Diet Chemo.

So I guess I have been a little remiss in updating what is going on with me. It has been a whirlwind. Let's put it that way. When we last joined the saga of Paddy's Testicular cancer, the doctors has said that cancer had spread to my abdomen. So what has been going on the last 4 weeks. We start at Thursday June 24th when Jon and I got the news that lymph nodes in my abdomen had grown. Wednesday June 30th I went into meet with a radiologist to discuss the options. Dr Ramin declared that I was not a candidate for radiation and that not to worry chemo would not be that bad. He also declared that if I need extra reefer that was okay, he did not recommend the cocaine but a little reefer was okay. A week goes by and then I meet with my oncologist again. She says that after looking at my scans again consulting with some other doctoras that she would like to wait before starting aggressive chemo due to the fact the lymph nodes that had swollen were not the normal lymph nodes that would grow if testicular cancer had spread. She was concerned that a secondary problem was happening. So I was refer to gastrointerologist for a colonoscopy, an endoscopy, and bowel emptying. Three really fun tests that I suffered through all which revealed nothing. As someone quoted "this is why they call it practicing medicine." So back to square one.
So this brings us to last week. I went in for another Ct scan and more blood work. I got a call friday from my oncologist and she said that the lymph nodes that were swollen in my abdomen were now almost completely gone. So yeah awesome I'm in the clear? Wait no just kidding.
Wednesday another appointment with my oncologist. Where do we go from here? I had two options. We continue to monitor and because my scans have been abnormal and then normal, monitoring would we mean a CT scan and blood work every 5 to 6 weeks for 5 years. Second option do a light round of chemo. Two treatments 3 weeks apart. This would bring my chances of recurrence down to less than one percent. Odds that I am more comfortable living with rather then monitoring every 5 weeks with a weight on my shoulders.
So this brings us to Friday August 6th. My first day in for chemo. I will be taking one drug called carboplatin that is infused intravenously over the course of about an hour. Since is only one drug I most likely won't have a lot of side effects other than fatigue and maybe a little hair thinning but if you have seen my afro lately I could use a little thinning. I am calling it diet chemo.
So today one day after treatment. I am tired. I am also taking steroids for three days and anti-nausea medicine for three days while side effects could be the worst. The steroids are making me jittery so I not sleeping well and am more tired. But I am napping for an hour or two and then I wake up starving and need to eat more. It is and odd schedule. But other than that i don't feel all that bad. Just tired and sort of sore. So that is that it I will keep you all updated better i promise. Thank you to all my friends and family that have been amazing supports.
-p