Good News Again

Hello, everyone. I just wanted to post the good news of my husband, Big John, to give some hope and comfort for those of you who are new to sutent.  John was diagnosed in 2006 and had left kidney removed.  Told he was good to go, but one year later found tumors in his lungs.  Biopsy revealed renal cancer, started on sutent, and began the process.

Side effects as usual became difficult to handle, so the doctor put him on 2 days on/1 day off with no breaks.  Side effects dimished considerably right away and he is able to tolerate everything quite confortably with managing diet and blood pressure medicine.

Since the first scan after sutent, the tumors have continued to shrink and have virtually disappeared over the past 18 months on sutent.  There is now no sign of the tumors at all, but we are staying on sutent for a while yet just for good measure. 

He is off to play golf today, taking advantage of the break in the cooler weather, and using it as an excuse to get out of doing things I've put on his "list".  Ha Ha 

My hope for you all is that you will have the excellent results that he has had and that your life can once again gain some degree of normalcy as you continue to fight. Keep the faith!    

Diannab

 

On 7/31/2008 Diannab wrote:

Hello, everyone. I just wanted to post the good news of my husband, Big John, to give some hope and comfort for those of you who are new to sutent.  John was diagnosed in 2006 and had left kidney removed.  Told he was good to go, but one year later found tumors in his lungs.  Biopsy revealed renal cancer, started on sutent, and began the process.

Side effects as usual became difficult to handle, so the doctor put him on 2 days on/1 day off with no breaks.  Side effects dimished considerably right away and he is able to tolerate everything quite confortably with managing diet and blood pressure medicine.

Since the first scan after sutent, the tumors have continued to shrink and have virtually disappeared over the past 18 months on sutent.  There is now no sign of the tumors at all, but we are staying on sutent for a while yet just for good measure. 

He is off to play golf today, taking advantage of the break in the cooler weather, and using it as an excuse to get out of doing things I've put on his "list".  Ha Ha 

My hope for you all is that you will have the excellent results that he has had and that your life can once again gain some degree of normalcy as you continue to fight. Keep the faith!    

Diannab

What wonderful news! Fantastic for you and your husband, and so very heartening for the rest of us.

Thank you for posting, it's just what we need to read -  and I hope you are both enjoying your lives more relaxed now.

All the best - Julie.

 

That is great news.....we need all the encouragement we can get!  I have RCC with mets to the lungs and brain.  I haven't had to start the sutent yet as the lesions on the lungs are small and we have already radiated the brain and hopefully that tumor is dying....

I did go to Cancer Treatment Center of America in Oklahoma.  They found my tumor in my brain.  I loved it there and if I ever need to go for any reason I would be happy to go..

Has anyone out there thought about GInterulukin 2?

Thanks

God Bless!

Jen

Jen - yes, we're 'keeping an eye' on IL2, and holding it in reserve, so to speak. Currently, my post-rad-neph husband has just started Sutent, and though we know the low statistical success rate of IL2 (and its gruelling side effects!), it's still good to know that it's still there as a possibility, and who knows, if it DOES work, it MIGHT just do the business!!

Dianne - speaking of 'doing the business' - does this mean your husband is now NED, or would that be tempting fate (or just inaccurate!) to say that?

All the best, as ever, to all of us. Julie

Great news...I do not post very often but look at this board almost daily for encouragement and information.  My husband was diagnosed with RCC in 2004 and had his right kidney removed with no further treatment.  In August 2007 the cancer came back and he was diagnosed with Stage 4 RCC with mets to the lungs and bone (sternum) and to the kidney bed where his right kidney used to be.  He had a large tumor in his sternum which they killed with radiation and 4 lesions in the lungs with 3-4 tumors in the kidney bed.  He started the full dose of Sutent in September 2007 and has had minimal side effects.  He gets tired really easy and has had the diahrea and some blisters on the hands, feet, and mouth.  The tumors have been gradually shrinking since he started the medication.  We went back to Duke last week and the Dr told him that he is TUMOR FREE.  They are also keeping him on Sutent for another 6 months or so for good measure and they are going to give him a break after that if the tests are still good.  So keep your heads up ..the medications are showing very promising results...

What fantastic news! And, again, so heartening for the rest of us to read.

Best regards, Julie

I love to read reports like your husbands. My husband to received a good report. He is on Torisel and his tumors have stayed the same but one had shrunk. I feel like if we all hang on that our loved ones will beat this awful disease.

Kim

I'm with you, Kim.  When it is our choice to have either a positive or negative outlook, I'm going positive.  It's so hard, especially in the beginning, to not be depressed, but if we would all share our successes, maybe it will help just one person hang on through another treatment, then another, and another, until we have beaten this thing once and for all.

Dianna