Discovery and Surgery #1
This blog is mostly for my friends and family to keep tabs on me and for me to keep busy. However, I'm planning on posting the link on the TC-Cancer.com message boards so it can be a resource for someone else in my position. I have found that I have an insatiable desire to learn everything I can about my cancer and the procedures I'm going through and I really appreciate all the personal stories posted online. So this blog is also my contribution to the next guy who goes through this crap.
A little about me. I'm a law student in DC and am working for the summer here in NYC for a large full-service law firm. I moved up here in mid-May and a couple weeks later I felt a dull pain in my groin, as if I had been kicked there, but not that hard. I kind of just ignored it until it came back. I then felt myself up and noticed that the right fellow was harder than the left. I didn't really notice any lump like a lot of guys, just that it was harder and more sensitive. I don't have a GP and I especially didn't have a doc up in NY, so I looked up some urologists on my insurance company's website and started calling and making appointments. The closest one I could get was about 5 or 6 days away on June 5th.
I didn't tell anyone about my problem before I went to the urologist for a number of reasons. First of all, it's pretty embarrassing to tell anyone you have a problem in your balls. Secondly I didn't want anyone to worry about me before I knew what was up. It really makes me feel for the kids who get TC in high school or earlier when they can't just go to a doctor on their own or would be embarrassed to do so.
So anyway, I skipped out of work and went to the urologist who I had picked at random. He asked me a few questions about the pain and then examined me. He said there was definitely something there, but needed to send me for bloodwork and an ultrasound to see if it was cancer. He also told me that TC is rare and so it probably isn't cancer. I was scheduled for the ultrasound that Friday (June 9).
I went and got bloodwork the next morning (06/06/06), then went to work. After work there was a cocktail party at the Chelsea Piers for summer associates. On my way there I began to feel a bit of pain in the groin again. We got to the place and fought our way to the bar. I ordered drinks for my coworkers and suddenly the pain was too much. I managed to get the drinks and pass them off and then started stumbling to the bathroom. My vision was a bit blurry and I felt nauseous from the pain. I made it to the bathroom and then the nausea passed. I managed to fight my way out of the crowd (rejected a goody bag) and got to a cab and went to the nearest ER.
That night in the ER was a lot of fun. They gave me some pain meds and about 75 people took a gander at my bits and pieces. One nurse even stuck a swab up my pee hole (definitely an out hole). Then I was sent upstairs for an ultrasound. The technician said it was usually not cancer, but he had to make sure. He lubed up the boys and rubbed an ultrasound wand over them for about 20 minutes and sent me back to the ER. I hung out there with some really nice nurses and some completely insane patients for a few hours. The doc on duty informed me it was indeed cancer and that it would have to be removed. Then I called Faith and my mom to tell them what was up. They both seemed to take it harder than I did (especially mom). I got a room around 3:00 AM and finally passed out.
The next day (Wednesday) was a lot of waiting around. I talked to Dr. Marans (my new urologist) and he explained the orchiectomy procedure a bit better and said he could do it the next day. I waited around for a long time and finally late that night had a CT scan to check my lungs to see if the cancer had spread. My mom and sister got into town and I ate some really crappy hospital food (my first food in a couple of days) and went to sleep.
The surgery the next day (June 8th) was really not that invasive considering they took out righty. I again waited around... till around 3 (I was originally told it would be 1, but by then I know hospitals run on a different time-table than the rest of the world). The anesthesiologist explained what he was going to do and Dr. Marans came and explained the surgery again. He asked if they had marked the side yet, and I told me no. He gave me a pen to do it myself but it was out of ink so he just marked me. They wheeled me in to the O.R. and started to prep me. I don't remember too many details after that but one of the nurses at one point turned away when I was taking off my scrub pants which was considerate but completely unnescesary since I had now shown my stuff to half the hospital staff. I woke up (apparently a little over and hour later) and was staring at the anesthesiologist again and asked him if he was going to put me out. The next moment I was awake enough to realize that the sugery had already occurred. I waited in the recovery room for a few minutes but was not at all groggy after a minute or two.
I was wheeled back to my room and then went through the fun process of transferring to the bed. I was on pain meds, but it still was rather uncomfortable. Faith go into town and I finally had a piece of pizza that night (brought in by my sister). I had a dull pain that became very sharp when I tried to use my abs at all (standing, leaning forward, some movements in the bed). I took a look at my main man in the mirror at one point. Looked pretty much like you would expect it to if you yoinked one out. The incision, which is about 2 inches and is right on what they like to call my bikini line (odd term since I've never worn a bikini), was pretty well covered so I didn't look at it right away. When I did, it didn't seem to be too bad.
The next morning I took a cab back to my apartment with my mom and Faith and stayed there pretty much for the next two days. I had Tylenol with codeine but moved on to regular Tylenol pretty quickly as the stronger stuff gave me headaches. The pain really wasn't too bad until I tried to stand or sit back down. I soon wanted to get out of the house and walked around the block with Faith a few times on Saturday (6/10). By Sunday (6/11) I was up to walking around Central Park for a pretty decent distance. Monday I went to an event at the Central Park Zoo and stopped taking the pain meds and I was back to work by Tuesday.
About a week later I got the results that it was an embrynol tumor with vascular invasion (cancer cells found in the blood vessels surrounding the testis). The CT and chest X-Rays came up clean, except for something on the left side that Dr. Marans was not concerned about because of the way TC tends to spread. It almost always spreads first to the lymph nodes in the abdomen and does so generally on the side of the original tumor and then to the other side. Dr. Marans was not concerned with the possibly too numerous nodes showing up on the left side because there was nothing on the left side. Dr. Marans recommended going to the TC experts at Memorial Sloan Kettering to see how I should proceed. I had already decided that I was going to do this (from my research online) and so my mom and I went through the process of getting an appointment there (arduous mostly because of the pain in the arse it was to get my files and films from St. Vincent's). Meanwhile I was back at work, not really feeling too many effects of the surgery (although my mom did have to put my socks and shoes on me the first couple of days of work), and partying like a summer associate in NYC should. Then I went to Dr. Motzer (an oncologist at MSK) for my first appointment...
A little about me. I'm a law student in DC and am working for the summer here in NYC for a large full-service law firm. I moved up here in mid-May and a couple weeks later I felt a dull pain in my groin, as if I had been kicked there, but not that hard. I kind of just ignored it until it came back. I then felt myself up and noticed that the right fellow was harder than the left. I didn't really notice any lump like a lot of guys, just that it was harder and more sensitive. I don't have a GP and I especially didn't have a doc up in NY, so I looked up some urologists on my insurance company's website and started calling and making appointments. The closest one I could get was about 5 or 6 days away on June 5th.
I didn't tell anyone about my problem before I went to the urologist for a number of reasons. First of all, it's pretty embarrassing to tell anyone you have a problem in your balls. Secondly I didn't want anyone to worry about me before I knew what was up. It really makes me feel for the kids who get TC in high school or earlier when they can't just go to a doctor on their own or would be embarrassed to do so.
So anyway, I skipped out of work and went to the urologist who I had picked at random. He asked me a few questions about the pain and then examined me. He said there was definitely something there, but needed to send me for bloodwork and an ultrasound to see if it was cancer. He also told me that TC is rare and so it probably isn't cancer. I was scheduled for the ultrasound that Friday (June 9).
I went and got bloodwork the next morning (06/06/06), then went to work. After work there was a cocktail party at the Chelsea Piers for summer associates. On my way there I began to feel a bit of pain in the groin again. We got to the place and fought our way to the bar. I ordered drinks for my coworkers and suddenly the pain was too much. I managed to get the drinks and pass them off and then started stumbling to the bathroom. My vision was a bit blurry and I felt nauseous from the pain. I made it to the bathroom and then the nausea passed. I managed to fight my way out of the crowd (rejected a goody bag) and got to a cab and went to the nearest ER.
That night in the ER was a lot of fun. They gave me some pain meds and about 75 people took a gander at my bits and pieces. One nurse even stuck a swab up my pee hole (definitely an out hole). Then I was sent upstairs for an ultrasound. The technician said it was usually not cancer, but he had to make sure. He lubed up the boys and rubbed an ultrasound wand over them for about 20 minutes and sent me back to the ER. I hung out there with some really nice nurses and some completely insane patients for a few hours. The doc on duty informed me it was indeed cancer and that it would have to be removed. Then I called Faith and my mom to tell them what was up. They both seemed to take it harder than I did (especially mom). I got a room around 3:00 AM and finally passed out.
The next day (Wednesday) was a lot of waiting around. I talked to Dr. Marans (my new urologist) and he explained the orchiectomy procedure a bit better and said he could do it the next day. I waited around for a long time and finally late that night had a CT scan to check my lungs to see if the cancer had spread. My mom and sister got into town and I ate some really crappy hospital food (my first food in a couple of days) and went to sleep.
The surgery the next day (June 8th) was really not that invasive considering they took out righty. I again waited around... till around 3 (I was originally told it would be 1, but by then I know hospitals run on a different time-table than the rest of the world). The anesthesiologist explained what he was going to do and Dr. Marans came and explained the surgery again. He asked if they had marked the side yet, and I told me no. He gave me a pen to do it myself but it was out of ink so he just marked me. They wheeled me in to the O.R. and started to prep me. I don't remember too many details after that but one of the nurses at one point turned away when I was taking off my scrub pants which was considerate but completely unnescesary since I had now shown my stuff to half the hospital staff. I woke up (apparently a little over and hour later) and was staring at the anesthesiologist again and asked him if he was going to put me out. The next moment I was awake enough to realize that the sugery had already occurred. I waited in the recovery room for a few minutes but was not at all groggy after a minute or two.
I was wheeled back to my room and then went through the fun process of transferring to the bed. I was on pain meds, but it still was rather uncomfortable. Faith go into town and I finally had a piece of pizza that night (brought in by my sister). I had a dull pain that became very sharp when I tried to use my abs at all (standing, leaning forward, some movements in the bed). I took a look at my main man in the mirror at one point. Looked pretty much like you would expect it to if you yoinked one out. The incision, which is about 2 inches and is right on what they like to call my bikini line (odd term since I've never worn a bikini), was pretty well covered so I didn't look at it right away. When I did, it didn't seem to be too bad.
The next morning I took a cab back to my apartment with my mom and Faith and stayed there pretty much for the next two days. I had Tylenol with codeine but moved on to regular Tylenol pretty quickly as the stronger stuff gave me headaches. The pain really wasn't too bad until I tried to stand or sit back down. I soon wanted to get out of the house and walked around the block with Faith a few times on Saturday (6/10). By Sunday (6/11) I was up to walking around Central Park for a pretty decent distance. Monday I went to an event at the Central Park Zoo and stopped taking the pain meds and I was back to work by Tuesday.
About a week later I got the results that it was an embrynol tumor with vascular invasion (cancer cells found in the blood vessels surrounding the testis). The CT and chest X-Rays came up clean, except for something on the left side that Dr. Marans was not concerned about because of the way TC tends to spread. It almost always spreads first to the lymph nodes in the abdomen and does so generally on the side of the original tumor and then to the other side. Dr. Marans was not concerned with the possibly too numerous nodes showing up on the left side because there was nothing on the left side. Dr. Marans recommended going to the TC experts at Memorial Sloan Kettering to see how I should proceed. I had already decided that I was going to do this (from my research online) and so my mom and I went through the process of getting an appointment there (arduous mostly because of the pain in the arse it was to get my files and films from St. Vincent's). Meanwhile I was back at work, not really feeling too many effects of the surgery (although my mom did have to put my socks and shoes on me the first couple of days of work), and partying like a summer associate in NYC should. Then I went to Dr. Motzer (an oncologist at MSK) for my first appointment...
posted by Moody at 11:14 AM
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