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Patient Stories

This is a guest post by Susan Hill, a member of the KCA’s Patient & Caregiver Advisory Council and wife and caregiver of Bruce Hill. She documents their adventures on Instagram. When we found out Bruce had an “ugly” tumor on his right kidney and needed a radical nephrectomy, my head was spinning. Leaving the hospital, I knew I needed…

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Two sisters bond caring for mom with kidney cancer

Patient Stories

“I’m done watching.” Patricia Rutter with her grandchildren. Sharon Rorie, on the phone with her sister and brother, waited for the litany of questions that would normally follow an announcement like that. Instead, both were in immediate agreement. The siblings spent the last two years watching the nodule on their mother’s kidney as she went through a series of kidney…

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Heather Colby’s fitness classes rock out for kidney cancer

Donor Story, Patient Stories

Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, Heather Colby, a fitness instructor, took her POUND exercise classes outside, starting with about 10 people in a local park where she lives in Long Island, New York. It was a welcome break for her class to get moving and do something social safely. From left, Elyn, Heather, and Meagan with their son Caleb. “Some…

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Persistence, Patience and Pilates

Patient Stories

Leah Christoforidis was 32 weeks pregnant when she started feeling the symptoms of kidney cancer.  She pushed back against the suggestion that it might just be muscle pain – Leah is something of a fitness buff, and this didn’t feel like any pulled muscle or strain she’d ever dealt with before. An ultrasound confirmed a mass on her kidney. She…

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Ashley runs for “Redz”, her punk rock dad

Donor Story, Patient Stories

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FCPnYXprtA Gears song "Don't Be Afraid to Pogo" off their 1980 studio album is also the name of their 2015 feature length documentary telling the story of the band. In Ashley Anderson’s home, punk rock was the soundtrack of family life. That was thanks to Ashley’s father, Brian “Redz” Anderson, a member of The Gears who were “one of the…

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My Journey Becoming a Kidney Cancer Survivor

Patient Stories

Keri was honored as a cancer survivor at an Oklahoma State University Men’s Basketball as part of Coaches vs. Cancer. This is a guest blog by Keri Kirby, 47, cancer survivor. She lives in Missouri. My journey began on Saturday, March 17, 2018. The day started out as normal, and I attended a church conference about 45 minutes away from…

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Sean Healy’s journey with kidney cancer

Patient Stories

This is a guest post by Sean Healy, a husband, father, avid traveler, hiker, and corporate real estate executive who was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney cancer in 2018. He is based in Richmond, Virginia. Sean Healy with his wife Paige and sons Patrick and Ryan. I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Clear Cell RCC in the summer of 2018…

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The One-Kidney Bodybuilder

Patient Stories

This is a guest post by Annamarya Scaccia, a writer, fitness expert, and kidney cancer survivor. Follow her on Instagram @stillwellfitness. “In second place, number 87.” I relax and sway to the front of the stage, the lights bright overhead. Feet planted, I move into my front pose and bend my head slightly, a medal placed around my neck. It’s near…

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Through kidney cancer, figuring out how to get unstuck

Patient Stories

This is a guest post by Bonnie Davidoff, a kidney cancer patient, aunt to the most amazing nieces and nephews, and arts enthusiast based in Olympia, Washington. Bonnie Davidoff with her family on a recent visit to Epcot Center in Florida. It was Davidoff's first visit with her family in three years because of health issues and the Covid-19 pandemic.…

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Lessons learned from stage IV renal cell carcinoma

Patient Stories

This is a guest post by Joel Stern, who was diagnosed with stage IV renal cell carcinoma in 2020. This is the second in a two-part series, in which Joel discusses what he learned through his kidney cancer journey. Read part one: I have stage IV renal cell carcinoma and I’m surprisingly content After a stage IV clear cell renal…

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