My bout with Testicular Cancer

My Bout With Testicular Cancer

In March of this year (1998), I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. I am currently undergoing treatment, because the cancer spread to my lymph node in my abdomen. In February, I noticed a large pain in my scrodem. When I went to check it out, I noticed that one my my testicles was growing and mishapen. The first thing I did, was go to the doctor. He told me that it might be epididimitus (an infection of the skin around the testicle). So I took antibiotics for 2 weeks and nothing happened. The University Health center referred me to a urlogoist in conroe, who diagnosed me and removed the orginal tumor.

Testicular cancer :

Cancer of the testicle (also called the testis), a rare kind of cancer

in men, is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells are found in the tissues of one

or both testicles. The testicles are round and a little smaller than golf balls. Sperm

(the male germ cells that can join with a female egg to develop into a baby) and male

hormones are made in the testicles. There are two testicles located inside of the

scrotum (a sac of loose skin that lies directly under the penis).

My treatment is taking Place at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. This is possibly the best place in the world for me to be. Since I've been there, I've noticed people from all parts of the world attend this particular institution for treatment. I've met people from Ohio to Iran, so it seems that this place is well known.
Within M.D. Anderson is the Genitourinary Center, this is where my particular care is being undertaken. My doctor is Robert J. Amato, D.O., he specializes in Germ cell tumors of testicular and extragonadal origin. In my opinion he is as young as Doogie Hauser, but he is the best Doctor on the face of the planet.

Chemotherapy:

The use of certain drugs to kill the cancer and stop it from growing in your body. Usually give through your long line with some kind of pump. Some types you take at the hospital, others they send you home with a pump.

My particular brand of chemotherapy is most likely going to take 3 months. I will go through 2 courses. Every Saturday I take a 24 infusion of a drug called bleomycin, and every three weeks, I go to M.D. Anderson twice at the three week mark and my schedule is like this:

Friday:

a 2 hour infusion of carboplatin
a 1 hour infusion of epistomide IV

Saturday

a 1 hour infusion of epistomide IV
a 24 hour infusion of bleomycin

Sunday

a 1 hour infusion of epistomide IV

For ten days after this strong treatment I give my self shots of Neupogen this substance increases my white blood cell count, since the treatment itself kills white blood cells. From about Friday until Wedneday I am a nauseous fool. I take 3 different types of anti-nausea medicine just so I can dry heave once every two hours for the first days. After that until about Thursday-Friday it just feels as if my stomach is a battle ground.

After the first 2 courses I go in for an evaluation and my third treatment. During the evaluation I will receive a cat scan and gallium scan and the doctor will tell me if the tumor has disappeared. If it has then I will recieve my treatment as regular and 2 more courses, and that will be it. If the tumor is still there, I will go through more chemo, another evalution and then hopefully it will be gone. If not I will have to have surgery to remove the infected node. All of this chemotherapy by the by leaves me with a 15% chance of being sterile. So I have visited the sperm bank and made deposits.

My particular type of cancer (3 types actually) has a 95% cure ratio, so we know that we can win the race, it is just the journey to the finish line that takes some pain.

Well, after my scans it was determined that there was still a lump of stuff on one of lymph nodes close to my spical cord. My surgery was on August 20th. They did a Modified Template Dissection and removed it. They made an cut from the bottom of my breast bone to the top of my public bone and opened me up. Then they took my intestines and other parts that were in the way and pulled them out(still connected of course) and put them to the side so that they could get to the affected portion of my body. They removed the lymph nodes, put everthing back where it went and sewed me back up and stapled me closed. The stables came out after a week, and then they put tape over the scar the tape came off after a week or 2 by itself. I was in the hospital for 9 days just to make sure I recovered.

Due to Doctors Orders, I cannot lift anything over 10 lbs for 6 weeks, currently I am in week 4-5. I am feeling really good.
The total recovery for an operation like that might take up to a year, but I am working and leading a mostly normal life, except for the fact that my wife lifts all the heavy stuff. The Pathalogy results came back while I was still in the hospital and they were great! It turned out that the small bit of stuff that was left was just a bunch of dead cells. But it was better to get the stuff out of my body than to wonder if it was a group of live cancerous cells.

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