On September 3, 2025, at about 03:00, I found out I had kidney cancer.
There is no easy way to hear you have cancer. Shock sets in quickly and the words the doctor tells you start to wash over you, past you, beyond you. You hear “cancer” and nothing else matters.
By the evening of September 19, 2025, my left kidney had been removed. They told me that it was about 80% tumor. Later, the surgeon said that they thought that gotten it all, but they would scan me every 3 months just to check. They recommended I see an oncologist for the cancer and a nephrologist for the fact that I now had only one kidney.
Of my nephrologist, I can only say good things. She has been a help and a treasure.
My first oncologist wanted to be helpful, but by late december we already knew she was leaving the practice. I got the first CT scan and MRI in late December. They should areas of concern in my left lung and some lymph nodes on the left center of my chest. They were uncertain what they were seeing, and reassured me that this was not what the kidney cancer would look like if it spread. But I knew. The cancer was back.
After several inconclusive appointments, they did a PETCt with the intention of showing if it was cancer. It was inconclusive – it could be cancer or it could have been a lung infection. They scheduled a biopsy for March 8, and then canceled it and prescribed anti-biotics instead.
For a while, I felt better. Then another CT scan showed that the shadow in my lung was larger. Now they were more certain it was cancer and they scheduled another biopsy. This time it showed cancer. Metastasized kidney cancer.
The doctors prescribed an immunotherapy – OPDIVO Qvantig® (nivolumab + hyaluronidase-nvhy) along with an anti-tumor formation biological called Cabozantinib.
OPDIVO is administered as an injection once every 4 weeks. During the first attempt, my blood pressure was too high. For the second, I took a calming agent and an emergency blood pressure lowering agent and my BP was low enough – I received the treatment.
Cabozantinib is expensive. Retail can be $1000 per pill and I must take one per day. Thanks to the magic of the American medical system, it did not cost me anything. Unfortunately, it has a long list of side effects, with one of the more notable being high blood pressure. It could kill me.
As of now, June 6, 2026, we are struggling to get my blood pressure lower so I can begin taking the Cabozantinib. My nephrologist has been nothing but helpful, but this is hard – It is likely my fault since I should have gotten this taken care of long ago. But it is slow and hard, and I am doing my best. Meanwhile, the cancer grows.
This is not a cancer with a cure. The five-year survival rate is 10% to 15%. Now, a lot of things go into survival rates – base health, age, how much the cancer has mutated and a myriad of other factors. There are people that have beat it – 1990’s action star Dolph Lundgren beat it. I am not a physical specimen like Dolph, but it gives me hope.
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