Dr. Logsdon Called

I had a good talk with Dr. Logsdon today. He let me know that if it was himself in my position that he would do the same thing and be treated with this "cutting edge" treatment. He also told me that yes, this study is young, but it's not being done by some random doctors from some random hospital. These studies were led by a doctor from The Royal Marsden Cancer Center in the UK. The Royal Marsden is a larger cancer facility than M.D. Anderson at The University of Texas, which is the largest cancer center in the United States. The doctor at the Royal Marsden Cancer Center that led this study is Dr. Alan Horwich. Dr. Logsdon said that Dr. Alan Horwich is one of the "biggest brains" in the Testicular Cancer field, internationally. Dr. Horwich is the editor of the textbooks doctors use to study Testicular Cancer and The Treatment and Management of Testicular Cancer.

So.....This "cutting edge" treatment I'm doing is coming from one of the most highly regarded doctors in the world when it comes to Testicular Cancer. Dr. Logsdon studied at M.D. Anderson at the University of Texas. Dr. Miller studied at Stanford. My consultant that has helped me along the way is a retired Radiologist, former Chief of Radiology, who studied at Harvard.
Together these guys have a TON of experience and they are collaborating on my case. How could I not be positive? I really think it would be ignorant of me to be down in any way. I'm so lucky! Really.

Radiation

My Radiation Therapy will begin after my first and only chemotherapy cycle which is 3 to 4 weeks. Even though I'm only getting one single dose of Carboplatin, the cycle still last 3 to 4 weeks.

Studies - CRT

Study 1 - 1989 - 1996 UK
33 patients with stage II A/B were treated with the chemotherapy of Single Agent Carboplatin(C) and then Radiation Therapy(RT) . Those 33 were compared to 80 that were treated with RT alone. The 5 year relapse free survival rate (RFS) for the 33 treated with CRT was 96.9%. The 5 year RFS of the 80 treated with RT alone was 80.7%.

Study 2 (Same Medical Group) - 1998 - 2006 UK
26 patients treated with CRT. There was no reported grade 3/4 toxicity. Their 3 year RFS is 100%.


Dr. Logsdon talked with these doctors in person about treating me with this method. The doctors were happy to hear it from what I've been told. Dr. Miller gave me all my options but was leaning towards CRT for sure. CRT it is.

Doctors Office

Went to the doctors office to get a copy of the study. I now have it in hand. While I was there Bertha, Dr. Millers triage nurse, asked if I wanted to have my meeting with the nurse to go over everything for chemotherapy. I agreed, of course, did the consultation with her, and scheduled my Single-Dose Chemotherapy for Tuesday March 4th. I'm a very happy camper! I think it has everything to do with Dr. Milller and the staff at his office. Finally, starting Tuesday, we will be fighting back, against the cancer in my body.

I'm SO happy and Brandi is as well!

Answers

I just got off the phone with Dr.Miller. No suprises. Thank God!

He gave me my options: full chemo, radiation, or the study that's being done on the combination of both. Dr. Miller thinks the study looks very attractive because we will get the benefits of both without too much of either. So that's what we're going with. Like I said, this study is new with around 100 studied so far. Dr. Miller is printing it out for me and I'll have it in hand soon. I'm excited to be part of something progressive in the study on cancer.

The doctors office has submitted everything to my insurance company and that approval process has taken around 48hours in the past. After approval, I will have an appointment with a nurse to go over the logistics of the chemotherapy and then next week I will receive my single-dose of Chemotherapy, Carboplatin to be specific.

Today

Today, I am expecting the phone call from Dr. Miller. I hope to hear what the Tumor Board had to say as well as my treatment path defined. I believe the board is meeting at 9am.

Bed Ready?

So Brandi calls me and tells me that a nurse called saying my hospital bed is ready. Bed ready? What? I'm not suppose to have any inpatient anything at this point. I of course freak out and called Dr. Millers triage nurse, Bertha. She called me right back and let me know that our plan is still the same and there is no bed waiting for me. We figured out that my previous doctor must have not canceled the bed he reserved for my inpatient full chemotherapy cycles at his hospital. Wew! I thought maybe some test results came back and they needed me right in or something.

I hope this isn't a sign that full chemo is lurking it's head around the corner again. Who knows? This cancer bullshit is such a maze. We'll soon see and deal with it as it comes.

Tumor Board

I can't wait to get the call from Dr. Miller on Thursday. I'm nervous and excited to hear the what the board has to say.

I have dug so deep and I can't find anything on the study from Great Britain that they are considering for me. It must be pretty new. I trust my doctor 100% and I'll do whatever he says no matter what. I'm sure he'll discuss options like all doctors do. The real answer comes when you ask, "What would you do if you were in my shoes?". The answer Dr. Miller gives to that question will be my treatment plan that we start next week.

On to work.

PET Scan Office

Today, in between my morning appointments for work, I picked up a copy of my scan images and PET Scan Report from the imaging center that did my scans. My records at home are now as current as the records my doctor has.

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FYI

Today I received permission from my doctor to start the supplement program below.
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Supplements

I think that I have sucked all the information I can out of the cancer nutrition books my mom gave me. Tonight I went to The Vitamin Shoppe and bought the supplements that I've decided on. I will take the following daily, along with my multi vitamin, shot of wheatgrass, and green tea:

Flax Seed Oil - 1000 mg
Cinnamon Extract - 500mg
B-50 Complex
C- 250
Lecithin(from soy)- 1200 mg
Apple Cider Vinegar-240mg
Zinc- 30 mg
Iodine(from kelp)- 210 mcg
Calcium- 600mg

Based on what I've read and my health stats, I think my doctor will be fine with me taking these 9 tablets. I would never take anything without consulting my doctor first. I'll email him tonight.

Results

My lungs are clear, which is fantastic news! The other side of that coin is that my suspicious lymph nodes are indeed cancerous.

I learned that Dr. Miller and Dr. Logsdon (the Radiation Oncologist) have been collaborating efforts on my behalf. If you we're to meet both these guys, you would think I have a dream team working for me. Up until today I've felt like I had to control this process because I felt like I was juggled around a bit and nobody else was taking charge. I'm stepping back from that line of thinking because Dr. Milller and Dr. Logston have a good handle and genuine interest in my case.

They both agree that they want to find a way around full chemotherapy and that the area is to big to treat with radiation alone. Both doctors have been doing research and talking to other experts on my behalf. They came across a new treatment plan that has been being studied in Great Britain. It involves a little chemo (1 dose for 1/2 an hour total) and radiation treatment. While this study is young, very young, it has been successful close to 85 to 90 percent of the time. Dr. Miller says this looks very attractive to both of them as a treatment plan for me, but wants to dig into it a little deeper.

Before the doctors make a final decision on my treatment, Dr. Miller is bringing all my info to a Tumor Board that he is part of next Thursday morning. I understand that this board is made up of Pathologists, Oncologists, Radiation Oncologists, and radiologists. He will have the actual slides of my tumor, my CT scan, my PET scan, and bloodwork with him. If I understand it correctly, every test that has been done on me will be getting second and third opinions next Thursday. This, to me, is HUGE.


My treatment, whatever it is, will start the week of March 3rd.


Finally, we thought it was cool that somehow the doctors found my Blog. Dr. Miller asked to have a new picture put on here so I'll switch that up when I get home.



That's it for now, my thumbs are getting sore.



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......

Five hours until we know my future treatment path. You'd think that the answer I want to hear is, "no chemo", but that's not the case. All I want to hear is that thing on my lung is "nothing". That would make my day. A bigger bonus would be to hear that my enlarged lymph nodes are "nothing" as well. That is a big stretch though.

At least we will finally know my stage and treatment path . I don't think I've ever had anxiety like I have right now.

4 hours 36 minutes and counting.
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Lucky Again

Besides having cancer, I've had some really good luck lately.

I asked Debbie, a very nice lady that schedules for Dr. Miller, if I could be called if anyone cancels before Friday. It just so happened that someone canceled their appointment tomorrow at 2pm. That appointment is now mine. If she doesn't deserve a Starbucks card, I don't know who does!

Tommorow is the day. No matter what the news, the day will end good. Coach Dave of our soccer team gave me tickets to see the Kings play Atlanta tommorow at Arco. I can't wait to see Bibby in a Hawks jersey.
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Friday

The soonest appointment I could get is Friday at 2pm to get my results from Dr. Miller. I received this appointment in a voicemail so I didn't have a chance to complain, cry, or beg for a sooner appointment. The staff there is really nice so I'm going to see if they can put me "on call" in case someone cancels their appointment.
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......

I called Dr. Millers office to ask them to help me get my results and they are calling the PET scan office now. I'm getting so anxious and I want my results!
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No Results Yet

I called the PET scan office this morning. The lady that answered the phone said my results weren't ready. She seemed irritated that I called and asked why I'm calling her and not my doctor. She's going to be even more irritated when I call at noon and 4. I know that all we are waiting for is a doctor to write a summary report. These PET tests costs between 3k and 6k. You'd think they would be able to staff for same day results.

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Holiday

I was so fired up, to start tightening the screws, to get my results the minute it turned 8 am this morning. I was so pissed that they were closed for the holiday!
I'll call them in the morning first thing.

At work, I trained Bob again. We worked on getting new accounts and were successful in two local hotels, so the day ended good.

Tonight we're going to Disney on Ice which will be a great distraction for us all.
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Diet note

Before this crap I was a coffee freak. Its been about a month now since I've had any. Actually I've had a few slips but for the most part I've switched to green tea.

Three days ago I started taking a shot of wheatgrass a day. My father inlaw gave me a gift card to GNC as well, so I'll be getting some more supplements soon.
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Scan Done

I just finished the scan. I'm not glowing so that's good.

They said we should have results by Wednesday. I'm sure we will have them before that.
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