My 23 year old son has just been diagnosed

[brianktexas]

Debbie,

I just caught your post and noticed you are from Seguin. I'm not sure how your sons treatment is proceeding, but if you have any questions about physicians in the San Antonio area let me know. There are some very good physicians.

My urologist name was Dr Ian Thompson (210)562-5700. I switched over to him on the recommendation of a member here.
I did my treatment at the CTRC which is also affiliated with University Health Science Center.

As far as the sperm banking goes. The cost isn't too bad. Here is a link to a clinic in San Antonio. The rates are very reasonable for banking. I want to say it was around a $100-$200 per year. Well below average. Dr. Witz is the doctor we consulted with.

http://www.uthscsa.edu/stwhc/fertility/bios.html

[discodolly]

We just rcvd the results of Eric's blood work and the AFP levels have gone up rather than down since his surgery. We have an appointment to see the Oncologist on Moday and he will lay out the plan for his Chemo.

BrianKTexas - I asked the Urologist about Dr. Thompson and he said that he is a Surgical Oncologist and we would be referred to him if and when he needs the RPLND.

[dadmo]

Debbie:
I know it's discouraging to see the markers go up but it's not that unusual. Sometime you get what I have heard called a bloom in the numbers and they may very well go down on there own. What were your sons markers.

[discodolly]

Eric went to see the Oncologist yesterday and here is what we discovered and the plan. Eric's cancer involved the blood vessels, which we didn't know and so therefore they plan to do 4 rounds of Chemotherapy. Each round will last 3 weeks. One of the medications affects his pulmonary functions so they are going to do a pulmonary function test prior to the Chemo. He also needs to have a Port-A-Cath inserted by a surgeon so that they do not have to put in an IV every time. They only do Chemo here on Mondays and Tuesdays so we are estimating that it should start in about 2 weeks.

His spirits and up and he is adamant that this will not beat him!

[jdunn]

Hi Debbie,
My son's markers also went up after his surgery. It was very upseting to us at the time because our knowledge of TC was so little. Josh had 4 rounds of chemo. He had the pulmomary test because of the bleomyicin (spell?) that he would be given. He never had a port put in. Towards the end of chemo though his veins were almost shot.
I am thinking of you and your son for this is a tough time right now. Just know that it will be over soon and your lives will go back to a "new" normal.
Take care.
Jane

[amorgan74]

Chemo

Hey Debbie, My husband had a port put in also, after his initial visit with the onco the nurses told him he would be getting one, whether he wanted to or not. Wesley is kind of squeamish with the sticks and I got first hand experience when we got married. We had dated about two years before getting married and when we went to get our blood test done he passed out on the table. I thought, Uh oh, not good here. Fortunately I have learned that it had more to do with the person doing the draw and his vessels than being a bad omen. His port made chemo more convenient because of rolling viens(sp) and although it was little bothersome when he slept he wouldn't have went through chemo with out it. There is a thread under the treatment part of the forum that lists side effects from the BEP chemo that you are talking about. It has a lot of good info on what to expect, the downside is that all of the things that are listed there are not guaranteed. Because the chemo effects everyone so differently it's hard to say what will bother your son the most. I wish you and him the best of luck with chemo, it's a hard road on both of you but the outcome is worth so much more. Keep your spirits up and please let me know how it goes. And he's right, no matter how bad he may feel going through chemo he will win. I will be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers as you all go through this. April

[drom]

My son has a port as well and it is a God send. Squemish is a mild word for Alex and needles. He has often said "I can face cancer but get that needle away from me".

Good luck, we are on the last two shots of Bleo and then waiting for a catscan middle of the month. For Alex the first round was the worst and he dealt with it better with every session.

There is no sight so painful in the world as your son hooked up to chemo but you can get through it moe than you know right now.

Domenic

[dadmo]

The port is a great idea. My son didn't have one and he never complained but on the days where veins would collapse and he would have to get stabbed 2-3-4 times it broke my heart. Just make sure you follow all of the port cleaning procedures and you’ll be glad he had it.

[Don]

I had the port installed after my fifth round of chemo because my veins collapsed and because I started taking TPN... I wish I would have had the port from day 1!!!!!! The tough guy thing..YA... the only thing that came of that was alot of avoidable pain!!!!!! My Afp also went up from 44943 to over 46200 post I/O ...Afp dropped quickly once BEP chemo started....Which Chemo regimen are they prescibing for Eric??? Stay strong and Stay positive !!!!!!!

[discodolly]

Well, the port was installed on Wednesday and he also had the PFT done the same day. He has been a little sore but not much else. We were hoping that he could start Chemo (4XBEP) on 3-6 but the results of the PFT are not back yet so it looks like we have to wait one more week. The waiting is very hard. Eric says he soooo bored with watching TV and playing XBox. In the begining many of his friends came by but now it is only a select few, I guess the initial shock has worn off and they all have their own lives to lead. Can't blame them for that. Hanging around with Mom is getting old for him. I will keep everyone posted on how he does with his Chemo. Thanks for all the support. This forum is the first thing I read every morning, even before my emails.

[discodolly]

We rcvd a call from the hospital yesterday and Eric will be doing his Chemo there instead of the Doctor's Office. He doesn't start until 3-20 and this is very exasperating. This waiting for something to happen is very hard. It seems like every time Eric gets himself mentally prepared to start the Chemo it gets postponed. We have a doctors appointment on Monday to go over the test results and I will post again then.

[Scott]

That has to be frustrating. What's the reason for the delay?

[Don]

Kind of weird they are delaying due to a pulmonary test.. I can see a few days but weeks is a little much.... Time is of the essence - if they try to delay again I would insist on them starting ASAP... Are they trying to decide whether or not to use Bleomycin ??? That would be the only reason I could see to wait for the PFT..... Good Luck!!!! DON

[discodolly]

Eric is going to get Bleo so that is why we had to get the PFT done. The delay is due to the hospital. They said that if he was only going to get one treatment per week they would have tried to fit him in on Monday but since it is one treatment per day the first opening they had was 3-20-06. They will call us if they have a cancellation since we are only 5 minutes from there.

[Don]

Are they giving him outpatient chemo??? Or is that the next room they have available for the 5 day treatment period for BEP?