July 2010: Kim McDaniel

Featuring and Written By:
Kim McDaniel


Kim's blog is also listed under the Kidney Cancer Warriors' Personal Sites.
This is her first entry in the blog....

From the Start...

Hello! Welcome to my blog! The reason I am starting this blog is to give hope, support and understanding to others who have been diagnosed with kidney cancer, or have a loved one who has, or are a fellow kidney cancer survivor. My name is Kim, I am married with 2 teen boys and work fulltime at a national telecom company. I am a 4 year kidney cancer survivor and this is my story...It started on November 30th, 2006, I was at my workplace and suddenly had sharp abdominal pains. The pain was so intense that I was doubled over and then felt sick at my stomach. I went home early fearing I just had a virus but later in the evening I felt worse. My husband took me to the emergency room and about an hour later was released. The doctor there felt it too was a virus but advised me to contact my personal physician if I did not feel better by Monday. I didn't feel better by Monday, so I made an appointment to see my doctor that morning. Initially, he thought it might be my appendix so he ordered a CATSCAN of my abdominal area. I went to the lab to have this done and after the labtech took the scan, she left to make sure she had a clear scan. I should have known something was up when she was gone almost 20 minutes and came back and told me abruptly that she would get the scan to my physician ASAP. I thought she was just having a bad day...Little did I know it was going to be me who was going to have the bad day...My physician called my house and my youngest son(then 10)answered the phone and I then grabbed our bedroom phone. He cut to the chase...He apologized for not telling me face to face but wanted me to know ASAP what was going on. It seems my appendix was fine but they discovered an incidental finding. There was mass on my right kidney and he referred me to a urologist the next day. He also said I probably did have a virus and that virus probably saved my life because the early stages of kidney cancer really have no physical or visual signs. As I hungup from that call, my 10 year old came in crying...He had never hungup the other phone...He had heard my diagnosis and wanted to know if I was going to be alright and I tried to comfort him but I too, was so scared. The next day, my husband & I met with my urologist who viewed my scan and said that indeed there was a 1 inch tumor on my right kidney and that to prevent it from spreading, would have to be removed VERY soon. He said chemo would not be needed as long as it was the early stages and it had not spread. He scheduled my surgery for the next week. My husband & I cried all the way home. When we came home, we pulled ourselves together enough to try to tell the boys in the calmest way possible what was going on. My youngest son(loves science)wanted to know if he could have my kidney after it was removed? lol That was a much needed laugh after a day of crying. The next week was hell, telling everyone, making arrangements for help with the boys while I was in the hospital, trying to come to terms that I had cancer. The date of my surgery came and went smooth but the day following my surgery, my urologist said he wanted a chest xray. Before I had been admitted to the hospital, my urologist had requested blood tests, chest xrays, etc. He had seen something on those xrays that he feared was a mass on my chest. I was a basketcase...Here I had made it through the surgery to remove this tumor and now he was telling me that there may be more...The xrays came back fine. It was an enlarged blood vessel and not a tumor. Thank God! I went home the next day to recover. Four years later...no reoccurences(knock on wood)but still have emotional moments. I thank God for my husband, my sons, my friends, and family that stood by me through it all. I never take my health for granted anymore and if you are reading this please at least take that away from this if nothing else...


August 3, 2010
Cancer's Emotional Rollercoaster

As if life doesn't throw you enough stress, when you are diagnosed with kidney cancer just tops the stress chart! The minute my urologist confirmed that I did indeed have kidney cancer, my life changed forever. I will never forget the feeling I felt...It felt like someone punched me in the stomach and I couldn't breathe. I was staring straight at my urologist and he must have seen the shock in my eyes, he immediately said he would give me and my husband a few minutes...My husband was equally shaken. He told me he felt like someone had pulled the rug out from under him. He was terrified he was going to lose me. It was the for worse of the better or worse scenario from our marriage vows.

The drive home from the urologist office was a tearfest...It was so hard to comprehend that I had kidney cancer at age 40. I decided that day that being 40 offically sucked lol. I remember it was a snowy day and when we got home it was almost time for ours boys to get home from school. The phone rang just as the boys walked in...It was our neighbor Nancy wanting us to know the boys had been in a friendly snowball fight with her son and he was crying because he got some snow in his eye...I was so upset that all I could think of was, "Tell him to suck it up because I have cancer!" lol Of course I didn't say that, I apologized with my voice shaking and sent the boys down to her house to apologize to her son.

Cancer invokes many emotions...I remember after my surgery, I had sent my husband home for the night to get some sleep and I just sat in my hospital bed and just cried...Sometimes a good cry really does help! I remember looking across the hall and a lil old lady in her room must have seen me because she gave a little supportive wave. Thank God for good people...

I remember my friends Scarlet & Charlotte came to visit me after my surgery. It was so nice to see them both and to talk about something else other than my surgery. Cancer scares alot people but Scarlet and Charlotte were both there to support me and help me get through it all, I could not ask for better friends. Cancer equally shook my husband and kids. My husband was my rock through it all and the kids reminded me every day that cancer was not going to win this battle.

Even today almost 4 years later, I have my moments...When Farrah Faucett was in her late stages of cancer and showed her public struggle on tv...I cried like a baby. When Patrick Swayze lost his brave battle with cancer, again waterworks. There was a guy at work that passed away after a long battle with a brain tumor and I went home and cried. Once you have had cancer it just seems so personal....

I wish I could say there was a formula to get through it all but of course there isn't...I can say that staying positive helps and even keeping a sense of humor helps. As crazy as that seems, it is true. When the urologist told me it was time to wheel me in for my surgery, I looked at him and said, "Let's get this party started." I think that is the only time before my surgery I had ever seen him smile...After my surgery, I was in recovery for about 4 hours because the hospital was so full they were waiting on a empty bed. The nurse told me they had a bed in the maternity ward and I remember saying, "Can I get a quieter location please?" lol "No offense...But been there, done that!" I remember my sons visiting me and thinking how cool the whole IV thing was! They were completely in awe of the morphine drip fed to me through a small tube! I think if they could have taken me to Show & Tell at school, they would have! lol

Lastly, I now go every December for my annual CATSCAN to check for any reoccurence.

I hope I can send out the text message I did last year every year-Kim 3 Cancer 0.

Update September 2010: Kim McDaniel has updated her blog:

Blog: The One Kidney Mom


Post: Cancer's Emotional Rollercoaster

Link: http://onekidneymom.blogspot.com/2010/08/cancers-emotional-rollercoaster.html