BOB JK My diary of kidney cancer (to be continued)
FormerMember
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Hi, My name is Bob and I live in Cambridgeshire. I am married with an 8 yr old daughter and three older step sons. Up untill the end of last year everything was tickety boo having recently moved to a new house which we love. Work was busy but enjoyable. I am Manager of an electrical companys maintenance department and my Wife, Linda was enjoying her job as a Nurse. The three boys are buying there own house nearby and all work locally. In November I went to my Doctors with a small "cyst" on my chest. After a couple of referals and many Xrays, pet scans, bone scans and CT scans I was told the news everybody dreads. My lump on the chest was a secondary cancer of which the primary was in my left Kidney. I was fast tracked to the Royal Brompton, under the expert care of Mr Laddas who informed a long and complicated operation would need to be carried out to remove the bone tumor and surrounding bone which involved two ribs,my collar bone and chest bone. I did not have time to panic, the operation was carried out the next day over 10 hrs. After nearly two weeks in the Brompton I am recovering well from this op but I have since been told that the Cancer is in both kidneys as well as small mets in both lungs. It seems at the moment further ops are out the question and i have been put on the drug Sutent. I am one week into this and so far so good. I do not know what the future holds but I have to remain positive.
Have been thinking of you on and off all day today and been a bit reluctant to sign on in case news was bad. Wow, what a drop in the percentages.............. so glad for you, Linda and family.
That's great news..I'm so pleased! I saw Linda's update earlier & was so relieved for you all.
After the turmoil you've been in trying to make decisions about it all, it must be a wonderful feeling to know that the treatment is there for you..even if it is does knock you for six. From what I've read..you'll be knocking it right back.
My love & very best wishes to you & all of your family..
Hi Bob, my husband also a Bob or Bobby, has had kidney cancer for nearly eight years. That started with a pain in the arm, it was discovered that the cancer had eaten through his upper right arm this was cut out and replaced with titanium. He has been on immunotherapy soraphenib and has now been on sutent for two years or more. I have seen the scans over this period and seen the tumours shrink, some are dead. Last October he developed an infection in the remaining kidney and they had to take him off the sutent, one of the tumours he has on his spine has regrown a fraction and it has trapped a nerve, consequently he has been unable to stand or walk since. We see the oncologist on in a couple of days and depending on his blood results we are hoping that he can restart the sutent so that it can restart to shrink the tumours again.
His oncologist has also informed us that if this drug "gives up" he now has some other drugs that can be used to do the same thing, that were not licenced a few years ago..
He too has tumours everywhere in his spine (which has been scaffolded up) in the hips, ribs etc. But I saw them all shrinking when on Sutent. So yes Bob stay possitive and hope that the sutent does the job.
I was so lifted to hear your good news. I replied to one of your posts a few weeks back. My husband finished his 10 days of whole head radiotherapy treatment last Friday. He is feeling quite tired & gets worn out easily. The skin on his head is a bit sore but we're applying the aqueous cream as advised, but at least he's nearly off the steroids and his sleep seems to have improved. His appetite seems to be returning althought he says that food still doesn't taste quite right. We are back at the hospital next week to discuss continuing the Sutent. Reading so many of the personal accounts on here gives me renewed hope for our own family. I wish you & your family all the best as you continue the fight.
Hi Bellabenji qand thanks for your posting. it sounds as if your Bob has been through the wars as well and hope he can continue to do as well as possible for as long as possible. I will stay positive (with the odd wobble at times) and am forever hopefull of a reasonable time ahead of me,
