Biopsy resutls, surgery and chemo

1 minute read time.

8 Dec 2011

Got the results back: para aortic metastatic germ cell tumour, seminoma.

Given the range of possible outcomes I’ll take that as a win - it should respond well to chemo

The tumour is physically impinging on my left kidney, and so to prevent that failing, and to make sure it’s working properly during chemo, I need to have surgery before chemo starts. That’s just simple day surgery (no need for a knife) – and I’ll spare people the graphic details, but it’s simply a stent to allow the kidney to connect to the bladder. This will be my first ever surgery, and my first general anaesthetic. My life is a lot of firsts at the moment. The GA almost worries me more than the chemo.

After that it’s 3 cycles of BEP on a 3-day regimen (9 weeks in total). In as an inpatient on the first cycle so they can keep an eye on me, and on daily self-administered blood thinning injections as they’re worried the size of the tumour will make me susceptible to blood clots. I can cope with any of the temporary side effects (nausea, soreness, fatigue, baldness) but it’s the permanent effects that worry me more – has anyone experienced the hearing loss?

All in all a good day, relatively

FormerMember over 12 years ago

Hi,
Try not to focus too much on the permanent side effects- you don't know that they will definetly happen. I had 4 x the 5 day regimen (12 weeks- late stage germ cell tumour) and did not suffer any hearing loss from the initial treatment. I did eventually because I had really high doses for a stem cell transplant but I can actually still hear, I'm not completely deaf but do wear hearing aids. It sounds trite but it was a small price to pay, for me, to be alive.

It will be a crap 9 weeks, don't worry about your general anaethetic either- it's a good thing! I hope it all goes well for you.

Make sure if you're in pain, if you're feeling sick that you tell someone! That way they can make it stop! The quicker you catch something the easier it is to fix with chemo.

I feel like I'm rambling a bit, but good luck with all of your treatment. My fingers are crossed for your hearing :)
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FormerMember over 12 years ago

Hi,
Try not to focus too much on the permanent side effects- you don't know that they will definetly happen. I had 4 x the 5 day regimen (12 weeks- late stage germ cell tumour) and did not suffer any hearing loss from the initial treatment. I did eventually because I had really high doses for a stem cell transplant but I can actually still hear, I'm not completely deaf but do wear hearing aids. It sounds trite but it was a small price to pay, for me, to be alive.

It will be a crap 9 weeks, don't worry about your general anaethetic either- it's a good thing! I hope it all goes well for you.

Make sure if you're in pain, if you're feeling sick that you tell someone! That way they can make it stop! The quicker you catch something the easier it is to fix with chemo.

I feel like I'm rambling a bit, but good luck with all of your treatment. My fingers are crossed for your hearing :)
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gregm over 12 years ago

Thanks Pin - very welcome to hear your experiences of chemo,knowing the good and the bad helps me prepare myself. I wish you every success with you treatments. Greg
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FormerMember over 12 years ago

Hi Gregm,

Just want to say good luck hope that it goes well and is totally successful. Your so young. One week ago my dad who is 81 was diagnosed with stomach and secondary liver cancer, still in shock and doing my best with the rest of the family to help him as much as possible. I guess that most people would think that 81 is a good age and of course it is, but somehow I thought that he would live to his late ninties as he has been so strong and healthy all of his life. This webiste is certainly helpful. But really good luck to you, will look out for your updates and hope that they are all positive, GOOD LUCK, Ann
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