genes. I just read something on the BBC about it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12225128

    I am a 30 year survivor of renal cell carcinoma; they surgically removed the entire kidney and adrenal gland. The tumor was the size of a football.

    We may never know how we got the disease. I quit wondering after many, many years and started focusing on gaining better healthy habits like eating well and never being around smokers. I know it's scary and we always want answers. Sometimes there just aren't going to be any that make sense to us. You're not alone in having those questions.

    causes of kidney cancer
    I too am on both British and American kidney cancer networks. Everything I've read has said that there is no known environmental cause for kidney cancer. The only things that slightly increase the risk are the things that increase risk for all cancers: smoking and weight. Nothing specifically triggers kidney cancers, environmentally speaking.

    But I too avoid smokers like the plague. I just hate smelling like that if I walk through that miasma.

    Hey, if your condo unit had been ground zero for bedbug treatment, you'd think it would be required to put that in the disclosure statement! I'm livid on your behalf!
  • NRW
    NRW Member Posts: 1
    #8
    Jamie1.3cm said:

    causes of kidney cancer
    I too am on both British and American kidney cancer networks. Everything I've read has said that there is no known environmental cause for kidney cancer. The only things that slightly increase the risk are the things that increase risk for all cancers: smoking and weight. Nothing specifically triggers kidney cancers, environmentally speaking.

    But I too avoid smokers like the plague. I just hate smelling like that if I walk through that miasma.

    Hey, if your condo unit had been ground zero for bedbug treatment, you'd think it would be required to put that in the disclosure statement! I'm livid on your behalf!

    Possible link between kidney cancer and herbicide exposure?
    My husband has just been diagnosed with kidney cancer, and in reading around the internet we've seen some discussion about Agent Orange/dioxin as a possible causal factor. Does anyone on this forum have any info to contribute on that possibility?
  • MandyBear
    MandyBear Member Posts: 14
    #9
    NRW said:

    Possible link between kidney cancer and herbicide exposure?
    My husband has just been diagnosed with kidney cancer, and in reading around the internet we've seen some discussion about Agent Orange/dioxin as a possible causal factor. Does anyone on this forum have any info to contribute on that possibility?

    Agent Orange
    I saw something on this not too long ago. Google it. There are some military bases and of course countries overseas that used Agent Orange. Sometimes there is no reason we can ever discover.
  • suzika
    suzika Member Posts: 12
    #10
    Most of the time you never
    Most of the time you never know what caused it, if anything. Think about it there are nonsmokers with lung cancer, people who have never lived with smokers, who have died from it.

    One of the things that there is a definitive link is heredity. Very often if you have bilateral kidney cancer it is genetic based, or if you have it very young.

    The risk factors are the typical cancer risk factors, smoking, weight, things along that line. The one thing that surprised me and that is possibly one of the reasons for my kidney cancer is using large amounts of ibuprofen. I was injured when I was younger and I took massive doses of ibuprofen several times a day to get by. Had I known it was a cancer risk I would not have done that, but, they warn you away from narcotics, so I thought that an NSAID would be better.

    I was wrong. I am now on a pain contract with narcotics and luckily have had no recurrence.

    Sorry that you are part of our kidney cancer family, but, glad to meet you.

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