[cshay]

My ex-husband and I have 3 kids-15, 12, 10. He has been diagnosed with kidney cancer. The tumor is 13 cm at the top of his left kidney. The radiologist diagnosed renal cell carcinoma. My Ex went to the urologist today and he said that he cannot even see his adrenal gland because of the size of the tumor. He also brought up the possibility that it may not be in his kidney but his adrenal gland. All of his symptoms are in line with Kidney Cancer not adrenal cancer. he does not display any of the adreanl cancer symptoms. The urologist says that he will have to remove at least one rib to get the tumor /kidney out because of the size. My ex is in a lot of pain and says it hurts when he inhales. I am looking for any kind of prognosis based on this info. My kids are struggling looking for answers and while I don't want to tell them everything, I. myself, can't handle anything being sugar coated. Any insight would be so appreciated.

Thanks so much!
Prayerfully looking for answers,

Christy

[UroDoc]

As long as the cancer is contained and it sounds like it is then it is a curable cancer with surgical removal. He will probable need a bone scan and a chest x ray to confirm no spread to these areas, good luck.

[AZ Dot]

Hi Christy;
OK - I won't sugar coat it - Kidney Cancer is a very terrible disease. My ex had his
kidney removed last year, and then had a mass removed from the bottom of his
femur shortly thereafter. The kidney operation was painful for him, as was the
leg operation. You will find that there are good docs and bad docs. He will need help
to get through this initially. Your family and you will also need help - I can't tell you
how many times I have cried about all of this. You will find that they grade the
cancer - the earlier that they find it - the better. If it hasn't metastisized to any other
location, that is good too. Kidney cancer usually metastisizes to the bones, lungs, or
brain. It does not have a very good prognosis which is why I say that you will need
someone to talk to about everything. There are alot of good websites that will
provide lots of information. They will need to go in and take the mass out. Once they
do that, they will biopsy it and know for certain what it really is. After the diagnosis,
they will then do body scans and brain scans to determine if it has spread. After that,
they may want him to try some of the recent drugs that will shrink existing tumors.
THe ones I know of are Interleukin II and Nexavar. They are a type of chemo drug,
although not like the other ones. Please stay strong, and do not give up any hope.
Your family needs you! God Bless and I hope that things go well.

[UroDoc]

Sorry to hear about your ex. You are correct that kidney cancer can only be cured by surgery it does not respond well to chemo or radiation. Urologists are taught to stage the cancer before operating, so a bone scan and chest xray are done before surgery. That is not to say that micro metastatic disease that can not be imaged is not potentially present. I have hundreds of kidney cancer patients in my practice and the vast majority of them are alive or have died from something other than spread of kidney cancer. If the tumor is confined to the kidney and the surgical margins are clear the patient should be cured from the cancer, They will still need to be followed. In your ex's case he already had metastatic disease at the time of surgery, or his pathology report showed extension beyond the capsule. I hope he continues to do well

[michelator]

I'm curious about the tumor in your boyfriend's femur. Was it the spread of the renal cell cancer that caused it? Did he have the cancer anywhere else in his body?
I just had my kidney removed due to RCC and it was contained. It was nowhere else either. The bone scan is showing an area on my femur that is suspicious.