When the words - Chemo - P.E.T - RPLND are comon in your world...

[Vinny]

Good day, eh! While I suppose Ottawa isn't really in the heart of the "Great White North", it is pretty far north to most of us in the States.

Great blog, and I hope surveillance goes well so that you can soon bid farewell to the place Alice Trillin called "The Land of the Sick People."

[Scott]

Welcome, Ryan. I hope you're recovering well from surgery and that life gets brighter from here.

[Dragon]

Good Morning,

I have gone through the works and have been very fortunate thus far. (I just keep saying that, sounds good...) The truth is, at the end of the day it is left up to you to decide what you want to do next, who you want to listen to next, where you want to go.

I went through a 3xBEP cycle, when completed one of my lymph nodes was still very large. A P.E.T scan was recommended to view the lymph node in question and see if residual cancer/chemo/scar tissue was inside. When the P.E.T scan came back it was negative on all fronts... "Oh, but while we were looking at the scan we noticed a "glow" in a lymph node that was never affected at the beginning and we would like to remove it with a RPLND."

Confusion sets in... My Oncologist and all Oncologists on the board of directors were keen on watching the lymph node, and recommended a second P.E.T scan months later to see in fact the "glow" would subside. 3 months later I found myself zooming through another P.E.T scan, to my surprise, nothing had changed. I decided to have the surgery.

During the pre-op of the RPLND I went through a basic chest X-ray. When I met with the surgeon the week of surgery he informed me he noticed a light gray hue in the chest that concerned him so a follow-up CT post surgery was oredered. He mentioned it could be a nodule, and would lead to more chemo....

Fortunately the surgeon did not have to make an incision larger than 8cm from the base of my penis. It stops about 1.5inch before my belly button. This was on Thursday of last week.. On Friday the CT was done and results were in hours before I escaped the hospital on the Saturday morning. CT was 100% clear. I now find myself waiting by the phone for the pathology to come in and let me know what in the world is going on.

I have a blog on my site that documents the journy thus far. I think you will find it informative and fun.

Good luck to all,