Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Testicular Cancer: Round 2

Hello Everyone. Sorry I haven't posted for so long. I have a pretty good reason. The end of October I found out that I had testicular cancer again. Not much fun. My wife, grandpa, and I went to Mayo Clinic to see if the one remaining testicle I had could be saved. Unfortunately, it could not. So I went in and had the testicle removed and was out of work for around two weeks. (Thank you so much co-workers for helping me out with that.) The surgery went very well. Coming out of anestesia I told my mom, mother-in-law, and dad that I want a new mattress for Christmas. (I HATE THE MATTRESS ON OUR BED!) This was a step up from five years ago when I told the nurses that I want my mommy.
I had a follow-up appointment with my doctor a week after the surgery. It turns out that my tumor was a seminoma and is very susceptible to radiation. Testicular cancer, when caught early with a seminoma tumor, has a 95 percent survival rate. What typically happens after this diagnosis is the patient either has radiation over the lymph node area of the body to kill any chance of the cancer spreading or do something called watchful waiting. I voted for watchful waiting. I did not have a recurrence five years ago so I decided to go this route again. I was also diagnosed with Crohn's disease earlier this year and don't want to aggrevate my stomach. Also, radiation scares the hell out of me. With watchful waiting I have x-rays and blood work done every month for two years, and than have a CT-scan every 3 months for the first year and every 6 months for the second year.
To be honest I was pretty angry with God the past few weeks, but now realize how blessed I am. God doesn't give us a guarantee of how long we are going to live on this earth, so I shouldn't expect one. My wife and I support two kids, and a missionary through Gospel for Asia. If you are ever feeling down about your life just read about what the typical Dalit person goes through in India. I guarantee it will change your perspective on things. God has blessed my life in so many areas that I've just decided to be thankful for today.
I would also like to thank everybody that has been praying for me and for those who will begin praying for me after reading this. There is nothing like the power of prayer.

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