I laid my head on Keith's shoulder and we sat together in silence for a few minutes after getting off the phone with Keith's doctor(urologist)last night (August 14th). The doctor called us around 8 p.m., which is kind of late but I think he knew we were anxious to hear the results and we are grateful he didn't make us wait longer; we've been waiting for 5 days already. I don't think I have ever felt so anxious about receiving a phone call or during a phone call in my life.
Now let me back up and explain why we were waiting to receive test results for Keith in the first place.
A few weeks ago Lyra accidentally kicked Keith in the nuts while playing around on the bed. It seemed to hurt him pretty intensely,(duh lol) but we didn't think much of it. However the pain never went away, he had a consistent achy feeling and was slightly swollen and super sensitive in that area. It seemed to keep getting worse, and when Lyra slightly nudged him there a week later (geez Lyra 😂) it hurt pretty bad for not even being a hard direct kick or whatever. Then on Sunday after church (August 4th) he went to the bathroom and came back out hobbling like he had a Charley horse or something in his groin area. He came into our bedroom, laid on the edge of our bed and started screaming in pain. This lasted for a couple minutes before it died down a bit. This time the pain he had was much worse and intense and wasn't going away. After bugging and bugging him, I convinced him he needed to go in and figure out what was going on.
At Instacare that evening the doctor did an exam on his private area and discovered that not only was his left ball swollen, but also really hard, which isn't good. (Sorry for the TMI! 😂😜) So they sent him to Logan Hospital to do an ultrasound. During the ultrasound Keith said when they went to examine his left ball the ultrasound tech started making measurements and typing a lot on the machine. Keith said that was when he got really worried. He asked the tech what his opinion on the ultrasound was (even though they aren't really supposed to tell you) and the tech said Keith should probably be concerned.
At this point, it was around 8 p.m. and Instacare was closed. However the nurse called Keith who was just leaving the hospital and told him to come back to Instacare because the Dr wanted to discuss the ultrasound with him urgently. They told him there was a large mass in his left ball and that it was most likely not an infection or trauma (although they tested for infection anyway). There was a 95% chance that it was probably testicular cancer.
I was at home with the girls waiting for him to come home, at this point he had been gone a couple hours. Then he texted me that there was a 95% chance that he had testicular cancer. I read it and had to reread it a few times before it sank in and I felt kind of sick and weak in the knees. My eyes instantly welled up with tears as I realized that he wasn't joking and something was really wrong. We didn't really know anything about testicular cancer at this point, just that if you were to ever have cancer, this is one of the better ones to have because the outcomes are pretty good. ( That's what the Dr had said to him)
He finally got home and we hugged each other. I could tell he was upset and we were both kind of in shock. He shed a few tears a couple times that night as we started doing some research on testicular cancer after the girls went to bed. He said he just mainly felt really sad that he most likely had cancer, it instantly put life in a different perspective for us. The doctor at the instacare had told Keith he would call a good urologist at the Budge Clinic at the hospital for us and to expect a call Monday sometime. Monday morning they called us and scheduled for us to come in a 2 p.m. We dropped the girls off with our friend and headed to the clinic to meet with Dr Lunzy.
During the visit he inspected Keith's groin and genital area and confirmed what the instacare doctor had found. He then went over the ultrasound with us and told us that that big of a mass wasn't good and that his left ball needed to be removed. We were surprised at that because we were hoping they could just biopsy it and tell us whether it was cancer or not. Dr Lunzy told us that it was too risky to biopsy the tumor because there was too much risk of allowing the cancer to spread, if it hadn't already. We didn't really have any other options, and he was in pain. So we agreed and scheduled the (out patient) surgery to remove his left testicle on Friday (August 9th).
Keith talked to his boss at work, who is literally the best boss and is such a good person, and has been really good to us over the last few years; and he told Keith to take the time he needed to get things figured out. So because Keith was in a lot of uncomfortable pain, he stayed home the whole week until his surgery Friday. It was hard for him to walk around or sit without feeling pain and being uncomfortable. What an awful spot to have such bad pain, and cancer! Keith and I were nervous for the surgery, because we were still unsure what to expect. The plan was to remove the testicle and send it off to Pathology to do testing, which would hopefully tell us what type of cancer he had and what stage the cancer was most likely in.
Keith was not excited about having to be put under anesthesia for the surgery. He had never had a surgery or been put under, and it's one of his fears. He's unfortunately had to deal with me being put under a handful of times and it isn't really the funnest experience. I knew he was really terrified when he started reminding me about his life insurance policy we had for him, and told me various things in relation to "just in case something happens during the surgery or after..." His fear of this unknown made me so sad and feeling kind of helpless. I tried my best to reassure him that everything would be OK and that I would try to have enough strength and faith for both of us. 💕
The surgery Friday was scheduled for early afternoon, and I had sent our girls to my mom's house in Layton (thanks mom for taking them!!). It was weird to be the one not in the hospital or surgery room for once. And I got a taste of what he has felt during all of my health issues over the course of our marriage. Keith has always been my greatest strength and the one person I have leaned on the most the last few years, and it was strange to be the spouse who needed to stay strong during a difficult trial.
Well, the surgery went well. No complications and they got the testicle sent off for testing. Keith came out of the anesthesia well and it took a little while to get the pain medication working, and then we were sent home. He didn't sleep well that first night after surgery, he was figuring out how to get comfortable and get his pain under control. But over the weekend things got a bit better and he is healing well now.
Today (August 15th) was his first day going back to work- he's only planning on working for a few hours for a while because it's still hard for him to sit or stand for long periods of time.
Now back to the results I mentioned in the beginning of this massive novel of a post 😅...
The doctor told us that Keith has rare type of testicular cancer, a kind that for some reason doesn't show up with tumor markers in blood tests. This is somewhat alarming, and makes us nervous that it is not a common cancer seen. The tumor was pretty large, over 3 cm. The good news is that according to the tests the cancer has most likely not spread to other areas, but just to be sure they are going to have him do a couple of CT scans. So we feel like this is mostly good news, but there is still some unknown to discover with still further testing. We are fervently hoping and praying that the cancer has indeed not spread, so that Keith doesn't have to go through radiation or chemo.
All of this has been so sudden and shocking. Obviously cancer is never a good diagnosis but we feel cautiously optimistic. It has created a small hiccup in our lives right now, but our main goal is to make sure he can heal and make sure the cancer is gone. Really the reality is that we can get rid of the cancer and the survival rate is really good. It's just the process of getting rid of the cancer that is so hard. Most likely the removing of one of his testicles will not affect his hormones or fertility, which is something scary we have had to think about. Especially where I have been feeling like it's time to add another baby to our family. My heart is slightly broken that this surgery could affect fertility, although it is unlikely, and that now is not the time to add to our family. I have to keep telling myself that the Lord knows what is best for us right now.
We greatly appreciate all of our family and friends who have been so helpful to us during this crazy time. We feel of your love and prayers. On the Wednesday before he had surgery, we were able to have Keith's dad and my grandpa give Keith a priesthood blessing and that provided some comfort to us. Right now, all we have is our trust in the Lord, his timing, and trust in our doctors. I know that we will be alright. This is just a small trial we have to pass through. We've got this, and fortunately we are in it together. 💓 I think our love for each other has grown stronger on a whole new level over the last couple of weeks, and I'm grateful for that.
Now we just have to get the CT scans done, and meet with the doctor to discuss what the future looks like. I'll update when we find out more. ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now let me back up and explain why we were waiting to receive test results for Keith in the first place.
A few weeks ago Lyra accidentally kicked Keith in the nuts while playing around on the bed. It seemed to hurt him pretty intensely,(duh lol) but we didn't think much of it. However the pain never went away, he had a consistent achy feeling and was slightly swollen and super sensitive in that area. It seemed to keep getting worse, and when Lyra slightly nudged him there a week later (geez Lyra 😂) it hurt pretty bad for not even being a hard direct kick or whatever. Then on Sunday after church (August 4th) he went to the bathroom and came back out hobbling like he had a Charley horse or something in his groin area. He came into our bedroom, laid on the edge of our bed and started screaming in pain. This lasted for a couple minutes before it died down a bit. This time the pain he had was much worse and intense and wasn't going away. After bugging and bugging him, I convinced him he needed to go in and figure out what was going on.
At Instacare that evening the doctor did an exam on his private area and discovered that not only was his left ball swollen, but also really hard, which isn't good. (Sorry for the TMI! 😂😜) So they sent him to Logan Hospital to do an ultrasound. During the ultrasound Keith said when they went to examine his left ball the ultrasound tech started making measurements and typing a lot on the machine. Keith said that was when he got really worried. He asked the tech what his opinion on the ultrasound was (even though they aren't really supposed to tell you) and the tech said Keith should probably be concerned.
At this point, it was around 8 p.m. and Instacare was closed. However the nurse called Keith who was just leaving the hospital and told him to come back to Instacare because the Dr wanted to discuss the ultrasound with him urgently. They told him there was a large mass in his left ball and that it was most likely not an infection or trauma (although they tested for infection anyway). There was a 95% chance that it was probably testicular cancer.
I was at home with the girls waiting for him to come home, at this point he had been gone a couple hours. Then he texted me that there was a 95% chance that he had testicular cancer. I read it and had to reread it a few times before it sank in and I felt kind of sick and weak in the knees. My eyes instantly welled up with tears as I realized that he wasn't joking and something was really wrong. We didn't really know anything about testicular cancer at this point, just that if you were to ever have cancer, this is one of the better ones to have because the outcomes are pretty good. ( That's what the Dr had said to him)
He finally got home and we hugged each other. I could tell he was upset and we were both kind of in shock. He shed a few tears a couple times that night as we started doing some research on testicular cancer after the girls went to bed. He said he just mainly felt really sad that he most likely had cancer, it instantly put life in a different perspective for us. The doctor at the instacare had told Keith he would call a good urologist at the Budge Clinic at the hospital for us and to expect a call Monday sometime. Monday morning they called us and scheduled for us to come in a 2 p.m. We dropped the girls off with our friend and headed to the clinic to meet with Dr Lunzy.
During the visit he inspected Keith's groin and genital area and confirmed what the instacare doctor had found. He then went over the ultrasound with us and told us that that big of a mass wasn't good and that his left ball needed to be removed. We were surprised at that because we were hoping they could just biopsy it and tell us whether it was cancer or not. Dr Lunzy told us that it was too risky to biopsy the tumor because there was too much risk of allowing the cancer to spread, if it hadn't already. We didn't really have any other options, and he was in pain. So we agreed and scheduled the (out patient) surgery to remove his left testicle on Friday (August 9th).
Keith talked to his boss at work, who is literally the best boss and is such a good person, and has been really good to us over the last few years; and he told Keith to take the time he needed to get things figured out. So because Keith was in a lot of uncomfortable pain, he stayed home the whole week until his surgery Friday. It was hard for him to walk around or sit without feeling pain and being uncomfortable. What an awful spot to have such bad pain, and cancer! Keith and I were nervous for the surgery, because we were still unsure what to expect. The plan was to remove the testicle and send it off to Pathology to do testing, which would hopefully tell us what type of cancer he had and what stage the cancer was most likely in.
Keith was not excited about having to be put under anesthesia for the surgery. He had never had a surgery or been put under, and it's one of his fears. He's unfortunately had to deal with me being put under a handful of times and it isn't really the funnest experience. I knew he was really terrified when he started reminding me about his life insurance policy we had for him, and told me various things in relation to "just in case something happens during the surgery or after..." His fear of this unknown made me so sad and feeling kind of helpless. I tried my best to reassure him that everything would be OK and that I would try to have enough strength and faith for both of us. 💕
The surgery Friday was scheduled for early afternoon, and I had sent our girls to my mom's house in Layton (thanks mom for taking them!!). It was weird to be the one not in the hospital or surgery room for once. And I got a taste of what he has felt during all of my health issues over the course of our marriage. Keith has always been my greatest strength and the one person I have leaned on the most the last few years, and it was strange to be the spouse who needed to stay strong during a difficult trial.
Well, the surgery went well. No complications and they got the testicle sent off for testing. Keith came out of the anesthesia well and it took a little while to get the pain medication working, and then we were sent home. He didn't sleep well that first night after surgery, he was figuring out how to get comfortable and get his pain under control. But over the weekend things got a bit better and he is healing well now.
Today (August 15th) was his first day going back to work- he's only planning on working for a few hours for a while because it's still hard for him to sit or stand for long periods of time.
Now back to the results I mentioned in the beginning of this massive novel of a post 😅...
The doctor told us that Keith has rare type of testicular cancer, a kind that for some reason doesn't show up with tumor markers in blood tests. This is somewhat alarming, and makes us nervous that it is not a common cancer seen. The tumor was pretty large, over 3 cm. The good news is that according to the tests the cancer has most likely not spread to other areas, but just to be sure they are going to have him do a couple of CT scans. So we feel like this is mostly good news, but there is still some unknown to discover with still further testing. We are fervently hoping and praying that the cancer has indeed not spread, so that Keith doesn't have to go through radiation or chemo.
All of this has been so sudden and shocking. Obviously cancer is never a good diagnosis but we feel cautiously optimistic. It has created a small hiccup in our lives right now, but our main goal is to make sure he can heal and make sure the cancer is gone. Really the reality is that we can get rid of the cancer and the survival rate is really good. It's just the process of getting rid of the cancer that is so hard. Most likely the removing of one of his testicles will not affect his hormones or fertility, which is something scary we have had to think about. Especially where I have been feeling like it's time to add another baby to our family. My heart is slightly broken that this surgery could affect fertility, although it is unlikely, and that now is not the time to add to our family. I have to keep telling myself that the Lord knows what is best for us right now.
We greatly appreciate all of our family and friends who have been so helpful to us during this crazy time. We feel of your love and prayers. On the Wednesday before he had surgery, we were able to have Keith's dad and my grandpa give Keith a priesthood blessing and that provided some comfort to us. Right now, all we have is our trust in the Lord, his timing, and trust in our doctors. I know that we will be alright. This is just a small trial we have to pass through. We've got this, and fortunately we are in it together. 💓 I think our love for each other has grown stronger on a whole new level over the last couple of weeks, and I'm grateful for that.
Now we just have to get the CT scans done, and meet with the doctor to discuss what the future looks like. I'll update when we find out more. ~~~
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