Okay God - what's brewing now...
Within a week of my surgery, Meghan and I were at Vanderbilt to discuss options - on the initial pathology, it did not show that the tumor had escaped and we were under the impression that everything was contained within the initial tumor site. But, nothing could be confirmed until the final pathology report came back....so we are sitting on pins and needles waiting to here.
While we waited anxiously for the results, Dr. Marshall was able to schedule a time for us to get established with the physician group at Vandy - the group that would take care of me from here on out. Within 1.5 weeks of my official diagnosis - I was meeting with a urological oncologist and an oncologist for treatment options to fight this nasty disease called Cancer...Meghan's boss and the OB oncologist had also contacted them as well. So - I am introduced to Dr. Chang and Dr. Derleth and I must say that we were quite impressed.
We received a crash course in Testicular Cancer and the treatment options - needless to say our heads were spinning at the end of the day. We were waiting on the final pathology to return and they stated that we would not do anything until that came back. Since initial my surgery was performed at Maury Regional - they sent it off for a second opinion - which happened to be at Vanderbilt (that is a good thing). This way the doctors will have access to the initial and final pathology and the same team will be reviewing my pathology results going forward - the down side is that it is going to take a little longer to get the results back....
After our consultation and we reviewed the treatment options - we sat and waited...
During the wait time - Meghan and I contemplated what option was best for us.....at the beginning, we were both leaning towards observation (see details below) over surgery... We both fervently prayed about it and had several discussions - then one day Meghan did an about face - she said that we should do the surgery and get it over with.... another God moment....I was shocked to hear her do an about face and now we had something new - we sought some wise counsel on this and cannot say how much we appreciated the thoughts and opinions that we received.
I really believe Meghan could have been a salesman as well - she convinced me to schedule the surgery and get it on the books since it was going to take "6-8 weeks" to get the surgery scheduled - or so we thought....on October 3rd, we decided to schedule the surgery with the understanding that we would have several weeks to vet it out see what happened...well - we did not have long to pray and contemplate things. On the following Thursday (10/10) we received a call from Dr. Changs office asking for us to call - I did not get to speak with his nurse until Monday the 14th (our anniversary)...she informs me that Dr. Chang can do my surgery on the 16th/17th -the only thing would be completing the necessary blood-work and pre-op scans....I think to myself - okay God, this is how you are answering my prayers...let's go...THE FIGHT IS ON!!!
Finally the final pathology came back and here is my note from Facebook......
The final pathology came back and the cancer cells have spread into my lymph node vascular system, which means it was not contained within the tumor. It is on a microscopic level, which means we are at a cross-roads.
Two options:
1. We go into observation mode with the understanding that there is a 40% chance the cancer will reoccur within the next two years and I have to go straight to a very intense chemo program for 9 weeks - re-occurrence dropping to approx. 7%.
2. We have a second surgery and remove the lymph nodes on the left side of my torso. If we go the route of surgery, it is a 6 week recovery. after the pathologist reviews the lymph nodes removed during surgery - decision time - if there are not cancer cells - the re-occurrence rate drops to less than 5% - if cancer cells are present - we go through 6 weeks of the same intense chemo treatment with the re-occurrence dropping to 10%.
Right now we have surgery scheduled for 11.5 - with a second CT scan and chest x-ray on 10.31
God is at work here and I understand what HE means now with "the peace that passes all understanding." Prayers are greatly appreciated during this time. We ask that God continue to provide clear answers to the decisions coming down the road.
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