Another relaxing day spent with friends and playing board games. We visited Michelle and Eric who were also entertaining the fabulous Deanna and Blake. Lots of games were played and we made new fans of Deanna and Blake of Betrayal at House on the Hill. Sadly, I didn't grab a picture of the final board. :'(
Roberto has seven more days until the start of the third cycle. He has one more week of recovery. Let's try to keep his spirits up this week and get him mentally prepped for Cycle 3!
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Now that we are about halfway through the chemotherapy treatment, I thought it would be good to recap what's happened. Especially for those who haven't been with us from the beginning. I first started this blog to keep close friends and relatives apprised of Roberto's status, but we've shared this blog with all who care about Roberto and they may not have the complete history of events.
So, here's the approximate timeline of Roberto's cancer fighting journey that started in May.
In May, Roberto had a small muscle ache on his right side that he thought was a strain from weight lifting. He also complained about feeling some liquid in his lung when he moved. He also had a small cough. Nonetheless, at the end of May, he and I moved into our new place in one day and the next day he ran 18+ miles with Pedro and Chris. I remember being concerned enough about his side ache that I tried to talk him out of running, but not much can stop Roberto from running! Well, except cancer, I guess. :P
After that run, Roberto's cough persisted. I nagged and nagged like a good fiancee for him to visit the doctor since it can't be good for anyone to be coughing all the time. I thought, at the worst, that Roberto may have walking-pneumonia since he mentioned the liquid in his lung. Roberto actually started feeling better; his ache was going away and I think he was getting used to the cough. Despite his apparent improvement, he knew I would keep bugging him to go to the health center so he finally made the visit.
In mid-June, Roberto and I went to the health center and 15 minutes grew into 25 minutes and then into more. The doctor at the health center listened to his breathing and said that Roberto's breathing seemed fine, but ordered an x-ray since Roberto did have that cough and liquid feeling. At some point, Roberto came out of the back room area and motioned for me to go in with him. Trepidatiously, I walked in and was greeted by the doctor who took me to her office and showed me her computer monitor with the x-ray.
The x-ray was stunning: a large mass clearly took residence on the right side of Roberto's chest and may (most likely was) inducing a pleural effusion, i.e. excess liquid in his lungs. The doctor stated that because of the size, the mass was probably a tumor. X-rays aren't great for determining which part of the image was the mass and which was liquid, so we made an appointment for a CT scan.
The next day, we went to the Sutter Hospital in Davis to get a CT scan. We learned the tumor was a significant portion of the mass we previously saw in the x-ray. The radiologist and Roberto's primary care doctor gave us four possibilities for the type of tumor it could be (based on the location) that are affectionately nicknamed the "Terrible T's": teratoma, thymona, thyroid tumor, or terrible lymphoma.
After that appointment, I was simply stunned with the overload of information we were receiving (Roberto probably was too). We searched all the different possibilities for the tumor and started hoping for one type over the others. I had so many thoughts racing through my brain: it could be cancer; it could be benign; how long has Roberto had the tumor; maybe it can be removed with surgery; was the tumor the result of Roberto "eating" his twin en utero? Besides filling our time with medical information from the internet, we spent time updating close friends and family, studying the CT scan, and scheduling an appointment with a thoracic surgeon.
Well, this post is already getting pretty meaty, so I'll cut it off right here and continue the story tomorrow.
I've been giving people our address for sending cards. Don't be shy! :)
Cycle 2 - Day 14
Roberto has seven more days until the start of the third cycle. He has one more week of recovery. Let's try to keep his spirits up this week and get him mentally prepped for Cycle 3!
----------------------------------------------
Now that we are about halfway through the chemotherapy treatment, I thought it would be good to recap what's happened. Especially for those who haven't been with us from the beginning. I first started this blog to keep close friends and relatives apprised of Roberto's status, but we've shared this blog with all who care about Roberto and they may not have the complete history of events.
So, here's the approximate timeline of Roberto's cancer fighting journey that started in May.
Physical Ailments
In May, Roberto had a small muscle ache on his right side that he thought was a strain from weight lifting. He also complained about feeling some liquid in his lung when he moved. He also had a small cough. Nonetheless, at the end of May, he and I moved into our new place in one day and the next day he ran 18+ miles with Pedro and Chris. I remember being concerned enough about his side ache that I tried to talk him out of running, but not much can stop Roberto from running! Well, except cancer, I guess. :P
After that run, Roberto's cough persisted. I nagged and nagged like a good fiancee for him to visit the doctor since it can't be good for anyone to be coughing all the time. I thought, at the worst, that Roberto may have walking-pneumonia since he mentioned the liquid in his lung. Roberto actually started feeling better; his ache was going away and I think he was getting used to the cough. Despite his apparent improvement, he knew I would keep bugging him to go to the health center so he finally made the visit.
First Diagnosis
In mid-June, Roberto and I went to the health center and 15 minutes grew into 25 minutes and then into more. The doctor at the health center listened to his breathing and said that Roberto's breathing seemed fine, but ordered an x-ray since Roberto did have that cough and liquid feeling. At some point, Roberto came out of the back room area and motioned for me to go in with him. Trepidatiously, I walked in and was greeted by the doctor who took me to her office and showed me her computer monitor with the x-ray.
The x-ray was stunning: a large mass clearly took residence on the right side of Roberto's chest and may (most likely was) inducing a pleural effusion, i.e. excess liquid in his lungs. The doctor stated that because of the size, the mass was probably a tumor. X-rays aren't great for determining which part of the image was the mass and which was liquid, so we made an appointment for a CT scan.
CT Scan
The next day, we went to the Sutter Hospital in Davis to get a CT scan. We learned the tumor was a significant portion of the mass we previously saw in the x-ray. The radiologist and Roberto's primary care doctor gave us four possibilities for the type of tumor it could be (based on the location) that are affectionately nicknamed the "Terrible T's": teratoma, thymona, thyroid tumor, or terrible lymphoma.
After that appointment, I was simply stunned with the overload of information we were receiving (Roberto probably was too). We searched all the different possibilities for the tumor and started hoping for one type over the others. I had so many thoughts racing through my brain: it could be cancer; it could be benign; how long has Roberto had the tumor; maybe it can be removed with surgery; was the tumor the result of Roberto "eating" his twin en utero? Besides filling our time with medical information from the internet, we spent time updating close friends and family, studying the CT scan, and scheduling an appointment with a thoracic surgeon.
Well, this post is already getting pretty meaty, so I'll cut it off right here and continue the story tomorrow.
I've been giving people our address for sending cards. Don't be shy! :)
Cycle 2 - Day 14
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