Need To Accept

Hi,

Subject:  My father age:  83 

My story is a long one.  About 10 years ago my father's kidneys stopped working and he was put on dialysis.  He was put on a list for a cadaver donor. Four years ago his beeper went off and he had a donor.  When they went to put the transplant in (left side) they were surprised to see a very suspicious looking left kidney.  They took out the old kidney and put the transplanted kidney in the left hemipelvis.  A few weeks after the transplant he was informed that the kidney they took out was grade 3/4 cancer.  That was it.  The cancer was never brought up again.  All attention was on the transplant kidney.  My father just wanted that to keep working.  Well this past June he was constantly complaining of being tired, having a fever (without flu or cold), pain in the abdomin and complaining of a lump in his left side.  He was sent for a CT and they found a large irregular lobulated nacrotic mass 7.2 cm.  A few weeks later he went back to the transplant surgeons and they did their own CT and they found an irregularly bordered peripherally enchancing mass 6x6x9.2 cm in the left renal fossa, that abuts the tail of the pancreas, the transplanted kidney and psoas muscle.  There is no visible fat plane between the mass and the new kiddney or psoas muscle.  There is also 2 small nodules in the lateral portion of the right lower lobe of the lung suggesting metastasis. He had a biopsy done with a needle/ct but they could not get enough live tissue to see what stage the cancer was at.  So all they could tell us was he has recurrent renal cell carcinoma with possible mets to the lungs.  They have told him to have surgery is out of the question.  Of course his anti-rejection medicine was fueling this cancer so they put him on Rapamune.  The side effects of this new medication are numerous.  All my father is concerned about right now is that he does not loose the function of the new kidney.  He feels tired all the time, has a fever everyday.  He tries to go about doing his daily chores.  But by midday he is wiped.  My mother is fully dependent on the man for everything and both of them seem to be in denial about the cancer.  They won't mention it or talk about it.  I have tried to go to all doctor appointments with them but all my father talks about is sports and fishing with the oncologist.  Not what he's there for or what to expect. 

Can anybody tell me what I can expect?  We have heard it could move fast.  What does that mean?  It could be slow, but they don't think so.  Changing the antirejection med. bought him time.  How much?  According to my father he felt this lump in his side two years ago!  He thought it was his new kidney.  I think of nothing else, day and night.  My mother told me not to sugar coat anything I learn on this, but when I answer her questions point blank she poo poo's me away and blames the vitamins or the weather for his fevers and feeling tired.  He is starting to have fainting spells and I do not know if this is all part of the process.  Thanks for listening and sorry for any spelling erros.

Hi, First I would like to tell you so sorry to hear about your Dad. I really am new to this myself. Although my father has had Kidney Cancer for two years. He has been taking a drug called Sutent and it has helped slow the process of the cancer that has spread. I know he has been very lucky so far. I hope you can find the answers you are looking for either here or on another board. We have just found out that my fathers has now spread to the pubic bone area. We too are wondering if its going to continue to be a slow process. I wish they had some better answers for this cancer type.

God Bless

In our prayers too.

Hi Suqram,

My husband is only 56 and has been battling RCC since 2001.  He refused to take the very toxic Interferon and Interlukin which is all that was available to him at that time.  He turned to alternative immune boosters like IP6 and Graviola.  He has been robust until just recently even though they did see 5 abnormalities in his pancreas in 2003.  But then on 9/11/2007, they found two very small brain tumors in his brain stem that were determined to be inoperable.  But then God led us to a doctor who uses CyberKnife radiation which has sub-millimeter accuracy.  He just went through 2 outpatient treatments that are supposed to kill the tumors.  The CyberKnife can be used on tumors up to 3 cm in size anywhere in the body except in the bowel or tongue.  Not sure if any of this information is helpful to you or not.  It is wonderful that your Dad has been able to enjoy 83 years and I pray that he will be able to get through this for many more years.  It can be fast but in my husbands case, it did not get lethal until 6 years down the road.  We are praying that the new meds like SUTENT and this CyberKnife will give him some hope.

In God's Hands - Susan

Thank you for sharing your story. All the doctors have told him that the mass is inoperable.  There are so many blood vessels involved that even to try for a second biopsy he could bleed out.   I wish my father could try the various drugs out there, but because of the transplanted kidney, which he does not want to loose, he has to be careful of what he takes.  This new anti-rejection medicine that he is on has horrible side affects.  It is a horrible waiting game and so hard watching as he trys to battle this.  I know he is scared and so is my mother.  With winter coming he will be house ridden more and I fear he will give up.  I pray daily for strength but even now I feel a loss I cannot explain.

 My prayers will be with you also as I know I am not alone during this time.