Chemo - Day Two

Today started at 1. Compared to the marathon yesterday, today seemed like a breeze. Joe is being so positive it is amazing. You can see his attitude affect those around him. Everyone, in the room gravitates to him and wants to talk to him. It is really incredible. Today we had two older women in the room with us. One with lung cancer, the other with breast/ and ovarian cancer (a battle she has been fighting for over a year), talked to Joe and shared their experience and told him that was incredibly good looking and he will be fine . I really want to bring a video camera in there to tape all the amazing people that walk through Dana Farber floor ten.

Today, Joe had his first visitor, Kara Walsh, which was great to have someone come chat (thank you for stopping by!). Also, around 4 we got a little surprise. People are always stopping by. This afternoon when we first arrived Joe met with a dietitian. She praised him on his eating habits (just what he needs someone to tell him he is amazing!!!) and talked to him about his diet throughout this process. Around 4, a volunteer stopped by and introduced herself to Joe and asked him if he wanted four tickets to the Bruin's game tonight. Ok we were happy with tickets but these were first row premium tickets (value of 170$). I turned to him after getting the tickets with my hands up in the air going Yay Cancer! It was as if the man above planned it. Joe finished his chemo aroun 6 15. Ruley met us at the hospital and we hopped into the car and made it to them game on time. It was an amazing treat that someone gave to Joe to help him have fun through this process. The person who donated those tickets is an amazing individual. It made things seem normal. We were at the Bruins game tonight watching Lucic fight, and Chara score, and not focusing on having to be at the hospital the next morning. It again made me realize that a little gesture goes a long way. Donating tickets, giving time, giving blood, are things that make a big difference. This whole process (and it has only been two days), has made me realize that while there is a lot of bad in this world, there are also a lot of wonderful people and I want to become a better person who gives back and makes a difference.

Chemo- Day 1

I arrived this morning at 10:20 to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Today starts the first day of Joe's treatment. I am happy that the process is finally starting, but extremely anxious about how the treatment will affect him. The day started out with a meeting with his oncologists. We finally found out the stage of his cancer. He has stage 3A. From what I gather, that means his cancer has spread to lymph nodes in his abdomen and lungs (which is good according to the doctor). The lymph nodes are very small (another good thing) and the doctor's are confident that the chemo will squash it. From the meeting with the oncologist we went down to the Lance Armstrong center, so Joe could have his pulmonary lung test. He did very well (according to him because he is a elite athlete) and we went upstairs to floor ten to start his chemo. We did not leave Dana Farber until 8, we were the last ones to leave I think hahah.

The chemo took a total of about 4 hours. The actual chemo drugs took about an hour.. a lot of other "shit" went into to him to make him not sick. I need to start taking notes of the amazing people you see in this place. It is so inspiring to see how strong people are. It makes me want to volunteer, just be a better person. The oncology nurses are saints, true angels. They have such positive attitudes and make the whole process so much easier. Again, a place with so much sickness, also holds so much hope, and inspiration to keep on fighting for a better tomorrow.

Today, Joe started his blog. He worked on it all day. I am really happy that he has an outlet to share his story. On the site he has a calender of all of his treatments. I will be there all of this week and as much as I can, however I do still need to get a job! It would be amazing if you guys posted on his website and sent funny shit to him. I will also be taking pictures to record this whole experience and be posting them either on his website or this blog. Please stop by or post it really helps. He will be at my house all this week and everyone is welcome to stop by.

Dana Farber - Day One

Finally some answers and a plan. For two months there have been unknowns about what Joe exactly has. Today we started finally moving forward. For those who do not know, my boyfriend of over two years, Joe Merry, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in the beginning of March. About two months ago, Joe went to his doctor with a lump on his right testicle that he had been watching for the past year and half. His doctor instructed him to get an ultrasound and set up an appointment with an urologist. The urologist found a mass, at this point they felt it was non-cancerous but advised Joe to have his whole right testicle removed. After receiving a second opinion, Joe went ahead to schedule a surgery for removal of his right testicle on February 23, 2009. Overall, the surgery was an outpatient procedure (went in and out of the hospital on the same day) and went very well. The mass was sent out for pathology to determine if it was cancerous or not. At this point, the doctor's  had characterized the growth as a "mass" and felt it was not cancerous. However, two weeks later the pathology showed that cancer was found in Joe's testicle.   I found out right before an interview and felt like I had been punched in the stomach. At this point, personally I was frustrated, but hopeful that possibly they had removed all the cancer. Joe of course was very optimistic and upbeat and made a cat scan appointment to see if the cancer had spread, but was confident that they had got all the cancer removed. Fortunately, there was no wait for cat scan results. Unfortunately, the next day we found out the cancer had spread, to two lymph nodes and possibly his lungs. I cried, scared and upset that Joe (who HATES being sick) had to go through this. 

Today, we met with an oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the Genitourinary Cancer Treatment Center.  Although, Joe forgot the CD with his CT Scans on them, we got an idea of the battle ahead. As of today, the plan is to have three, 3 week cycles of BEP (chemotherapy). The start date is March 30th. Tomorrow we find out how much the cancer has spread and the actual stage of his cancer. Joe is ready to start his battle, I just hope there is no more bad news.