Jeff Kallis's Continued Story of Survivorship

This is a guest post by Jeff Kallis, who was diagnosed with stage 3 clear cell renal cell carcinoma in 2023.

This is a follow up post to my post in January 2024. Now two years later, I am a “kidney cancer survivor”! Six months ago I graduated to the Kidney Cancer Survivorship Clinic at Mayo Clinic Rochester rather than being seen directly by my urologist. I know that he is lurking in the background watching over my care.

It was a great feeling knowing I would be seen in the Survivorship Clinic for future surveillance visits. After my 3-month radical nephrectomy post op visit, my urologist told me he would be following me personally. I knew what that meant. My case was one to be watched closely. Stage 3, Grade 3, with renal vein invasion, the risk of recurrence was about 25 percent. Just the idea of being followed by a “survivorship clinic” had a calming affect on me.

With each passing surveillance exam my confidence that I have moved beyond this nightmare builds. I don’t think about kidney cancer every five minutes of my day. I am back to enjoying every moment of life and in many ways again see the world “through a child’s eyes”. I thought a person only experiences that once in a lifetime. I am getting a do over and I am thankful every day to be able to.

What has helped me while on this roller coaster ride has been being able to jump off it on occasion and be a part of several online support groups. So much so, that I recently launched my own Facebook group and associated library website – KidneyCouch.com – that focuses on kidney cancer and CKD patients and family members. The most important steps I have taken to get my arms around kidney cancer and CKD have not been taken alone. My wife, boys, and family have been invaluable. So too has my online support group family. All the best to everyone.