on 30 December it was back to the local hospital, radiology this time, for my CT scan. I drunk the little bottle of fluid they give me with a pint of Ribena two hours before (P.S. It didn't taste of anything apart from Ribena!), and stopped eating before that (can't remember exactly how long before - only about 3-4 hours I think).
The whole process was incredibly quick, was waiting in radiology for a couple of minutes and I was in. I had to remove everything except pants and shoes/socks, and told to 'gown up'.
Then I was asked to sit in a scary looking chair - a bit like a dentists chair. I wasn't given much information about the process for a CT scan, I knew it would only take 10 minutes, but didn't know much else. Anyway, it seems that not only do you need to drink the fluid before the scan, but they also fit you with a stent, via which they will inject more fluid during the scan (I think it's iodine, but not sure?).
The scan is carried out by moving the bed back and forth through a hoop - not the big tunnel that you see on some TV programmes - that must be MRI!? The CT scan process was this...
1. Lay on bed, instructions read out over speaker by radiologist.
2. Breathe in, hold your breath. Bed passes through the hoop/scanner. Breathe normally.
3. Repeat process in other direction.
4. Move bed to middle of scanner. Fluid is injected by a machine (noise is off-putting: d-d-d-d-d-d). Feels very strange as your body goes hot all over, and you feel like your going to wet yourself (I was warned about this in advance). Repeat stages 2 and 3 above.
The whole process took a maximum of two minutes, get changed and out. Sit around for 10 minutes to ensure OK with injection, and you can go home. The whole thing must have taken less than 10 minutes from arrival (excluding the sitting around of course!).
Felt very positive after the scan, another box ticked, another hurdle overcome etc.
The following day (New Year's Eve), I received an appointment to see the Urologist in five days' time. This scared the life out of me...firstly I was expecting my next appointment to be with the Oncologist rather than Urology, secondly, the appointment came through so quickly I was worried they had found something more sinister than expected on the scan! A bad day!
Anyway, spoke to the secretary at the hospital and she put my mind at rest...it was quite usual for the urologist to present the results before going to oncology (didn't know this!), secondly, I shouldn't read anything into the timing, I was just lucky that it happened quickly, didn't mean the results were scary. Phew!
Went to a NYE party for a few hours that evening, which helped a lot, but the following few days were the darkest of them all, with impending diagnosis, think I must have only had one good day during that period, when we went for a walk one afternoon.
The morning of the urology appointment was the worst of them all. I actually slept OK, but as soon as I woke up, the stress levels went through the roof. Fortunately my appointment was in the morning. First setback was once we had parked the car at the hospital, I looked at the letter and realised the appointment was 20 minutes later than I thought it was. Went for a walk to Waitrose!
Next, due to an emergency (suspect it was someone else getting bad news (like I had some two weeks previously)) the clinic was running 45 minutes late. Torturous! But certainly no hard feelings as I know what they're going through.
Eventually got in to see the doctor. The cancer nurse was in the room, so it wasn't benign (not that I was expecting that!), and after a quick check of my wounds etc, he told me.
- A small seminoma in left testicle
- Bloods were normal
- CT scan was clear, except for a single lymph node in my stomach that was enlarged by 1mm. This may or may not be significant (Oncologist would decide). For context, usual tolerance was up to 10mm, mine was 11mm.
Urologist told me told me that "To all intents and purposes you might well be cured!". An absolutely massive relief! I was told that I my lymph may need radiotherapy. In my mind I had read about a lot of people getting "a blast of Carboplatin to be safe" - this is effectively 'Chemotherapy lite' - if there is such a thing? So at worst, in my mind I was maybe expecting this.
Went for a walk in town, that was all I wanted to do was get some fresh air and walk! Then went to the pub to celebrate with a massive burger and pint of ale! Friends also laid on some champagne later and picked the kids up form school for us.
I still hadn't had an oncology appointment through, so they said this was unusual and would chase it up for me. Turned out the fax (who still uses faxes?) that was sent to them on 15 December had never been received. So they would get me an appointment urgently.
Three days later, just when I thought the news couldn't get any better, I received a phone call from the Oncologist himself, apologising for the delay but telling me that he had booked an appointment for three weeks later and that he wouldn't be recommending any treatment at for me at all...the lymph node was insignificant and could purely be due to a cold or virus. I would go on an intensive followup, which is basically CT scans and bloods for a period of five years.
That news prompted the breaking out of the champagne! We said we would keep it until we had completed treatment.
I am currently feeling one lucky git! I have dodged the metaphorical bullet!
They must have caught it early enough for it not to have gone anywhere. Find out more from the Oncologist on 28/1.
Now talking to work about coming back (which has been harder than I expected due to red tape), but expecting to get back in a couple of days and I can get my life on track.
This whole experience has been like some kind of twisted Christmas fairy tale, it started just before Christmas, and ended on the day I would have been due to go back to work. Still, so far, 2015 has been excellent, hoping it will continue!!
Not completely over, as I expect people will be interested in what happens next, and I will try to get more detail around my diagnosis and staging etc. But I suspect it was stage 1 invasive seminoma - non-invasive being the one that hasn't got past the sperm production apparatus (I think). I will try to get more detail around the tumor size too.
Just hoping my story will help those of you who are in that horrible 2-3 week period between operation and diagnosis. I certainly took heart from other people's good outcomes, and I don't think mine gets any better in terms of a cancer diagnosis. Stay busy and take heart.
