The Epic Story begins...part 3

After 4 weeks, the results were finally out!

This was quite terrible, as the longer we wait, the more anxious we became. And results should have been out in a week! Sometimes, these are the down sides of having government hospitals.

By now Pavel is already back to work, with no problems at all. Only during the first 2 weeks, he tires out easily and definitely no heavy work.

On Monday morning, we went to see the oncologist. Prayers carried us through, God's grace & peace in abundance were literally what kept us living life happy! =) And a lot of people were praying for us, upholding us. That is what made the difference and kept our spirits high =)

So there it is - Embryonal Carcinoma pT1, NO, MO.

And chemotherapy was the only option offered and it will start next week.
The onco mentioned that due to the high tumor markers, the relapse risk is quite high.

The results from the biopsy:-
Pre-op tumor markers: AFP 546.8 ; hCG 104
Post-op tumor markers: hCG S: 0 ; AFP S: 7.9

So one week to decide whether to go for chemo or not. I read through more articles and contacted 2 other specialist. One based in Prague and another in UK. Both of them were really kind to reply my email the very next day.

Specialist based in Prague has published a few papers and has given me solid information.
Büchler Tomáš MUDr. mentioned that there's only about 400 cases a year of TC (testicular cancer) in Czech Republic itself. And the prognosis are good. Nonetheless due to the high pre-op tumor markers, chemo should be done to reduce the risk of relapse. And 3 cycles of BEP would be recommended for Pavel.

I was somewhat satisfied but than again, knowing the effects of chemo...I still had not really made up my mind as to go ahead with chemo or not...
After discussing with Pavel, we decided to go for at least 1 cycle of chemo and see how it is.

Than I was reading up on http://tcrc.acor.org which gave me really good information and here is where the other school of thought stands out...
They would classify any non-seminoma stage 1 as low risk and thus surveillance is advocated instead of going for chemo with potential side effects. Only 20% chance of recurrence, in particular to Pavel's case.
But the surveillance method is pretty taxing and it would require compliance to ensure that the relapse, if occurred, will be caught on early. So it's not exactly ideal either... due to traveling & business

So FINALLY we have decided to go for Chemo.

I thank God that I was working in UMMC (teaching hospital based in Malaysia), as they have one of the best oncology unit. So this background knowledge was definitely useful. Throughout the whole time, I was doing a lot of research and reading, finding the best possible treatment for Pavel and ensuring that the everything is in order. More so, to satisfy myself that everything that can be done, has been done. Definitely not letting anyone mistakes befall upon us - in this scenario, ignorance can cause you the life.

The Epic Story begins… (part 1)
The Epic Story begins... (part 2)

Note: I will try to write a concise post on Testicular Cancer, Healthy Diet, Sperm Bank - so that all of you out there are made aware of it. After all I've done a lot of research and reading already. If you need more info on top of it, please feel free to drop me a note.