Well, I'm back in CA and I have to admit that I've been a bit too aggressive with my recovery schedule....
My plans were to start interviewing, put my place on the market, and to basically collect some information to help me decide what to do next.
I think it was the a combination of switching from the good drugs (oxycontin) to the whimpy drugs (vicodin) and over-doing it while packing up my stuff getting ready to show my condo....I've just been out of it for the past week. I've been in SERIOUS pain and have just felt crappy.... I guess I should have listened to the docs and taken it easy for 4-6 weeks like they told me to...
I guess my plan now is to take it easy and give my body time to recover.
-CIAO
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
almost ready to come home....
Well, it's still snowing in Cleveland - surprise surprise surprise..... NOT!!!!!!
I'm actually a bit nervous about heading back to SF. My abs and my left leg and groin (where they chopped out most of the "stuff") are really sore. I'm not very mobile yet either.... I guess I'll manage....
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and getting on with my life....
My hair is starting to grow!!!!!!! I first noticed some blond peach-fuzz on my face. It looks like when I was 15 or 16 yrs old. I'm also getting a little stubble on my head.....I'm sure I'll still be Mr. Clean for a couple of more months.
At least I'll be able to venture outside and walk to Starbucks....
-c'ya soon
I'm actually a bit nervous about heading back to SF. My abs and my left leg and groin (where they chopped out most of the "stuff") are really sore. I'm not very mobile yet either.... I guess I'll manage....
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and getting on with my life....
My hair is starting to grow!!!!!!! I first noticed some blond peach-fuzz on my face. It looks like when I was 15 or 16 yrs old. I'm also getting a little stubble on my head.....I'm sure I'll still be Mr. Clean for a couple of more months.
At least I'll be able to venture outside and walk to Starbucks....
-c'ya soon
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Back to CA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a flight back to San Francisco on 2/21. I am excited to see everyone!!!
Thank God for pharmaceuticals. Without Oxycontin, I would not be functioning right now....Even with it, I'm in some serious pain....
I'm sure I will be much better by the 21st.
-c'ya
Thank God for pharmaceuticals. Without Oxycontin, I would not be functioning right now....Even with it, I'm in some serious pain....
I'm sure I will be much better by the 21st.
-c'ya
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Cancer Free!!!!!!!!!
I was released from the Hospital today and am back at my Parent's house in OH.
The best news of the day, though, was the pathology results of the surgery........I AM CANCER FREE!!!!!!! I am finished with all treatment - no more surgery, no more chemo!!!!!!
I still need to adhere to a strict follow-up regimen. Since I had surgery, I just need to have chest X-rays and blood tests for tumor markers on a regular basis.
The Surgery was brutal and painful (and still is.....) As you can see from the scar, they split me from my sternum to my pelvis. On the Left side, they removed the rest of my vas defrens, spermatic chord, all nerves and blood vessels associated with the removed testicle, and 18 - 20 lymph nodes. On the Right side, all the nerves were carefully spared and 18 - 20 lymph nodes were removed. Oh yea, I forgot to mention that the nodes are underneath all of my organs - intestines, colon, liver, etc., so those organs were removed from my body and placed on my chest during this procedure......
As a result of the cutting, stretching, organ removal and replacement, lymph node dissection procedure blah blah blah, I was in for some serious P-A-I-N. Before they sedated me, they inserted an epidural. Basically, this consists of a HUGE needle stuck into my spinal column (for you ladies out there who have given birth, it's the same pain management process.) I can't even describe how much it hurt just to get the needle properly inserted (on the 3rd try by the way.)
It was the best decision I made!!!!! The pain was manageable......I only realized how manageable WHEN THEY TOOK IT OUT.....The motivation for taking it out was that my cathedar could not be removed as long as the epidural was in place. WHAT A DILEMMA!!!!! Having a tube up my Johnson was not a good feeling at all....I lasted until Sunday.
I'll write more later but for now, it's nap time - I'm BEAT......
CIAO,
Mr. Clean with a big scar
The best news of the day, though, was the pathology results of the surgery........I AM CANCER FREE!!!!!!! I am finished with all treatment - no more surgery, no more chemo!!!!!!
I still need to adhere to a strict follow-up regimen. Since I had surgery, I just need to have chest X-rays and blood tests for tumor markers on a regular basis.
The Surgery was brutal and painful (and still is.....) As you can see from the scar, they split me from my sternum to my pelvis. On the Left side, they removed the rest of my vas defrens, spermatic chord, all nerves and blood vessels associated with the removed testicle, and 18 - 20 lymph nodes. On the Right side, all the nerves were carefully spared and 18 - 20 lymph nodes were removed. Oh yea, I forgot to mention that the nodes are underneath all of my organs - intestines, colon, liver, etc., so those organs were removed from my body and placed on my chest during this procedure......
As a result of the cutting, stretching, organ removal and replacement, lymph node dissection procedure blah blah blah, I was in for some serious P-A-I-N. Before they sedated me, they inserted an epidural. Basically, this consists of a HUGE needle stuck into my spinal column (for you ladies out there who have given birth, it's the same pain management process.) I can't even describe how much it hurt just to get the needle properly inserted (on the 3rd try by the way.)
It was the best decision I made!!!!! The pain was manageable......I only realized how manageable WHEN THEY TOOK IT OUT.....The motivation for taking it out was that my cathedar could not be removed as long as the epidural was in place. WHAT A DILEMMA!!!!! Having a tube up my Johnson was not a good feeling at all....I lasted until Sunday.
I'll write more later but for now, it's nap time - I'm BEAT......
CIAO,
Mr. Clean with a big scar
Monday, February 2, 2009
Last Solid Food......
I'm staying up as late as possible tonight (Monday) to eat as much solid food as I can (lots of Mom's leftovers in the fridge.)
Tomorrow, I'm on a clear-liquid diet until 2:00 when I start "preparing my bowels" for surgery. That's all I'm going to write on that subject......
I'm definitely going to have the coolest (and largest) scar of anyone I know. I may have to have a contest to see who can come up with the best story for the scar. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking shark bite.
I'm the first patient on Wed so let's hope the surgeon has a nice quiet evening tomorrow and gets a good night's sleep. We want him to have steady hands and not hit any critical nerves that just happen to run right next to those wonderful lymph nodes he will be chopping out. And for those of you that don't know, control the most critical organ in the male body - no not the brain but the same number of letters and starts with a "P" and ends with an "ENIS"
The good news is that when I wake up I will have an epidural for pain (just like all my lady friends who are having babies) which will combat the tubes up my nose and into my stomach along with the catheter (can you spell O-U-C-H......)
The biggest potential issue are those temperamental intestines that don't take kindly to being taken out of the abdomen / pushed aside so the surgeon can chop out the problematic lymph nodes and then (hopefully) put back in their original resting place......
I'm hoping to be texting / emailing by Fri and fighting with the docs to go home on Sat and eventually going home on Sun......
I asked the docs to do 1 favor for me. SPONGE BATH FROM A HOT NURSE!!!!!!!! You'd think with a brother-in-law who is a "head nurse" at the Clinic and all the chatting up I did through Chemo that someone would be able to pull a few strings and hook a guy up..... Let's hope....
OK- time for my next meal.....gotta go
- CIAO,
Mr. Clean
Tomorrow, I'm on a clear-liquid diet until 2:00 when I start "preparing my bowels" for surgery. That's all I'm going to write on that subject......
I'm definitely going to have the coolest (and largest) scar of anyone I know. I may have to have a contest to see who can come up with the best story for the scar. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking shark bite.
I'm the first patient on Wed so let's hope the surgeon has a nice quiet evening tomorrow and gets a good night's sleep. We want him to have steady hands and not hit any critical nerves that just happen to run right next to those wonderful lymph nodes he will be chopping out. And for those of you that don't know, control the most critical organ in the male body - no not the brain but the same number of letters and starts with a "P" and ends with an "ENIS"
The good news is that when I wake up I will have an epidural for pain (just like all my lady friends who are having babies) which will combat the tubes up my nose and into my stomach along with the catheter (can you spell O-U-C-H......)
The biggest potential issue are those temperamental intestines that don't take kindly to being taken out of the abdomen / pushed aside so the surgeon can chop out the problematic lymph nodes and then (hopefully) put back in their original resting place......
I'm hoping to be texting / emailing by Fri and fighting with the docs to go home on Sat and eventually going home on Sun......
I asked the docs to do 1 favor for me. SPONGE BATH FROM A HOT NURSE!!!!!!!! You'd think with a brother-in-law who is a "head nurse" at the Clinic and all the chatting up I did through Chemo that someone would be able to pull a few strings and hook a guy up..... Let's hope....
OK- time for my next meal.....gotta go
- CIAO,
Mr. Clean
Friday, January 30, 2009
Bad News Today......
It seems either the Chemo didn't completely work, or I have "teratoma" cells present that do not respond to Chemo......as a result, I will be having nerve-sparing RPLND surgery on Wednesday......
Bummer......I was looking forward to flying back to SF and watching the Super Bowl with my friends.....
I'm heading out tonight so I will write more tomorrow......
-soon to have a big scar,
Mr. Clean
Bummer......I was looking forward to flying back to SF and watching the Super Bowl with my friends.....
I'm heading out tonight so I will write more tomorrow......
-soon to have a big scar,
Mr. Clean
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Back in Cleveland......
What a difference a day makes.......One day, I'm wearing shorts and playing golf in 80 degree sunny FL weather, another I'm trudging through a foot of snow in the frozen tundra....
The only good news is that I will know my short-term fate in 48 hours......although my sister put a scare in me regarding NOT having tests done on Fridays.....She seems to think that I will not get the results until next week.
All I can say is that I'm not leaving the Clinic on Fri afternoon until I have an answer from my Oncologist and Surgeon.....
I will either be on an airplane flying back to SF on Sunday or getting ready for RPLND surgery on Wed.
Please keep your finger's crossed......
-Mr. Clean
The only good news is that I will know my short-term fate in 48 hours......although my sister put a scare in me regarding NOT having tests done on Fridays.....She seems to think that I will not get the results until next week.
All I can say is that I'm not leaving the Clinic on Fri afternoon until I have an answer from my Oncologist and Surgeon.....
I will either be on an airplane flying back to SF on Sunday or getting ready for RPLND surgery on Wed.
Please keep your finger's crossed......
-Mr. Clean
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