EllingFamily:TogetherWeThrive

I met with Dr. McGregor, one of Mercy Hospital's urologists, on March 9, 2004. He calmly talked to my wife and I about the next step of the process. He told us from looking at the ultrasound films that he had to agree with the emergency room doctor that I did indeed have testicular cancer. We looked at the ultrasound together and he pointed out the tumor and explained that I would need surgery to remove the testicle. He guessed that I was Stage I testicular cancer since nothing had shown up on x-ray of my lungs, but he stated we needed to get blood tests and a CT scans to effectively determine the staging of the cancer. The surgery, called an orchiectomy, would be performed on March 16, 2004, until then I was sent to the hospital's lab to get blood drawn to measure my tumor markers and then home with pain pills and a bag of ice for my swollen testicle.

During my time at home, there was plenty of time to do research on the web and of course to worry. I quickly found lots of information on the web and had come to the conclusion that I very well could have to undergo major surgery (RPLND) or chemotherapy. At the time I thought chemotherapy was less scary, but then I could imagine the agony of surgery, I had no frame of reference for the agony of chemo. The week passed slowly. I kept thinking why aren't they scheduling the surgery immediately and getting this cancer out of my body. This anxious waiting made the week's time seems like it was standing still. I did however find out the results of my blood tests on Friday. My AFP was slightly elevated but my B-HCG and LDH were both within normal ranges which the doctor said were both good signs . This news gave me a lift in my spirits, hoping that the cancer was still in Stage I and confined ot the testicle, but we wouldn't know for sure until after surgery.

March 16 came and I was ready to go. The surgery was scheduled for early in the morning and I would be released to go home by mid-afternoon assuming everything went well. The surgery went quite well and I woke up in the recovery room with some pain but nothing a few pain pills couldn't handle. Later that same day I went home with an appointment to meet with the doctor on Friday for the pathology report on the tumor.

March 19, I went to Dr. McGregor's office hoping for the best. Dr. McGregor sat us down in the examining room and told my wife and I that I had a mixed tumor. The tumor turned out to be about 60% embroynal. This type of testicular cancer tumor was considered nonseminoma and Dr. McGregor stated that there had been vascular invasion. This meant that the tumor had enticed blood vessels to grow into it and the vessels were supplying it directly with blood. Although this type of testicular cancer was not rare, he did indicate that it was more aggressive than the seminoma type and the vascular invasion was a sign indicating that the cancer had probably spread, not the news I wanted to hear. Dr. McGregoer suggested that I see a specialist at the University of Iowa for a consultation, so an appointment with Dr. Williams at the Univ. of Iowa was setup for March 30. On the 19, I also went in for my first set of CT scans, an experience that was not hard, except for drinking the barium contrast solution which was pretty nasty. I also got another blood draw to measure my tumor markers. Now, I had to sit and wait until the 30.