Today is the longest day of the year and marks the beginning of summer.  It also marks the ninth anniversary of my last day of chemotherapy.  Nine years ago in April, I was diagnosed with Embroynal Carcinoma – at least the beginnings of the diagnosis had begun.  It wasn’t until after a surgery and sectioning of my tumour that the final diagnosis was made.  I remember very clearly sitting on the phone with my doctor quietly asking if it, “Was the BIG C”.  He declined to answer and asked me to come into the office.  On that first shot, the diagnosis was massively screwed up leaving me for quite a few days wondering why this tumour wasn’t being excised as it grew larger and larger. 

It was a physicians assistant, almost a week later after my left testicle had grown in size by 1/3 that got me into see a lab technician – and fast.  I remember clearly that she had blond dreads, was very gentle, and was extremely professional about how she handled a delicate subject.

Within a couple of days after that I was in to see a urologist and onto surgery.  I insisted on the earliest possible time slot declaring, “I just want this out of me.”

First lesson – Physician assistants are great.  They often take way more time with you than doctors and they often have far better bedside manners.

Second lesson – If you suspect something is wrong and the doctor isn’t giving you the answer you need, be aggressive. It is your health and your life.

Third lesson – Your modesty doesn’t matter when your life is on the line.  Now I simply don’t care if my doctor, physician’s assistant, or lab technician is a man or woman.  In fact I find myself preferring women as my medical care-givers.  I think they listen, discuss, and explain better.  For some reason they seem less rushed.

After the surgery I found myself very emotional.  I had been betrayed by my own body.  I recovered from the surgery fairly quickly – although I had been released from the hospital too early and ended up at the urologist’s clinic in agony.  The hospital had released me too quickly and swelling in my abdomen had prevented my bladder from being able to empty properly.

Fourth lesson – After abdominal surgery, never leave the hospital without peeing.

When it became clear that I was going to be fighting testicular cancer – I found myself  the the Testicular Cancer Resource Center and I read everything I possibly could find on the disease including the fact there were MANY different kinds of this cancer and that each had a different course of treatment.  I made sure I understood everything a layman possibly could understand before going into see the oncologist. 

Fifth lesson – The Internet is your friend.

I opted for chemotherapy following my surgery.  There were other options, but I pretty much decided that undergoing BEP (Bleomycin, Etopiside, and Platinol) was the right direction to take.  I also opted to have a Groshong Catheter to be implanted in my chest.  This course of treatment would have me having an intravenous tube put into my arm almost every day – the catheter simplified this process significantly and made my life much more comfortable.

While sitting in the doctor’s office every day for quite a few weeks, I saw other patients come and go.  Some were recovering but many didn’t and I know of several that died during that period of time.  Being a cancer patient taught me patience.  It taught me to look at the world with an eye of worrying about the things that are big and understanding that the little stuff tends to take care of itself.  I learned that Zofran is a chemo patient’s friend – take your anti-nausea meds!  I learned that taking notes about diagnoses, options, and what your choices you have made is calming and helps you cope.  Taking control is essential to treatment.

I share the sentiment of many survivors – I don’t regret what I experienced. On balance it was positive and reshaped my live view in good ways. I like to think I take fewer things for granted.  It helped me grow.

Tonight I will raise a glass to the healers who saved my life.  I’ll look back at the last year with gratitude and forward to the next with happy expectations.