First Oncologist Appointments

I’ll post my potential prognosis at the end of this rather long post.

Because I have such a beautiful and loving wife in Melanie, that in many ways is the complete opposite of me, we were able to get into the doctors earlier than we would probably been able to. We were able to get several of our questions answered, but because the team was not able to view my first CT Scan, many questions are still left unanswered. The staff at UNC Chapel Hill were all awesome to speak to. From the people at various reception desks to the doctors, they all had smiles and it really helped to feel like we were in the right place.

Our first meeting was with Dr. Kim, a multidisciplinary oncologist and our second meeting was with Dr. Tan, a surgical oncologist. From Dr. Kim we learned quite a bit about how their process works and what to expect. It was also with Dr. Kim that we learned they hadn’t received the actual images from my CT Scan to be able to really evaluate them yet. All they had was the opinion of the radiologist that looked at the scan. Luckily we were able to bring a copy of the imaging with us so they do now have them. We were told by the imaging department local to us that they would get them over to the clinic digitally. This didn’t happen, of course, but my opinion of the local medical field will have to wait for another time.

Dr. Tan went more into what their current thought process was for treatment. Though we did not have any real conversations into what to expect for treatment yet, just very big generalities, as I had another CT scan to take yesterday and more bloodwork to do. The scan they did yesterday will tell them if my cancer has spread to my lungs, which is usually one of the first places kidney cancer goes to.

If the cancer has not gone to my lungs, surgery will most likely be my absolute best option. Dr. Tan feels very confident they can remove my kidney and adrenal gland with no major issues, Dr. Tan was able to see a bit of the scan we brought to the team although their radiologist will look at it for a more complete diagnostic evaluation. After surgery I would most likely start doing Keytruda Immunotherapy treatments. Chemotherapy has proven to not be effective for kidney cancer, but immunotherapy has proven to be very effective at helping the body fight back against kidney cancer cells. We didn’t go into what to expect or how long treatment would last because this is all very much up in the air right now, all dependent on further testing and what the scans from today show. They did say that if the scan comes back and it shows any metastasis into the lungs, or other areas of the body, this scenario will likely be completely reevaluated. Their words, “put the brakes on exactly how to treat and what would be best/most important or needed to be treated first.”

Prognosis: This is all dependent on how you want to read into it, and is especially dependent on what today’s scan shows. Technically I have stage 4 kidney cancer. This is based solely on the size of the mass on my kidney and the fact it has spread to my adrenal gland. But, I believe it was Dr. Kim that broke it down, stage 4 has different levels. There is the most positive level, an intermediate level, and a worse case level, within stage 4. As of now he would place me towards the higher end of the intermediate level, which he said was pretty good. Dr. Tan believes that if everything goes good and there is nothing in the lungs, he can remove all of the cancer they currently see. The immunotherapy afterwards would be to get rid of any cells or lesions that are too small to detect and to prevent the cancer from coming back. Which I specifically asked, if this cancer can be removed by taking a kidney, why is the survival rate so low, what kills those patients. Apparently this cancer has a pretty high return rate and that is why many people will dies within the five years after treatment. This is why the immunotherapy has been so life saving.

Stage 4 kidney cancer survival rate, which is measured by those alive 5 years after treatment, ranges from 25%-40% according to the doctors today. There are rates much lower on the internet, making me feel confident with this cancer treatment program. With the love of my family, a complete change in diet, and prayer support up and down the eastern seaboard, we will beat this disease. It’s not going to be easy and it may take a few years, but we are ready.

Love you all

Eric