Amanda hopes her cancer journey is a positive example for her kids

This is a guest post by Amanda Reitz, a mother of three children who were 13, 9, and 5 years old when she was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Amanda is also a newly graduated nurse and wife.

My cancer journey started in December 2021 when I went to my primary care physician (PCP) for a regular checkup and medication refills. Previous to this, I was relatively healthy, only having generalized anxiety and being overweight. I was feeling tired, but I attributed that to being a single mom, working full-time as a medical assistant, and going to nursing school full time. I wasn’t having any other symptoms.

The routine labs my PCP ordered came back a little abnormal, including a slightly elevated alkaline phosphatase and anemia. She ordered follow up testing and it looked like there was a problem in my liver. Because of this, she ordered an abdominal ultrasound to look at my liver at the end of January 2022 and found the 7 cm mass in my left kidney. I am blessed enough to live near the Huntsman Cancer Hospital in Salt Lake City and my doctor was able to get me in to see the surgical oncologist the next week.

To say that I was like a deer in the headlights would be an understatement. I had no pain, urinary issues, or other symptoms outside of the fatigue.

Three weeks later, I had my left kidney and part of my adrenal gland removed. The cancer had just left the renal capsule and they found a lymph node in the cancerous tissue.

As I was only 35 years old when diagnosed, my provider ordered genetic testing to determine if a reason for this cancer could be found. The only cancers in my family occurred in adults over the age of 60 which included skin cancer, lymphoma, and clear cell renal cell cancer in my maternal grandfather. My grandfather was on site during the nuclear bomb testing in Nevada in around 1951-1952, so we attributed his cancer to his exposure. Based on my genetic test, I have no known gene variants for renal cancer and no known cause for why I developed it.

My three-month post-surgical CT scan showed two small spots in my right lung (2 mm and 4 mm) that were not there previously. I had asked my oncologist to send me to a different medical oncologist as I felt like I needed a different set of eyes looking at my case due to what was found on my pathology previous to this. At this time, I finally saw a doctor that specializes in metastatic renal cancer due to the new spots in my lungs. The new provider’s very organized team comforted me to know he would manage my care and I got more of my questions answered.

My new provider told me what I had been thinking about since I read the initial pathology report, which, due to my background as a medical assistant for almost 18 years, I understood was not good news. He said it was highly likely that the cancer has traveled to a distant site. Together, we decided that it’s a good option to go forward with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) immunotherapy infusions for the next year – a relatively new treatment for renal cancers, but I felt like it was right for me.

After nine months into my 12-month Keytruda treatment plan, I had two anaphylactic reactions, so we stopped the medication. About three months after stopping, a new spot popped up in my remaining kidney. We watched it carefully for about 6 months, but then decided to have it biopsied, frozen through cryotherapy as it had grown rapidly. It was found to be the same type of renal cell cancer I had previously. We are waiting to hear about what my journey holds as I am currently a medical anomaly. 

In all of this I have had much support from my family, especially my parents, my children, friends, coworkers, my ex-husband, his family, and now my husband (married in August 2023) along with his friends and family. After my initial diagnosis, I started to tell a few other people, like my best friend and my ex-husband as I knew I’d need help with our three children during this time. My mom insisted on being with me for about two weeks after my surgery. She set up a call chain to inform the extended family and friends about my progress so then each person would pass it along to their respective family.

As my family lives far away, my coworkers have become like my family over the years. Many people came to me offering their concern and support. They banded together and gave me a gift basket with treats, slippers, a robe, gift cards, and money. Another provider started a Go-Fund-Me for me. After surgery, two of the providers I work for visited me in the hospital and I had many texts from coworkers and providers inquiring about my condition.

I knew I needed and wanted to be open with my children about what was happening, even though they may not understand. My son is 15 years old and my daughters are 11 and 7 years old. My son has my humor and his response was “Well, it’s a good thing you have a spare (kidney).” My daughters didn’t understand so I did my best to explain. I knew I wanted them to see me go through this battle so they could have a positive example of someone with a major health problem. Though it is still hard, I have learned to ask for help and to be kinder to myself when I am not able to do all that I have my mind set on.

Due to my own cancer journey, I decided to go into oncology nursing. I work at the same hospital in which I receive care. I have found this has helped me be more understanding and supportive to the patients I am able to interact with. Cancer is an ever-changing battle and it is nice to have seasoned warriors around me.