LiveStrong...

It is 1:30 Tuesday morning and I just couldn't sleep so thought it a good time to sit and reflect on the past couple days in our life. As most of you know by now, our son Jarod was diagnosed with testicular cancer this past Thursday. On Friday Cleo and I were able to meet Jarod and Lindsey and go with them to meet with the surgeon and oncologist who will be treating him. They have found a small tumor in the right testicle that has spread to some of the surrounding lymph nodes. Although they feel it is in the early stages it is aggressive due to the fact it has spread already. They recommended surgery ASAP followed by 3-4 rounds of chemotherapy. We were all in agreement that this was a good plan.

Jarod and Lindsey have had so much to process in such a short time but they are both such strong individuals and they have such a positive outlook. Although this will be a hard battle, it is one that can and will be won with the love and support of their many friends and our wonderful family. We have all felt your prayers these last few days and know they will continue.

So Monday afternoon was the day...Cleo and I, Lindseys' mother Janice and Jarods good friend Chad were all able to be at the hospital with Jarod and Lindsey. Their minister came and led us in a prayer before Jarod was taken back which made us all feel very peaceful. Jarod did wonderful right up until they were ready to take him to the o.r. and he got pretty nervous, but he has never had a surgery before or gone under anesthesia so that was to be expected. The surgeon and anesthesiologist reassured him that all would be good and they promised to give him good drugs...which did make him smile :)

They removed his right testis and tube but did not touch the lymph nodes as they feel the chemo is a more aggressive way to treat them. They said the tumor was small but definately malignant and they have sent the pathology slides to Indiana University for a second opinion. This is the hospital which treated Lance Armstrong so we feel pretty confident they are top notch. Jarod was able to go home and although he is in quite a bit of pain, his spirits are good and we all know he will get more rest there than at the hospital. He will go back to the hospital Friday morning for insertion of a port-a-cath which is how his chemo will be administered. He had an appt. Monday (22nd) with the oncologist to go over the final path and get his chemo schedule...but he is tentatively scheduled to begin on the 29th. They will know for sure after they receive the final results which chemo drugs will be used, but it looks like he will have 3 kinds and be on a 3 week cycle...wk #1 will be Monday thru Friday 8 hrs a day of treatment...wks #2 & #3 will be only Mondays with a short 1 hour infusion and that will complete cyle 1. He will need 3 to 4 cycles depending on how he responds to treatment. This will be grueling for him but he knows this is what has to happen to cure him.

Jarods doctors are all really wonderful and we all feel very confident in their abilities. The support staff, i.e. nurses, office staff, etc. have all been really great to, not only Jarod, but to the whole family and this can only make this process easier for Jarod and Lindsey.

Once again, thank you to all for your prayers, phone calls and emails over the past couple days. It is so reassuring to know that we all have someone to lean on when we need it. Between Lindsey and I, we will try to keep our blogs updated as things progress so keep checking back.