It's been awhile so I thought I would post an update on how things were going. So for so good for testicular cancer. I had an ultra sound and blood tests awhile back that all came back negative. Big time Yippee! for that. In about a week I go in for a regularly scheduled CAT Scan and another ultra sound in December.
On the swallowing front things have gone backwards a bit. I have read about other cancer patients that have had to go back for "maintenance" procedures but was hoping I wouldn't fall into that category. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case so I have started up the dilation procedures again. My first one in this series, 17th overall, was a little over a week ago. That procedure got me back to 16.5. I have another one setup for December. My guess is that it will take 2-4 more procedures to get back to 20 MM then I will have to set up some sort of maintenance schedule to stay there. Hopefully it isn't more than once a year. Other than that things are going well.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Chemo Update
Things are going well. Compared to my past treatments this was chemo lite. For the first two days I did experience some nausea and fatigue along with ringing in my ears. All of these were expected but the impact was less than I thought it would be. By Monday the nausea had let up and I stopped taking the anti nausea meds. Those have their own side effects so I was happy that I only needed them for 2 days.
After that I felt more like I had indigestion rather than nausea. One way that is recommended to handle nausea from chemo is to eat several small meals. Having an empty stomach can make it worse. It may seem counter intuitive but you need to eat something even though you feel nauseous. What I learned from my swallowing recovery program last time was the need to have an "In Case of Emergency Break Glass" food item. Something that requires no prep time and has some nutritional value. This time around I laid in a supply of those Special K protein shakes. I just have one of those in between meals and I am fine. As of this morning, 5 days after chemo, it looks like the nausea / indigestion feeling has gone away. All I have consumed so far this morning is espresso and I don't have any nausea / indigestion. I still have some minor fatigue but that is also fading. The only thing left is the ringing in the ears. This one may take some time. That was one of the side effects that lasted quite awhile last time.
More Like a Short Story Than a Sequel
I am almost 4 weeks out from the surgery and should be able to resume normal physical activities. When I was first diagnosed I was expecting far worse than what I have gone through. Even though this is my second time with cancer and testicular cancer has a very high cure rate getting a cancer diagnosis can leave you a bit rattled. Part of that was because my only reference was my last go round. I don't want to trivialize this, cancer in any form is definitely not a good time, but by comparison this was the express version.
From the time I went in for the first test, the ultra sound, to the first and only chemo treatment on Friday 24 days elapsed. In that short time frame the following events occurred:
In just 3 and a half weeks I went from the initial test to essentially being cancer free. Quite the roller coaster ride. Now I am on the surveillance program for the next few years. Back to CT Scans and blood work every few months. There is still a 2% chance of it spreading. Even if it does the cure rate is up in the 99% range. There would just be 3 rounds of stronger chemo treatments.
After that I felt more like I had indigestion rather than nausea. One way that is recommended to handle nausea from chemo is to eat several small meals. Having an empty stomach can make it worse. It may seem counter intuitive but you need to eat something even though you feel nauseous. What I learned from my swallowing recovery program last time was the need to have an "In Case of Emergency Break Glass" food item. Something that requires no prep time and has some nutritional value. This time around I laid in a supply of those Special K protein shakes. I just have one of those in between meals and I am fine. As of this morning, 5 days after chemo, it looks like the nausea / indigestion feeling has gone away. All I have consumed so far this morning is espresso and I don't have any nausea / indigestion. I still have some minor fatigue but that is also fading. The only thing left is the ringing in the ears. This one may take some time. That was one of the side effects that lasted quite awhile last time.
More Like a Short Story Than a Sequel
I am almost 4 weeks out from the surgery and should be able to resume normal physical activities. When I was first diagnosed I was expecting far worse than what I have gone through. Even though this is my second time with cancer and testicular cancer has a very high cure rate getting a cancer diagnosis can leave you a bit rattled. Part of that was because my only reference was my last go round. I don't want to trivialize this, cancer in any form is definitely not a good time, but by comparison this was the express version.
From the time I went in for the first test, the ultra sound, to the first and only chemo treatment on Friday 24 days elapsed. In that short time frame the following events occurred:
- Ultra Sound Test
- Meeting with oncologist to get cancer diagnosis
- Meeting with urologist to discuss surgery
- Surgery
- Follow up meeting with urologist to discuss surgery and test results
- CAT Scan / chest X-Ray
- Meeting with oncologist to discuss test results
- Chemotherapy
In just 3 and a half weeks I went from the initial test to essentially being cancer free. Quite the roller coaster ride. Now I am on the surveillance program for the next few years. Back to CT Scans and blood work every few months. There is still a 2% chance of it spreading. Even if it does the cure rate is up in the 99% range. There would just be 3 rounds of stronger chemo treatments.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Another Ride On the Chemo Train
Yesterday I had my one and hopefully only chemotherapy treatment this time around. It was definitely a different experience than the last time. Aside from it taking 4 attempts to get the IV in, just call me the human pin cushion, it went off without a hitch. The weather forecast this time around is cloudy skies with a chance of rain. No hurricanes in site.
So far I am experiencing the normal side effects, nausea, ringing in the ears and some fatigue but it is nothing like what I went through before. It's hard to get a handle on what the duration is going to be. I have found some postings from people that have had just the single does of carboplatin and it appears that the side effects start to fade in a week or so. I am planning on working from home this week and for the most part this shouldn't slow me down.
Food Of The Resistance
I don't think I have mentioned it before but one of the things I would do during my first go around with cancer is check out some of the food offerings they had at a express food stand in the lobby of the hospital. They have things like coffee, pastries and a few other odds and ends. Whenever I passed by I would take a quick glance at the display case and check it out. Yep, food voyeurism at its best. Some people check out sports cars, other people.... not me, I check out food. One thing that caught my eye was a raspberry cream cheese croissant. When I could start to eat again and I was at the hospital I would get one. Initially it didn't work out so well but eventually I got to the point where I could eat it without a problem. This become a ritual for me and now whenever I am at the hospital I try to get one. Aside from being tasty it also reminds me of where I have been and where I am at now. (OK, I am really rationalizing why I want to eat a very tasty and decedent treat.) Anyway.... I picked one up when I first got to the hospital yesterday and ate it during my treatment. It was absolutely phenomenal to be able to do that this time around.
Viva la resistance!
So far I am experiencing the normal side effects, nausea, ringing in the ears and some fatigue but it is nothing like what I went through before. It's hard to get a handle on what the duration is going to be. I have found some postings from people that have had just the single does of carboplatin and it appears that the side effects start to fade in a week or so. I am planning on working from home this week and for the most part this shouldn't slow me down.
Food Of The Resistance
I don't think I have mentioned it before but one of the things I would do during my first go around with cancer is check out some of the food offerings they had at a express food stand in the lobby of the hospital. They have things like coffee, pastries and a few other odds and ends. Whenever I passed by I would take a quick glance at the display case and check it out. Yep, food voyeurism at its best. Some people check out sports cars, other people.... not me, I check out food. One thing that caught my eye was a raspberry cream cheese croissant. When I could start to eat again and I was at the hospital I would get one. Initially it didn't work out so well but eventually I got to the point where I could eat it without a problem. This become a ritual for me and now whenever I am at the hospital I try to get one. Aside from being tasty it also reminds me of where I have been and where I am at now. (OK, I am really rationalizing why I want to eat a very tasty and decedent treat.) Anyway.... I picked one up when I first got to the hospital yesterday and ate it during my treatment. It was absolutely phenomenal to be able to do that this time around.
Viva la resistance!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
CT Scan is negative and thats good!
Today we met with the oncologist and got the results of the CT Scan and they were negative. And as always negative is good. The cancer has not spread to anywhere else in the body so they think that this was caught early. Big time yippee! for that. All of the test from the surgery, blood work and CT Scan show this as being a stage I cancer. At this point it is undetectable. Once again big time yippee! for that.
I should mention that there was some anxiety leading up to this. It started when the person that did the CT-Scan wished me good luck. The last time that happened I was diagnosed with my first cancer as a stage III/IV two days later. Also the first business day after this test the doctors office called and said they needed to see me the next day. They already scheduled the appointment for late afternoon not asking if I could make it or not. That starts to get your mind wandering a bit.
For follow up treatment there are two options. The first is to just monitor with tests and see if it does spread. There is about a 20% chance that it could still spread. Given that the treatment for this cancer is highly successful they normally recommend this course of action. The second option is to have a single round of chemotherapy with a single drug, carboplatin. This reduces the chance of it spreading to 3%. Either way I am still in the 99% cure group. Given my past history the recommendation is to do the preventative chemo therapy. The reason is that the treatment if it does spread involves three rounds of a 3 drug group, one of them being cisplatin. I have already had some very high doses of that drug in the past and it did do some damage. The concern is that I will have increased toxicity to those drugs and that could cause other long term problems that I may not fully recover from.
Supposedly the carboplatin treatment is nothing like what I have been through. Basically there is some nausea, potential for some hair loss and fatigue but it lasts less than a week. The plan at this point is to schedule the chemo for this Friday. Hopefully there won't be any hurricanes that day. :-)
I should mention that there was some anxiety leading up to this. It started when the person that did the CT-Scan wished me good luck. The last time that happened I was diagnosed with my first cancer as a stage III/IV two days later. Also the first business day after this test the doctors office called and said they needed to see me the next day. They already scheduled the appointment for late afternoon not asking if I could make it or not. That starts to get your mind wandering a bit.
For follow up treatment there are two options. The first is to just monitor with tests and see if it does spread. There is about a 20% chance that it could still spread. Given that the treatment for this cancer is highly successful they normally recommend this course of action. The second option is to have a single round of chemotherapy with a single drug, carboplatin. This reduces the chance of it spreading to 3%. Either way I am still in the 99% cure group. Given my past history the recommendation is to do the preventative chemo therapy. The reason is that the treatment if it does spread involves three rounds of a 3 drug group, one of them being cisplatin. I have already had some very high doses of that drug in the past and it did do some damage. The concern is that I will have increased toxicity to those drugs and that could cause other long term problems that I may not fully recover from.
Supposedly the carboplatin treatment is nothing like what I have been through. Basically there is some nausea, potential for some hair loss and fatigue but it lasts less than a week. The plan at this point is to schedule the chemo for this Friday. Hopefully there won't be any hurricanes that day. :-)
Sunday, August 19, 2012
What are the odds?
There are lots of benefits to having the Internet available when you have cancer. You have access to all sorts of information. Of course one of the downsides is that you have access to all sorts of information. So... while waiting for the test results and having a weekend to mull it over you end up with postings like this one.
There are between 8,000 - 9,000 cases of testicular cancer a year in the US. It appears that roughly 1 in 18,000 men a year will be diagnosed. It is a pretty rare cancer but fortunately the cure rate is pretty high even if it has spread. Interesting stuff. However when taken into account with my prior cancer it gets even more unique.
Roughly 2,000 people a year are diagnosed with nasopharyngel carcinoma in the US. Assuming half of those are men that means about 1,000 men a year are diagnosed with this cancer. The 5 year survival rate is around 70%. It also primarily affects older people. To get 18,000 men that have had nasophyrangeal carcinoma in the US it would take over 20 years worth of cases. So where am I going with this? There are probably less than 18,000 men in the US today that have had nasophyrengeal carcinoma. If there were 18,000 men that have had nasophyrengeal carcinoma in the US this year the odds are that just one of them would come down with testicular cancer.
So basically the likely hood of having had nasopharengeal carcinoma and getting diagnosed with testicular cancer this year is one, as in one person, not one percent. Talk about being a member of a select group. :-)
There are between 8,000 - 9,000 cases of testicular cancer a year in the US. It appears that roughly 1 in 18,000 men a year will be diagnosed. It is a pretty rare cancer but fortunately the cure rate is pretty high even if it has spread. Interesting stuff. However when taken into account with my prior cancer it gets even more unique.
Roughly 2,000 people a year are diagnosed with nasopharyngel carcinoma in the US. Assuming half of those are men that means about 1,000 men a year are diagnosed with this cancer. The 5 year survival rate is around 70%. It also primarily affects older people. To get 18,000 men that have had nasophyrangeal carcinoma in the US it would take over 20 years worth of cases. So where am I going with this? There are probably less than 18,000 men in the US today that have had nasophyrengeal carcinoma. If there were 18,000 men that have had nasophyrengeal carcinoma in the US this year the odds are that just one of them would come down with testicular cancer.
So basically the likely hood of having had nasopharengeal carcinoma and getting diagnosed with testicular cancer this year is one, as in one person, not one percent. Talk about being a member of a select group. :-)
Friday, August 17, 2012
CT-Scan Scheduled Surgery Update
I have the CT-Scan and chest X-RAY scheduled for today. This is to determine if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. Fortunately either way I am still in the 95% survival group. One bummer with CT-SCANS is that I am allergic to the dye contrast they use. Basically they put an IV in and take a scan then inject this dye contrast and take another scan. Then they compare the two scans.
In order to handle the dye contrast I have to pre-medicate with steriods 13, 7 and 1 hour before the test and take Benadryl 1 hour before the test. I should get the results back sometime next week. These results will determine the next phase of treatment.
So far the surgery seems to be healing fine. No problems there and in a few weeks I will be cleared for all activities. As it is now I can pretty much do whatever I need to do. I am holding off from exercising other than walking and lifting heavy objects but outside of that it seems be heeling well.
In order to handle the dye contrast I have to pre-medicate with steriods 13, 7 and 1 hour before the test and take Benadryl 1 hour before the test. I should get the results back sometime next week. These results will determine the next phase of treatment.
So far the surgery seems to be healing fine. No problems there and in a few weeks I will be cleared for all activities. As it is now I can pretty much do whatever I need to do. I am holding off from exercising other than walking and lifting heavy objects but outside of that it seems be heeling well.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Surgery Update
I met with the urologist to follow up on the surgery. Things are healing well though it is going to be 3-4 weeks to fully recover. There isn't any pain with the surgery at this point. It's more of a discomfort feeling.
Now on to the good stuff. The tests came back and it is indeed cancer. There are two types of Testicular cancer. I fortunately have the less aggressive one. This type is called Seminomas. Also the last of the blood tests came back and it was also in the normal range. This means that all of the tests they ran for tumor markers came back normal. The also tested some area around the testicle they removed and did not find cancer there. The next step is a CT -Scan to see if it has spread to the lymph nodes. We won't know if it has spread or not until the CT-scan however the current thought is that it may not have spread.
The follow up treatment plan will be based on the CT-Scan. Even if it hasn't spread they will most likely recommend one chemo treatment to make sure it hasn't spread. I have been told this would not be like what I went through last time. (Easy for them to say since they aren't getting it.) If it has spread then the options would be multiple chemo treatments or radiation. Either way I am still in the 95% + survival group. Apparently this is the most treatable cancer for men to get.
That's it for now. Hopefully the CT-Scan will be scheduled for next week though I don't expect to hear any news until the week afterwards.
Now on to the good stuff. The tests came back and it is indeed cancer. There are two types of Testicular cancer. I fortunately have the less aggressive one. This type is called Seminomas. Also the last of the blood tests came back and it was also in the normal range. This means that all of the tests they ran for tumor markers came back normal. The also tested some area around the testicle they removed and did not find cancer there. The next step is a CT -Scan to see if it has spread to the lymph nodes. We won't know if it has spread or not until the CT-scan however the current thought is that it may not have spread.
The follow up treatment plan will be based on the CT-Scan. Even if it hasn't spread they will most likely recommend one chemo treatment to make sure it hasn't spread. I have been told this would not be like what I went through last time. (Easy for them to say since they aren't getting it.) If it has spread then the options would be multiple chemo treatments or radiation. Either way I am still in the 95% + survival group. Apparently this is the most treatable cancer for men to get.
That's it for now. Hopefully the CT-Scan will be scheduled for next week though I don't expect to hear any news until the week afterwards.
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