Patient Stories

For Megan Conley, an Unexpected Diagnosis (Part One)

Patient Stories

In this three-part series, guest writer Megan Conley describes her experience with kidney cancer. Megan is a featured speaker at the KCA's upcoming IKCS 2020 and Virtual Patient Symposium (register now). Read part two - "How much we take for granted." Read part three - "Life after kidney cancer will be different." Megan Conley and her husband. My husband and…

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The leader of the “kidney cancer club” shares what he’s learned

Patient Stories

 Startled by a change in his urine color, 44-year-old Chapmann brought up his concern to his wife Cindy, who is an ER nurse. Cindy mentioned the idea of kidney stones and assured her husband that all was okay since he had no pain. However, Cindy also encouraged Chapmann to schedule a doctor appointment.  After returning home from a volleyball game…

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Facing kidney cancer, Matty learned how to be his own advocate

Patient Stories

 After suffering from severe flank pain all summer, Matty McClain decided to visit his general practitioner in late 2018. Blood tests results seemed normal, but when Matty examined his results more closely online, he noticed that his creatinine had gone from less than .99 milligrams/deciliters (mg/dL)* to 1.36mgl/dL and his estimated glomerular filtration rate from over 90 millimeters/minute (mL/min)* to…

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Michele’s #orangestacksforkidneycancer takes off on Instagram

Donor Story, Patient Stories

 Early in July, stacks of orange-colored books began popping up on Instagram. Michele Voss, a book lover whose Instagram account is devoted to what she’s been reading, wanted to do something special to honor her husband, Ted Voss, who had kidney cancer and died in 2018.  “I had been thinking about it for a while. People post [pictures of] book…

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“Paint the Courts Orange” events honor tennis coach

Donor Story, Patient Stories

Coach Sydney Acosta has a track record of winning. As the Athletic Director and tennis coach at Assumption Parish High School in Napoleonville, Louisiana, Sydney, 56, led the tennis teams to over 1,000 winning games over his 33-year career. When he was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2010, his community came together to help him triumph. Since 2011, the school…

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Hard talks about kidney cancer helped Susan Hill

Patient Stories

Susan Hill and her husband, Bruce, had always been very active. When her healthy husband found it difficult to keep up with their kids on a hiking trip, Susan suggested he see a doctor. An ultrasound and a CT scan revealed that Bruce had a mass on his right kidney and small nodes on his lungs. Surgery quickly followed to…

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Bruce Hill talks about his kidney cancer journey

Patient Stories

Bruce Hill and his family are avid hikers, so when he started having trouble keeping up with his kids on the trails, his wife Susan encouraged him to see a doctor. Bruce and Susan Hill with their children. “I was pale, my strength was pretty much shot. I felt run down and tired, I’d need naps and coffee in the…

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For Vietnam vet, kidney cancer is one of life’s hurdles

Patient Stories

Richard Tullier was driving on a road outside Da Nang, Vietnam when his jeep hit an explosive device that injured him badly. Tullier was a US Marine serving in the Vietnam War at the time and that day he had been called to help some fellow Marines elsewhere. He spent 5 months in hospitals recovering after the accident and several…

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Community rallied orange after kidney cancer diagnosis

Patient Stories

After Michelle Picolo’s kidney cancer diagnosis last fall, her family and friends turned her world orange at every opportunity to show their support. At her office, where she works for the state of Louisiana, her colleagues had an ‘orange day’ and threw an orange party complete with an orange-iced cake. Her daughters distributed orange rubber wrist bands to their school…

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Training for a half marathon and facing kidney cancer

Patient Stories

 Brian Moran’s kidney cancer diagnosis came as a complete surprise a few weeks before his 50th birthday last year.  He’d had no symptoms. A physical therapist, who was treating him for an exercise-related lower back injury, ordered an MRI to see the extent of the injury.  “I thought the Orthopedic doctor was going to talk about a pulled muscle or…

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