I tried to stay positive the whole day leading up to the appointment with Dr. Stephenson. I watched and played with Avery to try to distract me from the bomb that was going to be dropped.
The longest part of the appointment was waiting for Dr. Stephenson to go through the films, the old way with the big films and light wall. When he came back in the room, the lights were out, and Avery was asleep. Somehow the news that he was going to share seemed less harsh because that cute little baby was asleep on my chest.
He placed the two films on the wall and showed where the Radiologist made a measurement. He said that it doesn't show characteristics of Teratoma. Because he went straight into identifying they type of germ cell, I knew that the lymphocele was not it. He left and returned again with my Tumor Marker levels from the Friday visit. The levels went from normal, less than five, to now above 100. That is quite the jump in levels in just over a month. When Dr. Stephenson said that I would need chemotherapy, a thousand thoughts went through my head. What about school? What about Avery? What about work? What about Jacqui's school? What about giving Avery a brother or sister? What strain is this going to put on my relationship with Jacqui?
My surgery tomorrow is to preserve my left kidney through the upcoming chemotherapy. The surgery is a Cysto & Double-J stent Insersion. The tumor is constricting the ureter to the point that the kidney is getting backed up. This stent will be placed from my bladder through the ureter to my left kidney to help it drain. This is critical because the chemotherapy drugs will get through my body better if I can use both kidneys.
I will be meeting with Dr. Tudor to start my chemo next week. Dr. Stephenson suggested that we do my chemotherapy in Provo to minimize the travel time. There are still alot of unknowns that will be resolved when I meet with Dr. Bott.
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