Jeff

Instead of starting in October, I’m going to start our story a couple of months back. I suppose getting all this out will help me deal, and I think that it’s a good idea to have everything written before it becomes fuzzy in my mind. Right now, my memory is very fresh and feelings are still strong and painful, so if I sound emotional, it’s because I am.

The first week in August, Jeff told me that he thought his testicle was a bit swollen…he said to me, “What if it’s cancer??” I said, “Oh, Jeff, it’s not cancer…there’s probably fifty reasons why your testicle could be swollen, and besides, you don’t get your wife pregnant in April and then get testicular cancer in August.” However, I did suggest that he go to the doctor the next day, which he did. Dr. Sorg diagnosed him with epididymitis and gave him some antibiotics. The meds seemed to work, as most of the pain and swelling went away. A second visit to the doctor confirmed that the testicle was still a bit swollen, so he was put on another round of the same antibiotic. Because the swelling with this particular infection sometimes takes a while to subside, nobody was too concerned.

After almost two months, the testicle was still a bit hard and enlarged. Dr. Sorg sent Jeff for an ultrasound and made him an appointment with Dr. Rudick, the urologist in St. Marys. The first week in October, Jeff had the ultrasound and went to his appointment. I got out of a meeting on October 5^th and called Jeff to make sure that everything turned out okay. As soon as Jeff answered the phone, I knew something was wrong. Dr. Rudick had told him that his ultrasound was not normal and that there were masses on both of his testicles. He also told him that Jeff and I should come back to see him the next day, so that he could go over our options. I went immediately home, courtesy of a ride from one of my co-workers. Jeff and I stayed cuddled together on the couch worrying for a couple of hours and then tried to calm down about things. I cannot ever remember feeling so completely helpless and anxious (even when Mom was dying).

It was around now that Jeff started getting some stomach aches, which I attributed to nerves. We know a little better now, but the timing of this whole story is really unbelievable…but we’ll get to that. Anyway, the next day, Dr. Rudick told us that Jeff probably had testicular cancer, and that he would need to remove one or both of his testicles. He went on about how this type of cancer is very curable, and that with the help of hormones, Jeff would eventually feel completely normal. He also suggested sperm banking and told us he didn’t mind if we got a second opinion (like we would care if he minded!).

Thanks to Jeff’s sister, we immediately arranged an appointment (October 8) with a urologist in Hershey that specializes in oncology. Dr. Reese examined Jeff, took a look at the ultrasound and came to the same conclusion that Dr. Rudick had. He scheduled Jeff’s surgery for the next day. We went back to Jill’s and worried some more. Jeff’s belly continued to hurt and he spent the night vomiting. I again, attributed it to nerves, but like I said…we now know it was something else.

Before Tuesday’s surgery, we got news that a CT scan showed that the cancer had spread to Jeff’s abdominal lymph nodes and that there was an early mass in his bowels. However, there was still no connection made between Jeff’s nausea/diarrhea and the tumor.

Dr. Reese operated on Jeff, taking a biopsy of Jeff’s left testicle and removing it because it was overtaken by tumor. Because initial reports were inconclusive, he left the other testicle alone. So, instead of having all the answers after surgery, we just had more questions. Dr. Reese thought we were probably looking at some sort of lymphoma. This of course, worried us more and we spent the next few days recovering at Jill’s. Jeff’s stomachache seemed to subside, but he was highly medicated and not eating much. By Friday the 12th, we still didn’t have the pathology report and were ready to head home for the weekend.

It felt so good to be in our own house with Hallie and Chance. I think they were pretty happy to see us, too. I spent Saturday running errands around town, and I even got into work for a few hours. Our very helpful neighbors cooked us dinner and Jeff was finally hungry enough to eat. We watched a few movies and I went to bed around 10. Sometime in the early morning, Jeff came back to the bedroom complaining of stomach pains. He had the diarrhea again, and around 6 am he started with the vomiting again. I was beginning to wonder if the tumor was causing some sort of blockage. I called Jill, and she agreed that we should take him to the hospital.

We got to the hospital around 8:30 am, and they managed to give Jeff enough drugs to help him sleep for a while. Because I warned them of the mass in his bowel, they did another CT scan. Dr. Patel confirmed my suspicions about the obstruction, and decided that Jeff needed to be transferred back to Hershey Medical Center, where he could be attended to by specialists.

The ride to Hershey in an ambulance was a nightmare that I won’t discuss. I just hope that nobody reading this has to ever go through something like it.

We arrived in Hershey and by about 3 am Monday morning, Jeff was finally feeling better. His system was free of food, and they continued to hydrate him through his IV. Early Tuesday evening, after more blood tests and a bone marrow aspiration, we finally had the answer we’d been waiting for…Jeff does not have testicular cancer or a lymphoma. He has acute myelogenous leukemia. Dr. Claxton, a hematological oncologist, decided that Jeff would start treatments on Wednesday evening.

On Wednesday morning, Jeff was given a tunnel catheter, which is a central line that feeds his vena cava (a big vein down the right side of the body). This allows him to be fed and hydrated, medicated, and gives the medical personnel access to his blood. Chemotherapy treatments started around 11 PM on Wednesday night. For the first day or so, Jeff felt pretty well, but on Friday he started to feel nauseous and had more stomach pain. According to the doc, when a tumor melts, it often causes the patient some pain. They’ve now given Jeff a morphine drip that has a convenient button…this way, he can control when he receives the medication.

Today is Saturday, October 20, 2007, and as I write this, I’m watching Jeff sleep away some of the day. Luckily, the combination of morphine and nausea meds gives him the ability to sleep. Tonight, Jeff will have his 4^th treatment. After the initial 7 days are over, we may or may not have a couple more days in the hospital. In either case, we’re going to be in Hershey for quite a while, as Jeff will most likely need to see the doctors several times a week for follow-up tests, chemo, and other treatments. We’ll have to be very careful to avoid infection, as Jeff’s immune system will be severely suppressed.

I’m sure I’ve left out tons of details, but I’ll get to them eventually. There are still lots of unknowns that will depend on how things go from here. Hopefully, our luck will start to turn around and we’ll get some good news soon.