Probably. Maybe. We mostly think so.

Ok, so here's the slightly more detailed version of the previous post...

They *think* I'm cancer-free. Up until this point, I've been a textbook case of testicular cancer. My blood work, treatment and recovery has been exactly as the doctors have learned to expect after successfully treating thousands of cases of my cancer.

Where I diverged from being a typical case is my AFP count. If you remember, that's the protein they use to diagnose how much cancer is in my system.

In a typical adult, there is 0 to 5 ng/mL of AFP found. When I started all of this, my count was just under 1,000. But ever since round 2 of chemo, it's been floating around 10 ng/mL.

Normally this indicates that there is still some active cancer left. However, since that number hasn't moved during the last two rounds of chemo and the biopsy from surgery showed that the thing they removed from my lymph node was a mature teratoma (most likely benign), my oncologist believes that the slightly elevated AFP is normal for me. (much like someone who naturally has low blood pressure or has a normal internal body temperature lower than 98.6)

There is also a slight chance that my Crohn's is causing the extra AFP to be produced. It's been shown that Colitis (a very similar condition) can cause this.

So, the end result is this: they are pretty sure I'm cured. But the AFP number means that I don't have a 100% diagnosis. They will be re-testing my blood and giving me CT scans every few months for the next couple of years to make sure. (which was the plan in any case) If the AFP continues not to rise, we'll know that's normal for me.

Achievement

(details to follow)

Latest Ike Update

Well, I got power back on Monday. So, Tuesday, Dad and I headed back to the house. It's nice to start getting back to normal. I'm currently working from home--waiting on the insurance adjuster to show up and give me an idea of what it will cost to get the house back to 100%.

Healing from the surgery is taking a lot longer than I'd hoped. I'm up and around, but still slow, weak and don't have much energy. I think I lost about 10-15 pounds and it shows. I'll get it back, but it'll take a while. At least things are headed in the right direction.

Right now I'm focused on getting life back on track. The house really needs to be cleaned and I've got a completely empty fridge that needs to be restocked. And as slow as I am right now, this is going to take a while...

BTW: I find out next week the results of the biopsy during the surgery. Depending on what exactly was attached to that lymph node they took out, I could be done or I could be in for another round of chemo. (or some third option I'm not aware of) I'll post whenever I hear the results.

Ike & Stuff

Thanks to everyone for the phone calls and emails.

I'm finally starting to do better. I can eat again, so that's a heck of a relief. Now I just have to build my strength back up. It's going to take a little while.

Dad and I headed down to Houston the other day to see what shape the house was in. I was missing some shingles and have some water damage inside the house, but it's not too bad. I'm missing a lot of my fence and stuff like that, but it's all workable.

Since there's still no power, I'm back in OK recovering with the folks. Sounds like it won't be until about this weekend that I *might* have power. So, it's just some sitting around here until then.

But, all is going well. I'm finally back on the mend. Hope everyone is well.

Surgery: Aftermath

Sorry for the no blogging, folks. It's been a crazy week or two.

Surgery went really well. The surgeon almost seemed a bit surprised how well it went. My recovery in-hospital went well, too. It was a little easier than I'd expected.

However, the real fun began when I got out. My folks came down (thanks) and we decided it was best to get out of Ike's way. So I'm in Oklahoma. However, I can't seem to eat anything. Anything I eat comes right back up. So I'm really weak and I can't concentrate. I'm sure it will all come back, but it's rough right now...

Stupid Twitter

Twitter now requires authentication for their RSS feeds. (for reasons I just don't get) And the Blogger engine doesn't seem to understand URL's with authentication in them.

So, for those of you that have no idea what I just said: the "Chemo Twitter" is gone from the right. Twitter made a change that broke that functionality. I can probably get it working again, but I just don't have the time to sit down and figure it out.

So, I'll try to post something here on the blog after surgery to let everyone know how it went. But I don't know when that will be. So, assume the best even if you don't see anything posted Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Surgery

Ok, so I found out yesterday that my surgery will be next Wednesday (3-Sep). The surgery is called a "retroperitoneal lymph node dissection". (try busting that one out during dinner--everyone will think you're a genius)

For those that are curious, there's a good article here that explains what will be going on in layman's terms. Just one note and a warning: one of the unexplained terms is "orchiectomy"--that's the first surgery I had. The warning is that while the article isn't too gruesome, it does mention a couple of possible long-term effects from the surgery that talk about the functioning of "guy parts"--parental discretion advised.

I can't make any guarantees, but I'll try to post something to the Twitter (at the right of the blog) to let everyone know I've survived and how I'm progressing over the first few days after surgery. (If you're as nerdy as I am, I think you can sign-up with Twitter and have my updates SMS'd to your phone. I love the Internets.)

I'm really hoping to be in the hospital for less than a week and back to work a week after that, but I don't know if that's realistic. Right now, I'm just looking forward to getting this part of my treatment done and over with. Actually, I've been in a really good mood since this got scheduled.