The Verdict is in. (Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012)

     The Oncologist we are seeing is Dr. Nitin B. Chandramouli MD at the Cancer Specialists of Utah. We really like him. He was very personable, explained things well, and is going to be very proactive and aggressive with treatment which is what we want and need.
     Eric was officially diagnosed with Testicular Cancer today. He has Non-Seminomatous Germ Cell Tumors. (NSGCT) It is Stage III C. Eric is high risk due to how far the cancer has spread. Dr. Chandramouli went over Eric's health history. His vitals were similar to what they have been. Blood pressure 138/86, pulse at 128, and he has now lost 30 lbs. Dr. Chandramouli showed us Eric's CT Scan results which indicate that the cancer has spread quite a bit to many lymph nodes in his abdomen and other organs including spleen, liver, kidneys, lungs etc. Eric needs a MRI of the brain to see if it has gone there as well.
     Because Eric is a high risk patient it was highly recommended that he be hospitalized at IMC for a week so that they can do other tests (Brain MRI etc) and monitor him through the first week of the first round of chemotherapy. Sometimes within the first week of treatment the chemo attacks the tumors rapidly which is a good and bad thing. Good that the tumors are gone fast, but bad because it can release too many toxins and electrolytes into the body and are harmful to the body. By staying in the hospital doctors and nurses can monitor all of this, keep Eric hydrated, and keep everything under control. Eric and I believe that he will be more comfortable at the hospital (recovering from surgery at home has not been easy) and he will receive better care.
     Eric will receive 4, 3 week cycles of chemotherapy (BEP) which is 12 weeks total.  After that he will have tests and scans done to see if the cancer is gone or more extensive treatment is needed. There is a very long list of side effects from doing chemotherapy, but hopefully things wont be too uncomfortable for him, and in the end he will get better.
     It was not easy to hear any of this today. Our main goal is to get Eric better and healthy. We have to stay optimistic, hold onto hope, and put our faith in the Lord because we can and will get through this one day at a time.