Urethelial cancer in Kidney

6 years 4 months ago #54213 by Hillbilly
Replied by Hillbilly on topic Urethelial cancer in Kidney
Thank you for the encouragement! In my case, I have to face reality, and my lungs and liver are basically full of cancer. After 3 cycles of chemo, I have good days and bad, but mostly bad. I'm trying to keep a good attitude! The docs put me on a drug that increased my appetite, and I have gained back 40 lbs. of the 60 lbs. that I have lost, and I'm loving to eat once again!

I should get another scan in about 1 month, after cycle #4 of chemo. All we can do is hope & pray for the best!

-Hill

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6 years 4 months ago #54208 by Carol99
Replied by Carol99 on topic Urethelial cancer in Kidney
Yes. I. Am glad we hooked up. I haven't found too much about our type as far as survival stats. My doctor thinks they can eradicate it as it is now with removing the kidney and the ureter. One thing I have learned is that there is always someone with something worse than mine is. It is hard for me to grasp that I have a life threatening disease when I have no symptoms and feel great. THe other thing I see is that people can live a lifetime battling cancer. I would hate to be sick the entire time, but so far I am tolerating the chemo fairly well. Some low blood numbers as expected, but nothing that stopped the chemo. I hope you get some good results with your next scan and show a positive direction for the chemo success. I am planning for a normal life span, with or without cancer! Keep a positive attitude!

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6 years 4 months ago #54207 by Hillbilly
Replied by Hillbilly on topic Urethelial cancer in Kidney
The same wrong diagnosis (RCC) happened to me. And, the CT scan only showed in left kidney, but mets to nodes, lungs & liver. Actually, RCC has many more treatment options than the bladder cancer (TCC or UTUC) that we have. I actually took a drug (Sutant) for 28 days for the wrong cancer. My doctors really did not agree to remove the diseased kidney - they wanted to start chemo first. But, I found a good Urologist that removed it anyway. I just wanted that primary tumor removed. It was almost 7 cm, so took up about a third of my kidney. I'm 60 years old. There are studies that show having one kidney will work with Cisplatin:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20532510

However, we need to watch it closely!

It's good that we are chatting. It's not that easy to find a person to chat with that has this cancer.

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6 years 4 months ago #54206 by Carol99
Replied by Carol99 on topic Urethelial cancer in Kidney
I am 73 years old. THe only metasticized spot was in a adjacent lymph node and that is the one that was reduced in size. They aren't positive they will remove kidney, but I am guessing the odds are good that they will. At 73 I wouldn't have to face 20-25 years with only one, but on the other hand, if it spread to the only kidney I havd that would be a problem! I am drinking water like crazy to keep the creatnine working well. Yuk!!! 4 bottles or more a day! Right now, both kidneys are working okay. I have a bladder cancer, but nothing in my bladder. I have read that men seem to have more SEs than women. I wonder if there is a difference in the dosage. At first when they thought I had renal cell cancer, the prognosis was grim if the chemo didn't work and stats showed it wasn't successful 85% of the time. Good luck! How many more infusions will you have before they re-evaluate? What is your age?

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6 years 4 months ago #54205 by Hillbilly
Replied by Hillbilly on topic Urethelial cancer in Kidney
Thanks for the reply,

I'm glad you have not had many SE's to this chemo. Cisplatin has raised the creatinine level in my only right kidney, so after my 2nd cycle, the Onc. cut it by 25%. So, I'm hoping and praying that my scan after 4 (3 week cycles) will show some regression!

I'm so glad you have showed some reduction in tumor size. Do you have mets in other organs? I probably have about 60 mets in both lungs, and some big and small ones in my liver.

I'm kind of surprised that you are still having a kidney removed? What is your age?

-Hill

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6 years 4 months ago #54202 by Carol99
Replied by Carol99 on topic Urethelial cancer in Kidney
UPDATE
After 2 rounds of chemo with only mild fatigue, they did scans for progress (I am set for four rounds_ the scans showed reduction from 14.8 mm to 6.6 mm size of tumor. No other spots shown. Hope after chemo is complete it is even better! Still no major side effects from chemo. Two weeks left of chemo . THen more scans to see results. Plan is to let chemo get out of system and remove left kidney and ureter and I guess the lymph node affected. So far. So good.

Yes. I have had the same Chemo you have had. Received infusions one day a week. On two weeks and off a week. Seems to have had good results. My Dr was happy.

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