Since Feb 10th... I have been recovering from Surgery. We left Indiana on the 24th (after the chest tubes were out - (see previous post - it sounds worse than it looked).
Since we've been at home, I have just been taking pain killers, mostly because I still have back pain (The back pain is the reason I went to get the original CT Scan), but, after the operation, it seems as though the the back pain had moved around.
We had our follow up on March 10th and we did a blood test. The AFP levels were down (tumor markers for testicular cancer) we were excited, BUT I still had a lot of back pain. The doctor believed it was residual from the surgery and was actually surprised that I wasn't in MORE pain (the thoracotomy does that). We requested a bone scan and did that Friday March, 20th. I also saw a Physical Therapist to see if she could do anything... but the back pain continued, AND got worse through the weekend. The pain settled in a different part of my back on the other side and around to my chest.
Monday we called the doctor and I went down at 1pm to talk to them. They did more bloodwork and an EKG. They ordered a CT Scan to see if it was a Pulmonary Embolism, but were not able to do it at University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) because the ER was swamped and we would have waited at least 6 hours. So we went to Boulder Community ER and got right in. The CT scan was negative for Pulmonary Embolism (PE). They offered to admit me for pain management, but I wanted to go home. UCH docs said that an MRI would be the next step if the PE was negative.
Tuesday AM after a long night of little sleep, I had Katie call the doctor's first thing in the morning. We went in and they started IV fluids and pain killers. They also gave me anti-nausea medicine that put me to sleep on the exam table. The MRI was scheduled fairly quickly, but it takes about an hour to complete and then we were back to the exam room.
At around 5pm, the doctors and nurse came in to tell us that there was another tumor. This tumor did not show up on the CT scans OR the bone scan. The location of the tumor is the most alarming. It is in the T4 of the spine (think top of breast bone but on the back - there will be a picture later to see more) The tumor is IN the bone, destroying the bone and pressing on the spinal cord. AHA - finally the source of the pain?
Immediately they gave me a high dose of steroids to shrink the swelling and provide some pain relief. Then I was admitted to the hospital. The docs from radiation came in to talk about the next steps in treatment. I have been prescribed 10 doses of radiation. These happen 1x/day on weekdays.
We finally got to a room at 11pm and found that it was a shared room and was not on the oncology floor (sigh). Russ and Katie found uncomfortable places to sleep and camped for the night. I didn't get much more sleep in the hospital bed because Neurosurgeons were in and out every 1-2 hours to make sure that my motor function was OK. (testing strength, feeling, movement) I passed with flying colors!!!
Wednesday we saw a ton of doctors, asked them a lot of questions. (see last post for some FAQs) the steroids seem to be working because the back pain is much less now.
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