Surgery- A man down (Monday, Dec. 3, 2012)

     Sorry for the wait. You may have to be patient with me as I juggle many things around the house and updating this. I'll also apologize in advance if my terminology is wrong for whatever the reason maybe. Please feel free to ask questions, which I will answer to the best of my ability or correct me on medical terminology. Anyway...
We did get the results from Eric's blood work done last Thursday. It did not indicate what type of testicular cancer. There are two types with four divisions and we need to test the tissue to identify that and decide on protocol of treatment. I'm not exactly sure of all the terminology Dr. Childs used but one test came back normal, another came back pretty high (number should be a double digit and his was triple digit), and the last one came back extremely high! His HCG level was tested. If that hormone level is high in women and they take a pregnancy test it will show a positive result. Dr. Childs said that either Eric is going to have a baby (Laugh Out Loud) or there is something wrong with his testicle (obviously being the latter).
     Surgery went really well today. When we first got there Eric's heart rate was really high (138). The anesthesiologist wasn't comfortable inducing Eric with such a fast heart rate. Some of the nurses helped call the Instacare and primary care doctor to get medical records for the anesthesiologist to look at. He and the urologist, Dr. Lane Childs, agreed that it would be good for Eric to get some I.V. fluids in him because he was extremely dehydrated, which probably made his heart work over time. His heart rate went down to 120 which is still high but much better. The anesthesiologist decided that it would be best to do a lighter sedation than planned, one where Eric could respond to, say, lifting his leg but still be asleep and not remember anything. They were also able to do some local anesthetic blocks.
     Surgery took about an hour and went really well. Luckily he was doing a lot better and didn't need to be admitted to the hospital for continued I.V. fluids. One "man" was removed. The technical term is Radical Orchiectomy.
     **Those with weak stomachs can skip this paragraph.** After the testical was removed Dr. Childs opened it to examine it and was somewhat surprised. Testicular cancer most commonly found in the sac where sperm produce, but that area looked normal. Where he saw abnormalties was in the area between that sac and the skin or epididymus.  I dont think we are sure if he does have testicular cancer or if it is infact of the Epididymus. Dr. Childs has been practicing for 20+ years and has only had one other patient with that type of cancer.
     Pathology tests will be run on everything and we will find out those results Wednesday.

     Here is a picture of Eric from this last week: