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Hello to everyone --
I've spent a great deal of time today reading the posts on the site. I can sincerely empathize with everyone going through this process, both as the girlfriend and as an "almost" medical professional. I will graduate from Indiana University School of Medicine in May, and will stay to do a residency in Anesthesia. My boyfriend with TC is a Surgery resident here also, which is ironically wonderful, becuase he knows first-hand many of the world reknown surgeons and oncologists here who have been and will continue to treat him.
In retrospect, I should have suspected something was amiss, but the one symptom were very vague -- lower back pain -- so my boyfreind simply prescribed himself some muscle relaxants. It wasn't until he had a supraclavicular node -- known as a "Virchow's node" in med-speak, typically a harbringer of doom for the abdominal cavity -- that we thought he might need a lymph node biopsy. Think of that anger you have against the GP, internist or person who didn't diagnose the TC in your life -- I felt like that against myself.
He has Stage IIIC non-seminoma, with all the types mixed in, and as we discovered this week, with a new met (probably teratoma) to his lung. In this case, knowing what I do about medicine makes things easier and harder; there is sometimes a burden that comes with knowing "too much" -- being able to see how large his retroperitoneal nodes are without a radiologist's read was difficult, as they were quite large on presentation; but it's also nice to be able to understand all the bloodwork.
Going through this process has taught me a lot about what I don't learn in school -- about waiting time, scheduling, insurance -- and how we order test without really thinking about the person (but instead thinking about their ultimate well-being.) It's taught me about what kind of an MD I want to be in a few months, and my boyfriend is going to be a fantastic surgeon as a result, I have no doubt.
Just wanted to post to say thanks to all the people whom write -- it's cathartic to put it down, and nice to feel like part of a group. Thanks for reading.
I've spent a great deal of time today reading the posts on the site. I can sincerely empathize with everyone going through this process, both as the girlfriend and as an "almost" medical professional. I will graduate from Indiana University School of Medicine in May, and will stay to do a residency in Anesthesia. My boyfriend with TC is a Surgery resident here also, which is ironically wonderful, becuase he knows first-hand many of the world reknown surgeons and oncologists here who have been and will continue to treat him.
In retrospect, I should have suspected something was amiss, but the one symptom were very vague -- lower back pain -- so my boyfreind simply prescribed himself some muscle relaxants. It wasn't until he had a supraclavicular node -- known as a "Virchow's node" in med-speak, typically a harbringer of doom for the abdominal cavity -- that we thought he might need a lymph node biopsy. Think of that anger you have against the GP, internist or person who didn't diagnose the TC in your life -- I felt like that against myself.
He has Stage IIIC non-seminoma, with all the types mixed in, and as we discovered this week, with a new met (probably teratoma) to his lung. In this case, knowing what I do about medicine makes things easier and harder; there is sometimes a burden that comes with knowing "too much" -- being able to see how large his retroperitoneal nodes are without a radiologist's read was difficult, as they were quite large on presentation; but it's also nice to be able to understand all the bloodwork.
Going through this process has taught me a lot about what I don't learn in school -- about waiting time, scheduling, insurance -- and how we order test without really thinking about the person (but instead thinking about their ultimate well-being.) It's taught me about what kind of an MD I want to be in a few months, and my boyfriend is going to be a fantastic surgeon as a result, I have no doubt.
Just wanted to post to say thanks to all the people whom write -- it's cathartic to put it down, and nice to feel like part of a group. Thanks for reading.
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