Learning about this came the same week that my good friend, Dorothy Maxwell, left this life after battling cervical cancer which was then followed by an untreatable, aggressive colon cancer.
For a week we have worried about every possible scenario after learning that a large mass was found behind R's breastbone and that there were many tumors in his lung . Today we learn that there's alot of hope in this journey R. will be taking.
I will be updating this blog as we take this journey. We thank all of you who are remembering R, J. and us in your prayers. This is the latest update from his wife, J. This is such hopeful, encouraging news for us:
Hi family!
So. We had two appointments today, one with the surgeon and one with our oncologist. Both of them are exceptionally excellent so far. Due to other life adventures, I have some skillz for dealing with and assessing doctors. I guess sometimes you get to use skills you didn't ever really want to have. Our oncologist has Harvard and Stanford and UW medical residency (nationally the most competitive residency) on his resume, and -- most important and impressive -- he seems to have the real life skills to match. He's positive we can win.
Here's some news.
1) We got results back from the bloodwork done on Wednesday. R's HCG counts (yes, HCG) are 125,000 (normal levels are something like 10). That indicates, almost certainly, germ-cell cancer. That's a treatable cancer!
2) We don't know what kind of germ-cell cancer it is. On Monday R. is getting an ultrasound to determine if it's gonadal germ cell (really treatable) and a surgical biopsy is Tuesday to confirm whether or not it's seminomal germ cell (also very treatable). Not as treatable -- but still treatable! -- is non-seminomal germ cell.
3) One indicator for R having gonadal cancer is the pattern of the metastasized tumors in his lungs. One indicator for it being seminomal is that his HCG levels are very high but his AFP levels are not. No particular indicators of non-seminomal cancer (but nothing to rule it out).
4) R starts chemotherapy on the 16th. We will be at Swedish. I get to stay overnight with him (they encourage and accommodate that, but I was ready to advocate if they didn't :) Swedish is arguably the best hospital in the city, and Seattle is a *great* city for medicine.
We are major having lightning and thunderstorms today. Seattle rarely gets storms. It's very auspicious!
So. We had two appointments today, one with the surgeon and one with our oncologist. Both of them are exceptionally excellent so far. Due to other life adventures, I have some skillz for dealing with and assessing doctors. I guess sometimes you get to use skills you didn't ever really want to have. Our oncologist has Harvard and Stanford and UW medical residency (nationally the most competitive residency) on his resume, and -- most important and impressive -- he seems to have the real life skills to match. He's positive we can win.
Here's some news.
1) We got results back from the bloodwork done on Wednesday. R's HCG counts (yes, HCG) are 125,000 (normal levels are something like 10). That indicates, almost certainly, germ-cell cancer. That's a treatable cancer!
2) We don't know what kind of germ-cell cancer it is. On Monday R. is getting an ultrasound to determine if it's gonadal germ cell (really treatable) and a surgical biopsy is Tuesday to confirm whether or not it's seminomal germ cell (also very treatable). Not as treatable -- but still treatable! -- is non-seminomal germ cell.
3) One indicator for R having gonadal cancer is the pattern of the metastasized tumors in his lungs. One indicator for it being seminomal is that his HCG levels are very high but his AFP levels are not. No particular indicators of non-seminomal cancer (but nothing to rule it out).
4) R starts chemotherapy on the 16th. We will be at Swedish. I get to stay overnight with him (they encourage and accommodate that, but I was ready to advocate if they didn't :) Swedish is arguably the best hospital in the city, and Seattle is a *great* city for medicine.
We are major having lightning and thunderstorms today. Seattle rarely gets storms. It's very auspicious!
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