Life Update

Life here seems to be on fast forward.  We had C, then Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and were just getting into a routine, when we were thrown for a loop.  M noticed a lump on his testicle, and went to get it checked.  We found out it was malignant.  Here is the quick synopsis of what is going on.

17 January - went to the urologist, found out that I had testicular cancer

24 January - cancerous testicle removed

29 January - biopsy results came back, "good" type of tumor

3 February - Met with oncologist to determine treatment

18 February - Start chemo therapy (3-4, three weeks cycles) to remove cancer

Before surgery.

After... he was really sleepy.

C hanging out at the end of M's bed.

They had M mark the correct leg. We don't want any mistakes on which side!

Detailed story for those with more time.....

We met with our urologist (everyone should have one) on Thursday and spoke about the surgery, the biopsy and how I'm healing.  The surgery was a success!  Testicle was rotten with cancer and had to be removed.  All went smoothly.  The biopsy of the tumor came back as a "classical (or typical) seminoma" (page 2).  This is great news and very curable.  He didn't know the exact steps, but that I would be looking at chemo therapy as one of the steps to be healed.  My three-inch cut on the lower, left abdomen is healing well.  It's got a number of staples in it, which will be removed on Tuesday (4 February).  It still hurts to sneeze.  I still can't have the boys on my lap nor can I wrestle with them, but they have been very good at being gentle with me over the last week.  I'm not permitted to lift more than ten pounds over the next six weeks as the muscles heal...kinda feeling like a lame husband.

We met with Dr Sarma (oncologist) for the first time today.  We spent a lot more time there than we expected, and had all of our questions answered.  (We are still going to John's Hopkins for a second opinion, middle of next week, to confirm the treatment plan)  The conversation centered around the treatment plan to remove the cancer.  Since the testicular cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and [potentially] to the lung, radiation alone will not be enough to be certain that it's gone (Dr. Sarma is treating this like it's Stage 3 testicular cancer - chemo therapy needed, radiation won't be enough).  

I'll be starting a three-week, chemo cycle (total of 3-4 cycles depending on the treatment that we want to go with) 18 February.  The cycles (repeated 3 to 4 times) look like this:

Week 1 - chemo therapy (6-7 hours of treatment Monday-Friday)

Week 2 & 3 - rest up from chemo therapy 

I will be having either a PIC or Port put in next week; each of which is designed to deliver the drugs quickly and efficiently throughout the body.  The PIC [apparently] requires a little more daily attention throughout the treatment.  The port (although slightly more invasive to put in, and then remove at the end) will not get in the way at all.

Upsides

- Testicular cancer is the best type to get, as long as caught early enough. 

- We caught it early enough.  1-2 years down the road, I wouldn't be here typing this note

- I will lose my hair, and I hope that I won't have to shave for a while either

- I'm going to have a lot of time to read over the next few months (thanks to all those that have contributed to my library!)

- I hope to be more comfortable with needles, doctors, hospitals, etc.

- The view from the chemo room is beautiful. 

- We are going to "make" a lot of money on our cash-back cards!  (I'm hoping that Discover, Costco AmEx, or CapitalOne have an incentive to spend money at your local oncologist!)

- I have enough leave built up, with the addition of help from a medical-leave-surplus

- I'll live!

Downsides

- I won't be feeling well enough to swim throughout these treatments (I was hoping to get back in the pool in a few weeks)

- Chemo! 

- I'm going to have to miss some work