Prefatory to what follows

I want to reiterate: this is just a tool of convenience. Given the number of people who know about my impending chemotherapy, I figured it was just easier to keep this board up than to call each and every one of you every day to say that I was still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (or not, as will probably prove to be the case).

Anyway, I'm going to post every afternoon after chemo, and maybe occasionally on the off-weeks, if anything interesting happens, like the release of a pill that cures cancer instantly.


The timeline so far:

c. 2 January, 2005: I find a most suspicious lump during a self-exam like those helpful shower inserts in the dorm taught us all about.

Monday, 24 January: I finally see a physician, Dr. John Ebihara, after several weeks of bureaucratic confusion & searching for a GP.

Wednesday, 26 January: I meet with Dr. Thomas Keeler of ENH Urology. He confirms that I almost certainly have a malignancy, although he doubts at this point that it has spread. Blood tests are done.

Friday, 28 January: CT scans are performed on my chest, abdomen and pelvis.

Saturday, 29 January: I speak to Dr. Keeler on the phone during Class of Nuke 'Em High at B-Fest. He informs me that the CT scans show masses in my lymph nodes and lungs. I immediately call my father, and suffer through Lassie: The Adventures of Neeka in silence. The Ice Pirates cheers me up immensely. At the beginning of It! The Terror From Outer Space, my parents arrive in Evanston, and I tear out of B-Fest like a bat out of hell.

Tuesday, 1 February: I enter surgery at 8:30 AM. My right testicle is removed. I am groggy and in pain all day.

Wednesday, 2 February: I speak with an oncologist, Dr. Daniel Shevrin. He clarifies that the masses are in only one lymph node, and in my left lung, above and below said node. He also confirms that cancer was found in my testicle. We discuss chemotherapy, and he mentions that because of the risk of infertility, I should begin to bank sperm immediately. I do so, and the process is painful (recall where I have recently been operated on. Recall that I am...banking sperm. I repeat: pain) .

Thursday, 3 February: I walk to the reproductive health center at ENH (I would remind you, I have a large gash in my pelvis as I make this walk). I bank sperm, and it is painful.

Friday, 4 February: I bank sperm, and it is painful.

Normal posting will begin Monday afternoon.