There is a bill in the House of Representatives (HR 3699) that has special meaning to me. 

I was diagnosed with kidney cancer in November 2011.  I have undergone a successful surgery.  I am, to the best of my doctor's knowledge, cancer free right now.  You may not know that most kidney cancers don't respond to chemotherapy or radiation treatments.  We rely on two things, surgery and drugs.  The drugs that are under development have some success.  I currently don't have to take these drugs, but many kidney cancer patients do. 

HR 3699 is sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Committee member Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) – endangers our access to federally-funded research.  That's right.  You and I could spend our tax dollars funding research that becomes secret.  That's not really fair.  It is not moral.  As someone who may need to rely on things that come out of such research, I am sickened. 

I urge you to do two things. 

1) Read about this bill. 

A Link to an Article in the Scientific American

A Link to an Article on CARE2.COM

2) Please contact your representative in Congress.  I have.  If you don't know how, please go to www.congress.org and that site can help you send a letter or an email.

There are 1.5 million new cancer patients each year in the USA.  Don't let us down. 

Although many kidney cancers are found fairly early, while they are still confined to the kidney, others are found at a more advanced stage. There are a few reasons for this:

• These cancers can sometimes become quite large without causing any pain or other problems.
• Because the kidneys are deep inside the body, small kidney tumors cannot be seen or felt during a physical exam.
• There are no recommended screening tests for kidney cancer in people who are not at increased risk.

Let's narrow this down:

• About 1.6 million new cancer cases were detected in the USA in 2011.
• About 60,920 new cases of kidney cancer (37,120 in men and 23,800 in women) will occur.
• About 13,120 people (8,270 men and 4,850 women) will die from this disease.
• The average age of people when they are diagnosed is 64.
• Kidney cancer is very uncommon in people younger than age 45, and it most often occurs in people 55 and older.
• I am 42!
• Kidney cancer is among the 10 most common cancers in both men (#6) and women (#8).
• My tumor was 13cm at it's largest point.  That's over 5 inches! 
• My cancer was removed in December 2011. 
• The average growth rate for kidney cancer is less than 1cm per year. 
• Do the math!
• Kidney Cancer Risk Factors CLICK HERE

How in the heck did this happen to me??

It's a nice brown with three green stripes.  It fits this sick Irishman well. 

It's a classic design.  There was no return address, but I suspect I know the donor and I am deeply touched. 

I love you and thanks for your support!

Why are people donating Star Wars Shirts to me? CLICK HERE

I went through a similar process as with my GP.  There were samples, needles, and comments of "this could be nothing, this could be something."  I already knew the laundry list of potential causes. 

We ended the visit with a brief discussion that a CT scan was warranted. 

I sat with the scheduler, Nicole and made an appointment for the scan.  I only had to wait two days. 

Little did I know that Dr. Bradford and Nicole would become close colleagues of mine in the near future. 

It happened again.  Tuesday morning.  Crud.  I am slightly concerned.  Not a happy camper.  Fortunately I was able to get in to my Dr (thanks, Dr. Morgan!) pretty quickly. 

I explained to him what happened, and he had me pee in a cup (that's always fun!) and they drew some blood for testing.  The results from the urine sample showed some bacteria and blood. 

He recommended that I make an appointment right away at Virginia Urology.  "It could be nothing, or it could be something."  The last time someone in the medical profession told me to do something right away I was rushed to the hospital with appendicitis.  I should have known. 

My appt was the next day. 

At least we were with good friends and in a cabin. 

There was a great birthday dinner for a dear friend.  We had steak, wine, cupcakes, some board games.  We were all feeling a bit tired because we had spent the day outside and had walked the trails.  Actually, I even ran for a good amount of time since my dog, Noel, was feeling quite frisky and wanted to tear down the trails as only she could. 

It was only 10 o'clock, but since we were tired, we were all turning in one after one.  I cleaned up, brushed my teeth, and went to the bathroom.  I was unprepared and in complete shock to see my urine gush out with a sangria color. 

I didn't want to alarm anyone, but my mind was in freak out mode.  There are all sorts of analogies that I could make regarding this experience, but I'll just leave it that I have never seen anything like this and was unable to process this situation.  

Did I say that we were camping?  Did I mention that I was "off the grid" and had practically no cellular signal?  As a geek, that in and of itself was stressful enough, but now I really had some information that I needed to seek out!

I let my wife, Lissa, know what happened and I attempted to gracefully excuse myself to step outside.  If I help my phone at the right angle outside, I could get enough signal to start Googling and get some information.  After quite a bit of time, I had a small list of potential causes. 

• Kidney stones
• Infections of the urinary tract (UTIs) or genitals
• Blockage of the urinary tract, usually the urethra: by a stone, a tumor, a narrowing of the opening (stricture), or a compression from surrounding structures
• Cancer of the kidney, bladder, or prostate
• Kidney disease
• Blood-clotting disorders
• Injury to the upper or lower urinary tract, as in a car accident or a bad fall (especially falls onto your back)
• Medications: antibiotics (for example, rifampin [Rifadin]), analgesics such as aspirin, anticoagulants (blood thinners such as warfarin, [Coumadin]), phenytoin (Dilantin), quinine (Quinerva, Quinite, QM-260)
• Benign (noncancerous) enlargement of the prostate known as benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), a common condition in older men
• Chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and sickle cell anemia
• Viral infections
• Inflammation of the kidney, usually of unknown cause
• Strenuous exercise, especially running, results from repeated jarring of the bladder. In one study, 24% of runners who competed in an ultra-long-distance marathon had hematuria after the race. The hematuria disappeared within seven days. A 20% incidence has been found in marathon runners.
• Foods: beets, berries, and rhubarb in large amounts
• Food colorings

I was able to quickly eliminate a few from the list.  I needed to calm myself down and was very hopeful after reading the last three potential causes.  I had experienced strenuous exercise, more than I had in a long time.  I had also had a red velvet cupcake from a gourmet shop.  Lissa shared with me that they likely used a high concentration of beet juice dye to make the chocolate cake turn red. 

That was enough to allow me to sleep.  I was deathly afraid of needing to go to the bathroom again ...