An Unexpected Chromophobe RCC Diagnosis

This is a guest post by Rachele Funes, 35. She and her family live in Florida.

It was a week before my daughter’s first birthday.

I’d finally gotten a referral to a pelvic floor therapist that felt my mass and got the ball rolling on what we now know is chromophobe kidney cancer.

Being a first time mom I’d dismissed every symptom thinking it was normal for a breastfeeding mom to feel fatigued, lose unwanted weight, and night sweats. What I didn’t think was normal was the hard feeling I felt in my stomach when I played down. Convinced it was abdominal muscle separation I casually asked my physical therapist about it at a first appointment. I could tell by her tone she was concerned. Within a couple days a CT was scheduled.

I still thought, I’m young!! I’m healthy, I have a baby. It’s gotta be benign. When my primary doctor called saying my mass was 12 cm and that I needed to see a urologist right away, I was in disbelief. I canceled my appointments for the day and headed there. It was exactly 6 days later I had an open right nephrectomy. I had 6 days to get a Red Cross message to my husband and see if the military can send him home to help me recover.

I spent those 6 days planning my own funeral, grieving not being here to watch my daughter grow up and ultimately feeling sorry for myself and the people that care about me.

Surgery was intense. But recovering physically was easy compared to the mental anguish and post-traumatic stress after diagnosis. My pathology had said I was clear cell renal cell carcinoma stage 2 grade 4. But two days before I was scheduled to start the immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab), I received a call.

It was a Saturday when my urologist called saying a second opinion on pathology came in and I have chromophobe RCC and that there’s now no need for treatment.

At the moment it only made me feel like I needed a third or fourth opinion to make sure but I am working on acceptance and living in the now instead of the hell of what ifs. I am no longer writing myself off. I am giving myself permission to live and make plans and celebrate.

I still cry almost daily. It’s a lot to process in a short time. I’m also working on not being ashamed of those tears and the very real fears that come with any cancer diagnosis. If you were my best friend going through this my biggest piece of advice would be to not gaslight yourself. It’s ok to feel anything you’re feeling. And don’t be embarrassed for loving your life and being afraid to lose it. No one knows what you are feeling and you deserve grace.