So a little background I am 31years old:
11/10 - Noticed something "off" about one testicle a bit stiff and larger than it should be.. thought I wacked it or something but scheduled an appointment with a Urologist to be sure.
11/21 - Appointment, Dr concerned ordered ultrasound/bloodwork. [Dr Renner is awesome, moved very fast on this!]
11/22 - Ultrasound showed mass, Dr setup surgery for 11/25 (soonest available due to thanksgiving)
11/25 - Left I/O and blood work came back AFP:2715, HCG:503, LDH:289
- AFP quite high indictive of tumor [sitting in surgery prep when told this so.. in the right place!!!]
- HCG again high like AFP
- LDH a bit elevated over normal [0-225 normal]
Tumor Makeup
- EC 45%, Yolk Sac 40%, Teratoma 14%, Sematoma 1% w/ LVI
- Tumor Confined to the testis
- No invasion into rete testis, epididymis or spermatic cord
Spent that week recovering, much more pain than I read about on the forums its not a fun experience! Had my CT scan done mid week, doctor wanted to get the I/O ASAP and with the thanksgiving holiday getting a CT in and then the surgery would have pushed it back. Regardless fo the CT results the same I/O outcome would have been warranted so we went ahead with the surgery before the CT.
12/1 - CT Results
Chest, Lungs, hilar, axillary, supraclavical all CLEAR!
Retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy several enlarged lymphs largest 4.2cm w/ several <1cm other instances of swelling
Liver look good!
Kidneys show lobulated borders, but no masses
SUMMARY - "No evidence of metastatic disease", Borderline lymphadenopathy
12/8 Onco Appointment 11/10 - Noticed something "off" about one testicle a bit stiff and larger than it should be.. thought I wacked it or something but scheduled an appointment with a Urologist to be sure.
11/21 - Appointment, Dr concerned ordered ultrasound/bloodwork. [Dr Renner is awesome, moved very fast on this!]
11/22 - Ultrasound showed mass, Dr setup surgery for 11/25 (soonest available due to thanksgiving)
11/25 - Left I/O and blood work came back AFP:2715, HCG:503, LDH:289
- AFP quite high indictive of tumor [sitting in surgery prep when told this so.. in the right place!!!]
- HCG again high like AFP
- LDH a bit elevated over normal [0-225 normal]
Tumor Makeup
- EC 45%, Yolk Sac 40%, Teratoma 14%, Sematoma 1% w/ LVI
- Tumor Confined to the testis
- No invasion into rete testis, epididymis or spermatic cord
Spent that week recovering, much more pain than I read about on the forums its not a fun experience! Had my CT scan done mid week, doctor wanted to get the I/O ASAP and with the thanksgiving holiday getting a CT in and then the surgery would have pushed it back. Regardless fo the CT results the same I/O outcome would have been warranted so we went ahead with the surgery before the CT.
12/1 - CT Results
Chest, Lungs, hilar, axillary, supraclavical all CLEAR!
Retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy several enlarged lymphs largest 4.2cm w/ several <1cm other instances of swelling
Liver look good!
Kidneys show lobulated borders, but no masses
SUMMARY - "No evidence of metastatic disease", Borderline lymphadenopathy
- 3xBEP starting 12/19 [taking cancer DOWN!]
- #s AFP:855, HCG:304, LDH:NORMAL!
- This is great because my AFP is really dropping like it should. HCG is sticking a bit more than I would like, but that's what the chemo is for!
I have a thread where I am talking through some of this stuff in more detail over at www.tc-cancer.com which is an AWESOME site.
My Brain MRI came back clean so that was great news EC likes to be sneaky sometimes. I have my port setup for tomorrow (Friday 12-16) then my chemo starts on monday. I will try and post through all of this, port, chemo days, etc through the next couple of months. Hopefully my experiences can help other people out there going through this.
I think I am a pretty light hearted guy, but if you follow all my posts I will let you know now that I will be honest about how I am feeling so it might not always be rainbows and unicorns! Let the fight begin!
Just curious were you staged at 1s?
ReplyDeleteI was Stage IIB. No remote mets outside of the rep region, brain/lungs/liver/kidney etc all clear. Lymphs in the rep region where < 5cm at max, and my markers where in the II range.
ReplyDeletemy husband has been staged at IIb also. We meet with oncologist next week about starting chemo. He has rapid growing seminoma. He had a left I/O on Feb 9. I am glad to see you have posted this so he can read what is to come for him.
ReplyDelete