Kidney problems...anyone else?

jml · 06-05-2009, 03:46 PM

Hi Friends~
Just wondering if anyone is/has experienced kidney issues due to metastatic BC?
Last October I found myself in crisis w/Acute Renal Failure - in ICU for 4 days & hospital for a week. Both kidneys/ureters were completely blocked. I had to have emergency surgery to have stents placed in the ureters to open them up & allow the kidneys to empty. Fortunately, my kidney fuction returned to normal w/in 24 hours of surgery & I didn't need dialysis, Thank GOD!
The Urologists all indicate that it was probably BC mets causing strictures to the ureters, but the Oncs all say 'No' (I tend to agree) as it would be unlikely that mets would flare up & attack both ureters at the same time. Cancer/mets are much more random that that! And, PET/CT scans in Nov, Jan & April show disease in my chest nodes under sternum, but NED around my kidneys/ureters.
So I've been on, then off chemo & now have to start back on chemo again b/c of chest nodes.However, my kidney function has started to worsen again, as if the ureters are being strictured again. BUT still NED on the scans. FYI-symptoms are general abdominal pain, bloating, decreased urine output, constipation, hypertension (running ~150/96 lately!) & rising creatinine -everything in my belly just feels bloated, puffy, crampy, congested & stuck.
I'm starting on Tykerb/Xeloda this weekend & hope that it clears up the sternal nodes. I guess if it clears up the kidney/ureter strictures we'll know it is BC mets there too...
I'm confused, frustrated & ofcourse pretty scared b/c when I was sick last October, it was pretty horrible & frightening - I had siezures while in ICU- scared the crap out of my family.

Thanks for your input & thoughts,

Jml

hutchibk · 06-05-2009, 06:41 PM

jml - I am sorry to hear of your kidney ailment! I hope they are able to figure it out!

Please be sure that when/if you are scheduled for an MRI, that you are not getting the gadolinium contrast. It can be deadly to compromised kidneys!

Google gadolinium and ask your MRI clinic tech about it before you get an MRI. I believe there are alternative contrast agents available.

Bill · 06-05-2009, 07:57 PM

Hi jml! I'm no kind of expert, but I think I've read here that Her2+ doesn't met. to the kidneys very often. (All right, I can hear alot of my sisters now, "Bill, you're messing this all up. Let us handle it") Also, like you said, Urologists are not Oncologists. I would side with the oncs. Just curious, have you had Xeloda? You'll be in my thoughts and prayers. Love, Bill

WomanofSteel · 06-05-2009, 09:27 PM

Sorry to hear of your issues. I have never heard of breast cancer spreading to the kidneys. Maybe it is from a treatment or a medication. I am baffled. Hope you find the answer to your dilemma and feel better soon.

Ellie F · 06-06-2009, 04:36 AM

Hi, I have never heard of bc mets to kidneys either. What I did hear of at the breast clinic was a women who had kidney and ureter problems which were investigated and found to be caused by the chemo damaging them whilst being excreted by the body. Sorry don't know what treatment she had but she is fine now.
Ellie

karenann · 06-07-2009, 10:56 PM

I have heard of lobular mets going to the kidney.

Karen

jml · 06-08-2009, 06:16 AM

Hi Everyone~
Thanks for your responses & input. It is pretty confusing, especially since the Onc & the Urologist have a complete difference in opinion of the etiology of all this kidney stuff. I am going to rely on my Onc's guidance, as she has a much better perspective of the Big Picture for me. And I have to remember that the Urologist is really only focused on his speciality- when I start asking too many questions, he just kind of shrugs his shoulders & says "What does your Onc say?". Oh well - Thank God I have a great Onc team that I trust implicitly.
The two types of BC chemos that can be "nephrotoxic" are carboplatin & cisplatin. I think the carbo is slightly more toxic that cis. I had a short course of carbo back in early 2005, so I doubt that is the cause. Also, there is a condition called Retroperitoneal Fribrosis (unrelated to BC) that my Surg Onc suggested may be the cause, but we don't know for sure. All we can do is manage the symptoms & hope that my kidney function improves again.
Brenda-thanks for the reminder about the Scan contrast. I learned about that during the intial episode in October & had to wait for a few weeks after I got out of the hospital to have scans to see what was going on down there. In fact, now that I think of it, I wonder if it was the contrast from the scans in April that stressed my kidneys out again & started me down this path of the decreased function? I think I'll ask my Onc what they think...
Thanks again everyone for your guidance & encouragement.

Keep the Faith~
Jessica

1wisep · 06-08-2009, 08:08 AM

I had serious kidney problems after 18 months on Avastin. Because it was so successful against my cancer, I think we stretched the rules somewhat -- if the protein in my urine was too high when I arrived at the onc's office, I'd hydrate for a while and then measure it again. By the time I stopped, I was really not in great shape -- primarily tremendous fatigue and edema. I was also on Abraxane, which was tough in its own way. It took me about 6 months to start feeling good again, and I've been warned by a nephrologist against going back on Avastin.

suzan w · 06-08-2009, 08:35 AM

my kidney issues are different entirely from yours, but worth mentioning...due to severe osteoporosis ( dx before breast cancer) and now exacerbated by arimidex ( side effect-osteoporosis) I am taking mega-calcium and daily injections of Forteo, eventually Zometa. AND...have now an abnormally high oxcalic acid measurement in my urine which is causing...KIDNEY STONES! Good grief!!!
Hope your path gets easier...and it is scary to think about all of the *&$% we have had course through our bodies in the hopes of stalling cancer...Best to you!!!

yankeebikachic · 06-08-2009, 12:56 PM

I am on Tykerb/Xeloda, I do make sure I drink plenty of liquids after I take my meds. I passed a kidney stone about 2 months ago, that was no fun.
I'm sure that combination will get you to NED, I have been neg in the nodes since starting it a year ago.
So go, kick some butt! That is a great combo.
Beth

Mary Anne in TX · 06-08-2009, 05:28 PM

Hi Jessica! having spent the first 20 + years of my life with serious kidney problems, I picked up on all my old habits when I started chemo. On the way home from chemo, I always stopped and bought two huge bottles of cran-grape lite and drank them down that day and the next. Cranberry juice had made my life doable as a kid and it did the same during chemo. The acid in the cranberry juice was recommended by my urologist then and it kept the problems away. Best wishes! ma

07-19-2009, 10:04 PM

Hi, Jessica,

I know of a case where the suspected "sternum" met turned out to be a sternum infected with MDR staff and viridans strep. The viridans strep is an alpha - hemolytic bacteria that destroys the heme in the red blood cells, causing the kidneys to pump out proteins which act like glue and clog the ureters. The patient had great difficulty urinating and put on ascites in the belly that was so bloated and when the ascites was drained and analysed --it was a green fluid (viridans strep gets its name from the latin word for green), it contained lymphocytes, and giant cells--consistent with severe infection. The patient was also having green bowel movements...with great difficulty and was extremely anorexic. Many cancer patients colonize viridans strep after years on treatment--it would be worth either a biopsy of the sternum or a wound culture if it is leaking fluid through the skin to be DOUBLE sure that it is not an infection--especially if the area looks red and angry. Be sure to check your RBC's, your hemoglobin and hemocrit levels on your CBC's prior to the October hospitalization and your platelets as they tend to go really low as well--below 150. The hemocrit and hemoglobin may go low enough for procrit or even blood transfusions...in cancer patients, a severe infection is often overlooked --especially when the WBC's remain unelevated and there is no fever...also the situation in this case study.

Concerned researcher.