I have joined the group this morning . I had kidney cancer in August 2015 which resulted in the removal of my left kidney in October 2015 . I had shown no symptons at all up to this point and had been out for a family meal the previous evening when I started to feel ill and couldn't stop vomiting followed by blood in my urine . At first I was blaming it on something I had eaten at the restaurant .The following October a scan picked up the appearance of small paratracheal lymph nodes with a gradual increase on surveillance . For a while everything was stable but then one of my regular scans picked up on cancer in my prostate in April 2022 . I had radiotherapy to treat this in November 2022 .
In October 2023 my original cancer had metastasized into my right kidney and also my lungs/chest area . I then was started on a 2 year Immunotherapy treatment with sessions every 4 weeks .
In March 2025 I had an operation to clear my sinuses and also to take some biopsies that had shown up something abnormal in that area . The operation had to be stopped because I was losing so much blood and had to be given multiple transfusions . When I later read the notes it was described as a "life threatening , near catastrophic" situation . The consultant advised me that further surgery was deemed to be too dangerous.
Further MRI scans to investigate my sinuses picked up on a tumor in my brain and the likelihood that the problem with my sinuses is also cancer related . My Immunotherapy was stopped at this point and I was put on Sunitinib tablets . 4 weeks on , 2 weeks off . I did not take to the new medication straight away and was hospitalized for a week while it was sorted and have tolerated it quite well since. I had radiotherapy on the brain tumor in August 2025 and recent scans showed up well so it's just a case of keep taking the tablets and turning up for blood tests and scans .
In the middle of all this in December 2021 I was very poorly with Covid and was hospitalized . It was quite a shock to be sat on the sofa at home when a doctor came out to see me and he immediately told my wife to phone for an ambulance . It was quite surreal to hear him say to the 999 operator that the ambulance was required urgently as there was a "danger to life" . When I eventually left hospital I saw one of the nurses who first looked after me when I was admitted and she told me that she didn't think I was going to make it the first week I was in . That too was a weird feeling !! We had to have oxygen installed in the house for months afterwards to help with my rehabilitation .
Another strange episode during this period was when a doctor on his daily rounds told me that due to my history with cancer that a DNR had been put on my notes . I contested this and got onto my wife who contacted a couple of people including my Christies consultant and the DNR was eventually lifted but for a few hours it was very stressful.
Apologies for waffling on but that's about it .
