As I promised yesterday, I'm going to give you the first part of how I discovered I had TC. I will try to keep it as brief as possible, but I also want you to know how important it is to act fast. Because TC can spread like a wildfire and I have the perfect example which I will compare to later on. But first, part 1.
It was the end of March 2010 and Dianne and I were spending the weekend in Nashville with her parents looking at wedding dresses (YAY! <--- Obvious Sarcasm). We were staying in a hotel called the Indigo which was a really nice hotel. But as I was taking a shower before we went out to dinner I noticed that my left testicle was swollen. While I was freaked out a little, I tried to not let it ruin the weekend.
When we got back to Murray, I could tell that it was even more swollen. I explained to Dianne what was going on, and she urged me to talk to her dad who is a doctor. I called him on March 30, 2010 and as I explained to him what was going on he very firmly said, "you need to see a urologist tomorrow". He put me in touch with a urologist in Hopkinsville, Dr. Franke, who was able to see me on April 1. Dr. Franke was a female doctor, but I was told she was one of the best. As Dianne and I walked into the doctors office, I tried to act as if I wasn't nervous for Dianne, but I had never been more nervous in my entire life. The wait in the waiting room was probably only 20 minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. They called my name and I sprung out of my chair and looked at Dianne smiling to give her some reassurance that everything was going to be ok, even though I had no idea if they were or not. As I went back they did the typical height and weight check as well as getting a urine sample. I was then brought back to the exam room only to wait some more. She came in within a few moments of me being brought back. The first thing she asked me to do is drop my pants, and this is when I knew from here there was no turning back. Hope for the best, expect the worst. After she did a physical examination, she decided I needed an ultrasound. So she gave me the ultrasound and explained to me that the scenario didn't look good so she wanted me to go across the street to the hospital to get blood work done and they would give the results to Dr. Franke as soon as they were available. As I made the walk back over to Dr. Franke's office, she sat us down and explained to Dianne and I the situation. She was almost 100% sure that I had testicular cancer. Luckily, I had already expected the worst. Unfortunately Dianne hadn't and it shook her up pretty bad. Dr. Franke then explained to us that I needed to have a radical orchiectomy (a fancy way of saying left testicle removal).
The drive home was excruciating. Having to call my parents and explain to them what was going on was painful. It was so hard for me to tell them that I had... cancer. I was too young to have cancer. I had too much going for me. Dianne and I were both about to graduate, were in the middle of planning our wedding and I had a job waiting for me. Now what were we going to do? Were we going to have to put everything on hold? Only one person knew.
To be continued tomorrow...
No comments:
Post a Comment