CancerCompass message board discussion started by grantpaige on 7/23/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,26384,0.htm Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Hi all...thanks in advance for any insight.  My dad is 64 and in phenominal shape. He eats PERFECT, exercises with weights and cardio daily and doesn't smoke or drink.  That said, after complaining of fatigue and weight loss over the past couple weeks, docs checked his blood, which showed that he was anemic via internal bleeding.  Had a CT scan the next day which revealed a baseball size mass on his kidney.  Had MRI today and will get results soon.  My dad said that his doc told him that it didn't appear that his lymph nodes were affected.  My question is, can they know from a CT scan that this cancer hasn't gone to his lungs or another organ?  They did not mention it either way...just that there was a mass on his kidney.  Also, is it a pretty safe bet that it isn't in his lymph nodes since the doc made that comment?  Can you even see lymph nodes clearly on a CT?  Prayers go out to everyone affected by this crazy disease.... Thanks....LT  grantpaige Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hi LT   Yes a ct scan will show cancer in lymphe nodes, that is how they found mine.  There is a test called pet scan they had me do to make sure all of the ones showing cancer were actually cancer, they said the pet scan will show cancer anywhere in the body. Hope this helps. Lee Lee G. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT  On 7/23/2008 grantpaige wrote:Hi all...thanks in advance for any insight.  My dad is 64 and in phenominal shape. He eats PERFECT, exercises with weights and cardio daily and doesn't smoke or drink.  That said, after complaining of fatigue and weight loss over the past couple weeks, docs checked his blood, which showed that he was anemic via internal bleeding.  Had a CT scan the next day which revealed a baseball size mass on his kidney.  Had MRI today and will get results soon.  My dad said that his doc told him that it didn't appear that his lymph nodes were affected.  My question is, can they know from a CT scan that this cancer hasn't gone to his lungs or another organ?  They did not mention it either way...just that there was a mass on his kidney.  Also, is it a pretty safe bet that it isn't in his lymph nodes since the doc made that comment?  Can you even see lymph nodes clearly on a CT?  Prayers go out to everyone affected by this crazy disease.... Thanks....LT Hi! LT,            Lee is correct, a CT will help with with DX possibly some mets. My onc also had me do a bone scan.It tells if there is any mets to the bones.After all that the treatment plan comes next. there are lots of meds that deal with RCC with great promise. I personally am taking Sutent . It's the first line after surgery. Then Torisel and others depending on patients situation.Keep a positive attitude and try to keep your dad up beat also.  Take Care  John jorolo1 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT there is no way that any doctor can say with definitive confidence that RCC has not spread to the lymph nodes by one cat scan.  Any doctor who would say such a thing is probably one to be left behind. RCC-renal cell carcinoma-is one of the sneakiest cancers there is and it uses the blood and lymph nodes to spread. But the cells do not all follow the same recipe-some grow into mets fast, some slow, some never.. The larger the mass the more likely it has metastasized elsewhere.  The only way to be sure a node is not cancerous would be to biopsy it and since we have thousands of nodes that would be obviously impossible.  Get to an RCC specialist surgeon and oncologist immediately and attack the disease aggressively and without delay. Finally PLEASE: if a doctor says to a kidney cancer patient, "we got it all" and means you are cancer free, run don't walk to a new doctor. It is a sign that he/she does not know enough about the disease. An experienced specialist would never say such words-probably ever-because of the nature of the disease. We refer to it as NED-no evidence of disease, but never gone.That said there are lots of survivors living great lives and my husband is one of them. He had a radical nephrecotmy-kidney removed-and has mets in his chest, and rear of his torso.  But with great treatmetn and ongoing meds we are living our lives, enjoying ourselves, and occasionally forget we're still in the fight.  We know it is there, we know we will face new challenges but in the mean time we are doing okay. You can too if you start right away demanding the right doctors, the right information and the right care.  tagml  Tagml Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT