If my wife was to get pregnant

[w_houle]

The day after we met, she was diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma, with a metastasis of the L5 vertibrae. The undiagnosed growth being viewable in MRI scans done previously. Now 11 new spots later, they’ve basically taken her immune system, because the Keytruda and Inlyta made her immune system toxic to her. She’s gone into sepsis twice in the last month. There is no logical way she would ever be able to carry a baby to term, it would kill or extremely shorten her life. And… If by impossible odds a baby is born, what kind of immune system will they have? Or will they have cancer?

 

[Deleted member 619]

I won't pretend I understand or have any words. That really sucks.

When you say 11 new spots, you mean metastasised to other places or more spots in the spine and kidneys? Does she have a clear prognosis? Have they given you treatment success ratios?

I'm so sorry.

 

[w_houle]

This thought originally came to me while listening to Supposed Lies of the Text Books Ep 12

 

[Deleted member 619]

Sorry, this is a thought experiment?

 

[w_houle]

I won't pretend I understand or have any words. That really sucks.

When you say 11 new spots, you mean metastasised to other places or more spots in the spine and kidneys? Does she have a clear prognosis? Have they given you treatment success ratios?

I'm so sorry.

Most of them are on her lungs, despite not smoking. One met took the kidney, another had to get a gamma knife (L5). One took an adrenal gland and a new one is on the other, but she is advised that it’s better to have the met than to not have any adrenal glands

 

[w_houle]

Sorry, this is a thought experiment?

No, this is what I have been seeing for the past few years

 

[Deleted member 619]

Most of them are on her lungs, despite not smoking. One met took the kidney, another had to get a gamma knife (L5). One took an adrenal gland and a new one is on the other, but she is advised that it’s better to have the met than to not have any adrenal glands

That doesn't make for a promising prognosis. I'm sorry.

And yes, it's crap, but removing both adrenal glands would be considerably worse. Adrenaline is one of the most important regulatory hormones in the body, playing a role in everything from heart-rate and blood-pressure regulation, expansion of the lungs, distribution of blood to muscle, and more besides. Basically almost everything that involves expansion or contraction in the body is in some way supported or driven by adrenaline.

Not just for fight or flight, as I've seen suggested.

No, this is what I have been seeing for the past few years

Sorry. The hope for a successful pregnancy is pretty slim, given what you've said. That really sucks.

I'm really conscious that this might sound like a platitude, and I don't ever want to presume to understand your pain or give you advice, but you hold on to her every single chance you get. Even the really shitty, horrible things you have to deal with now are things you'll treasure later.

Sincerely.

 

[We are Borg]

If by some miracle she could carry to full term the baby should not have cancer, but genetics could pass it to the child. There are cancers that can pass from mother to child but i have no knowledge what they are called. The main issue is the immune system it will most likely see te pregnancy as an unwanted entity in here body. There is a disease where the auto immune system sees a baby as an unwanted entity, but the name escapes me. But this is a question you should ask the doctor because every case is different.

 

[Deleted member 619]

The main issue is the immune system it will most likely see te pregnancy as an unwanted entity in here body.

I think you might have misread here. he said her immune system has been eradicated, so there'd be no immune response to pregnancy.

There is a disease where the auto immune system sees a baby as an unwanted entity, but the name escapes me.

There are quite a few things that can cause this. The most common is Rh disease, which is an oddity of circumstance. It basically happens when mother and baby have Rh- and Rh+ blood respectively, but only in cases where Rh+ blood has entered the mother's circulation from a previous pregnancy, because that entry results in antibodies being produced. That means the new pregnancy has exactly the same antigens the antibodies were created for, so it can't not see it as foreign.

It's a pretty solid bet that the vast majority of miscarriages are immune-led in some way, and in fact there's reason to suspect that the prevalence of autoimmune disorders in women is at least in part due to the interplay of mother and foetus during pregnancy.

 

[We are Borg]

I think you might have misread here. he said her immune system has been eradicated, so there'd be no immune response to pregnancy.

You are right i miss read.