The Backstory – Visit with the Oncologist

April 21, 2017

My first visit to the oncologist… It felt like a lot of waiting to get here, but it felt good to finally start working on a plan for treatment and not just discovering what was going on in my body.  The Oncologist, Dr S specializes in Chemo therapy and is confident that the mass of lymph nodes in my abdomen can be treated best using Chemo.  Prior to this appointment, LeeAnna and I had been reading up on various treatment options.  Dealing with the testicle was pretty straight forward, they simply do a surgery to remove it.  The lymph nodes were a different story.  There seemed to be 2 viable options for treating the lymph nodes; the first option is a surgery called RPLND, the second with chemo therapy.

I was pushing to get the surgery right away.  I did not like the idea of a lengthy time doing chemo treatments, and what that was going to do to my body.  The RPLND surgery was not an easy surgery by any means.  It involves making an incision from the sternum vertically down to the lower abdomen.  However, getting this out of me asap was a very attractive option and I would rather heal up from the surgery and just be done with it.

Dr S is not a surgeon, but in his opinion, due to the nature, size, and position of the mass, operating was not going to be viable option.  He suggested talking to the surgeon about it, but it was his opinion that they could not operate.  Dr S proceeded to pull up the CT scan to show us the mass.  This was going to be my first time actually looking at it other what a dr has tried to describe to me.  It was shocking!  It was very easy to look at the left side of my body and get an idea of what I should be seeing on the right.  The left side had open space between the organs that were being displayed on the scan.  However, the right side has a mass that fills up all the empty space that would normally be there.

I had no idea how big it actually was!!

Dr S indicated that it appeared that the right testicle had an abnormal appearance and that the cancer was likely coming from the right side.  He recommended a 2 step approach for treatment; remove the right testicle, heal for 2 weeks and immediately begin chemo.  This is not at all what I was looking to hear regarding having chemo treatments.  I told Dr S that I was really hoping to do surgery instead of having chemo, and confirmed with him that if I was able to do the surgery, I would not have to do the chemo.

Dr S provided us with the dimensions of the mass; 16cm long and 6.5cm wide.  Just hearing that was tough to wrap my head around as far as trying to imagine the actual size. Dr S pulled out a measuring tool that only went to 12cm which was yet another wake up call for realize just how big this was in my abdomen.

LeeAnna was with me and she was doing an amazing job of taking all these detailed notes and asking questions.  At this point, I felt like I was in a daze.  It is like being in a really bad dream and it is so hard to believe the reality of what is actually happening.  Each new detail though brings me closer to the acceptance of the actual reality of what is going on in my body.

The appointment wrapped up with Dr S telling us he was going to make a referral to the surgical urologist for the removal of the testicle, and that we would be hearing back from them soon.