So following more blood tests and CT scan I went back for my 3 month check up with the oncologist.
Unfortunately, the lymph node near the kidney that he was worried about (and was the reason for the 3 month (rather than 6 month) checkup) had grown from 8mm to 24mm - proof of spread. Really pleased he set the follow up to 3 months as now I guess we're 3 months ahead of the game.
Immediate recommendation was a bag of carboplatin followed by 3 weeks radio therapy. Good news, as not full BEP chemo. RT would take 30 minutes each day, 5 days per week for three weeks (to break down the mass in the lymph and 'sterilise the area').
BUT, as my father and grandfather both died of pancreatic cancer we always ask the oncologist about the pancreas from the CT scans - all looked normal - the bad news was that RT increases the chance of secondary malignancy 20-30 years down the line. With my family history, and the proximity of the pancreas to the infected lymph, I didn't want to take any chances - especially as pancreatic cancer probably has the opposite prognosis to TC - I.e. Really low survival rates, rather than really high.
As a result the oncologist said I might also want to consider full BEP chemo therapy instead. This would be significantly harder with 3 cycles of 21 days, hair loss, low immunity etc.
So I was presented with a really difficult choice - heightened chance of cancer in 20-30 years, or pain now with no heightened risk. Friends and colleagues were asked and results came in at 14-2 in favour of taking the full BEP. Urgh!
This obviously wasn't the basis for my decision, but it would have seemed pretty short-sighted to have gone for the easier option now at the expense of a longer life.
Anyway, the doc was also going to go away and speak to his colleagues in London and SE and see if they have anything useful to add - although he didn't think there would be a strong steer one way or the other as there aren't really any papers giving stats linking family history of pancreatic cancer and radiotherapy.
Due to reconvene in 1 week.
