Update on my boyfriend, he's starting chemo tomorrow

It's been a little over two weeks since he had surgery and now he is starting a fairly harsh chemo regimen. He has testicular cancer and it did spread. They found four tumors on his lower lymph nodes and two more in his abdomen.

Tomorrow he starts 5 days of chemo in a row at 8 hours a day, then he goes in once a week for two weeks at half an hour. Then it all gets repeated twice more. He should be done in February as long as everything goes well.

I'm a bit nervous as to what I should expect, it's going to be a long couple of months. I'm sad for him because he has to get chemo for 8 hours on Christmas :tears:

Man thats really harsh... I will keep you guys in my thoughts. my granddad battled cancer for a long time its hard to watch someone you love go through it. Good luck and I wish you all the best. Again I will keep you in my thoughts

Oh, geez. I'm so sorry. My grandma who I'm not very close to has vaginal cancer, and it's hard on me, I can't even imagine what it's like when someone you are close to has cancer, nor would I want to. We've got you in our mind and prayers.

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Originally Posted by jjmitchell

Man thats really harsh... I will keep you guys in my thoughts. my granddad battled cancer for a long time its hard to watch someone you love go through it. Good luck and I wish you all the best. Again I will keep you in my thoughts

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Thank you. I'm so not looking forward to this.

Everyone has been asking us what they can do for us, or what we need. I have no idea what I should ask them for! Food? Help around the house? Help taking care of Blake when he's not feeling well for weeks at a time??? My family came to our house this week while we were gone in D.C. visiting family and cleaned our entire house and put a shower in our upstairs bathroom! That was so nice to come home to!

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Originally Posted by abuja

Oh, geez. I'm so sorry. My grandma who I'm not very close to has vaginal cancer, and it's hard on me, I can't even imagine what it's like when someone you are close to has cancer, nor would I want to. We've got you in our mind and prayers.

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It has been really hard on me. We've been together for four years and might as well be married! He's been really strong and doing well. I've been doing better about not crying in front of him! :oops: I'm supposed to be the strong one!!!

this cancer is the most horrible disease ever.

does he/you guys have any support groups in line to help deal with the effects of the chemo?

i am sure sharing with others who have/are going thru the same thing might be beneficial.

Our thoughts are with you and your boyfriend, and hope the best for him.

There isn't anything else to say than that, but this reptile community really is a great support group!

It's easy to feel like you're not ready for him being on a tough chemo schedule, but hopefully you can find some strength in knowing that him going through chemo is him getting better.

I will keep you and your boyfriend in my prayers.

Your boyfriend as well as you will be in my thoughts and prayers. Just make sure while he is going thru it that he has the most positive people in his life around him as much as possible.

I hope all goes well with your boyfriend. My mother in law had breast cancer and had to take the pill form of chemo Tamoxifen for five years :( She is finally cancer free now. You and your boy friend will be in my thoughts and prayers :please: Tell him to stay strong!!!!!

I hate to hear that. He is in my prayers. Prayer is the best medicine.Jesus has a plan for everyone so keep strong in your faith. -garett

Pray, fill your minds with positive thoughts and surround yourselves with positive people. I am a 16 year survivor of stage 4 lymphomia. I had more than 35 tumors throughout my body. With good doctors, strong Prayer and love of family and friends I am here to tell you this now. All things are possible through Him!! PM me if there is anything I can do to help him through this. Things will get tough but He will not put more on him than he can handle. Thoughts and Prayers from the entire Fat Boy's family.

Thanks so much everyone for your support. He is just about done with his first 8 hours of chemo! He's doing good so far.

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Originally Posted by redpython

this cancer is the most horrible disease ever.

does he/you guys have any support groups in line to help deal with the effects of the chemo?

i am sure sharing with others who have/are going thru the same thing might be beneficial.

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There is one here in town, but he doesn't seem very interested because it's....an older support group, he would rather be with people his age. I'm not sure if we could find one around here for his age group :confused:

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

Our thoughts are with you and your boyfriend, and hope the best for him.

There isn't anything else to say than that, but this reptile community really is a great support group!

It's easy to feel like you're not ready for him being on a tough chemo schedule, but hopefully you can find some strength in knowing that him going through chemo is him getting better.

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I do love this site, everyone makes me feel so much better. I'm definitely not ready to watch him get sick and fatigued :(

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Originally Posted by Southernshooter

Your boyfriend as well as you will be in my thoughts and prayers. Just make sure while he is going thru it that he has the most positive people in his life around him as much as possible.

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He got to met my favorite Aunt last week when we went to D.C. she is by far the most lively happy person I know. She already loves him to death and I told him when ever he is feeling low he needs to call her!!!

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Originally Posted by Boanerges

I hope all goes well with your boyfriend. My mother in law had breast cancer and had to take the pill form of chemo Tamoxifen for five years :( She is finally cancer free now. You and your boy friend will be in my thoughts and prayers :please: Tell him to stay strong!!!!!

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Oh wow, I'm so glad she is doing well! Thank you so much, and I'll be sure to tell him to stay strong.

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Originally Posted by FatBoy

Pray, fill your minds with positive thoughts and surround yourselves with positive people. I am a 16 year survivor of stage 4 lymphomia. I had more than 35 tumors throughout my body. With good doctors, strong Prayer and love of family and friends I am here to tell you this now. All things are possible through Him!! PM me if there is anything I can do to help him through this. Things will get tough but He will not put more on him than he can handle. Thoughts and Prayers from the entire Fat Boy's family.

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I'm so glad you are doing well! Your treatment must have been really rough! He's sitting next to me in the cancer treatment center and he was glad to read your success story.

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Originally Posted by Isis

It's been a little over two weeks since he had surgery and now he is starting a fairly harsh chemo regimen. He has testicular cancer and it did spread. They found four tumors on his lower lymph nodes and two more in his abdomen.

Tomorrow he starts 5 days of chemo in a row at 8 hours a day, then he goes in once a week for two weeks at half an hour. Then it all gets repeated twice more. He should be done in February as long as everything goes well.

I'm a bit nervous as to what I should expect, it's going to be a long couple of months. I'm sad for him because he has to get chemo for 8 hours on Christmas :tears:

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Stephanie, he will be fine :gj:.Remember my email door is always open for you both.

That really sucks but I heard it has a high cure rate,a freind years ago had it when he was in his early 20s same thing it spread but he is alive & well today my prayers are with you.

Today was his second 8 hour day. He's still doing pretty well. He's really tired and feels sick to his stomach every now and again.

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Originally Posted by joepythons

Stephanie, he will be fine :gj:.Remember my email door is always open for you both.

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Thank you! I'll email you any questions come up!

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Originally Posted by greghall

That really sucks but I heard it has a high cure rate,a freind years ago had it when he was in his early 20s same thing it spread but he is alive & well today my prayers are with you.

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Thank you

My father had testicular cancer when I was young. He had a testicle removed, and did a fair amount of chemo And now even years later has no sign of cancer and still feels like a million bucks! Im sure everythong will be ok. My fathers treatment was around 1997 and im sure medicine has come along way since then. I hope my story has cheered you up a bit. You and your family will be in my thoughts.

I just read this thread and I feel you.. My first love, and the longest relationship I had ever been in, 3 years 4 months, had gotten a specific testicular that is usually only found in people 40+ but he got it at 18. It had spread and he became extremely verbally aggressive with me all of a sudden, somehow it triggered hormones that messed with his brain. It went on for a month before he went to the doctor and was diagnosed. The Chemo is extremely rough, and your boy will be sick 5 out of 7 days a week, usually the day before and morning of Chemo he will be fine. Other than that he will be a sick mess. But Jon is currently completely better, with no signs of it coming back or anything. Just stick by his side, you both will be fine. It will just be rough for the length of the regiment they decide to put him on!

i am sorry to hear that.i just lost my uncle in noveber to cancer.then my grandma last november.then my uncle joe in june.that is a real heavy burden on you and him.[i think that wud suck to have cancer in the twig and berries].im only 14 but i have been treated as an adult since i was 6.so i understand how u r feeling.ill keep you two in my thiughts.:( im sorry


j.w.since he has testicular cancer does that mean he cant use it for relational beinefits?:confused:

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Originally Posted by hud556

My father had testicular cancer when I was young. He had a testicle removed, and did a fair amount of chemo And now even years later has no sign of cancer and still feels like a million bucks! Im sure everythong will be ok. My fathers treatment was around 1997 and im sure medicine has come along way since then. I hope my story has cheered you up a bit. You and your family will be in my thoughts.

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Thank you so much, it does make me feel better. I'm so happy to hear of all the people that have made it through and are cancer free many years down the road!

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Originally Posted by Carusima

I just read this thread and I feel you.. My first love, and the longest relationship I had ever been in, 3 years 4 months, had gotten a specific testicular that is usually only found in people 40+ but he got it at 18. It had spread and he became extremely verbally aggressive with me all of a sudden, somehow it triggered hormones that messed with his brain. It went on for a month before he went to the doctor and was diagnosed. The Chemo is extremely rough, and your boy will be sick 5 out of 7 days a week, usually the day before and morning of Chemo he will be fine. Other than that he will be a sick mess. But Jon is currently completely better, with no signs of it coming back or anything. Just stick by his side, you both will be fine. It will just be rough for the length of the regiment they decide to put him on!

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Oh wow, that would have been hard. I'm glad to hear he is alright. So far he's alright, it's been three 8 hour days of chemo so far and he says he's feeling fine, but he's extremely tired and fatigued. He's felt sick to his stomach off and on, but they've been giving him lots of anti nausea medications.

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Originally Posted by bloodpython19

i am sorry to hear that.i just lost my uncle in noveber to cancer.then my grandma last november.then my uncle joe in june.that is a real heavy burden on you and him.[i think that wud suck to have cancer in the twig and berries].im only 14 but i have been treated as an adult since i was 6.so i understand how u r feeling.ill keep you two in my thiughts.:( im sorry


j.w.since he has testicular cancer does that mean he cant use it for relational beinefits?:confused:

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Oh my goodness you've had a lot of cancer related tragedy in your family. He thankfully only had a tumor in one of his testicles and they removed the one with the tumor. He still "works" just fine :rofl: And he even got an implant, much like a woman would get for a breast implant, it has turned out very nice! :P Although, now there's a whole other issue we have to deal with now. Not only do we have to worry about pregnancy because we can't have children for at least two years after chemo, but we also have to use protection so I don't get chemo treatments!!!! I never would have thought about that! Thank heavens the nurse thought about telling us that! Apparently it's easy for him to pass some chemo on to me so we have to be careful with any contact we have while he's getting daily treatments. One of his chemo medications is highly toxic to kidneys.

Good luck to you both. He is lucky to have you at his side, and he needs you now more than ever.

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Originally Posted by Isis

Thank you so much, it does make me feel better. I'm so happy to hear of all the people that have made it through and are cancer free many years down the road!



Oh wow, that would have been hard. I'm glad to hear he is alright. So far he's alright, it's been three 8 hour days of chemo so far and he says he's feeling fine, but he's extremely tired and fatigued. He's felt sick to his stomach off and on, but they've been giving him lots of anti nausea medications.



Oh my goodness you've had a lot of cancer related tragedy in your family. He thankfully only had a tumor in one of his testicles and they removed the one with the tumor. He still "works" just fine :rofl: And he even got an implant, much like a woman would get for a breast implant, it has turned out very nice! :P Although, now there's a whole other issue we have to deal with now. Not only do we have to worry about pregnancy because we can't have children for at least two years after chemo, but we also have to use protection so I don't get chemo treatments!!!! I never would have thought about that! Thank heavens the nurse thought about telling us that! Apparently it's easy for him to pass some chemo on to me so we have to be careful with any contact we have while he's getting daily treatments. One of his chemo medications is highly toxic to kidneys.

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well at least you aare being careful.wat kind of chemo is he taking?

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Originally Posted by bloodpython19

well at least you aare being careful.wat kind of chemo is he taking?

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Oh gosh I'd have to look, he's on three different ones, all three are through IVs. One is toxic to the kidneys if you aren't on a bunch of IV fluids, one has a chance of causing blood cancer, and the third is really bad for your lungs. Lol, doesn't sound like a very good trade off.

no it dosent!that is no kool at all!:mad: are they trying to kill him?:mad:

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Originally Posted by Isis

Everyone has been asking us what they can do for us, or what we need. I have no idea what I should ask them for! Food? Help around the house? Help taking care of Blake when he's not feeling well for weeks at a time??? My family came to our house this week while we were gone in D.C. visiting family and cleaned our entire house and put a shower in our upstairs bathroom! That was so nice to come home to!

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Frist of all, my thoughts and prayers are with you guys.

I have 3 friends who are going through chemo right now. Since the chemo seems to react differently in all 3, I wouldn't even try to guess how your love will react to it. However, all 3 seem to be really tired during and after chemo and their caregivers spend a lot of time just staying by their side. Therefore, if friends ask to help, don't hesitate to say yes. Having good food available when you and he get hungry is always comforting - your friends can do that for you . . . running to his fav fast food joint or cooking a nice meal. You will probably really appreciate help keeping up with the house cleaning and laundry too. And at this time of year, one of your firends might be able to help you do any shopping for the holidays that you feel must get done. Just a few thoughts, but the most important is for you to concentrate on helping you and he stay as upbeat as possibe.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by bloodpython19

no it dosent!that is no kool at all!:mad: are they trying to kill him?:mad:

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Lol pretty much. He's on a bunch of fluids and lots of medications to help with the side effects. From my understanding chemo nearly kills everything in your body and that's the only way it can kill the cancer cells. One thing that freaked me out was reading the drug facts of one of his chemo meds, apparently it's an ingredient in mustard gas!!! Crazy.

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Originally Posted by Alice

Frist of all, my thoughts and prayers are with you guys.

I have 3 friends who are going through chemo right now. Since the chemo seems to react differently in all 3, I wouldn't even try to guess how your love will react to it. However, all 3 seem to be really tired during and after chemo and their caregivers spend a lot of time just staying by their side. Therefore, if friends ask to help, don't hesitate to say yes. Having good food available when you and he get hungry is always comforting - your friends can do that for you . . . running to his fav fast food joint or cooking a nice meal. You will probably really appreciate help keeping up with the house cleaning and laundry too. And at this time of year, one of your firends might be able to help you do any shopping for the holidays that you feel must get done. Just a few thoughts, but the most important is for you to concentrate on helping you and he stay as upbeat as possibe.

Good luck!

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Thank you so much, those are some very good ideas. One of our friends just asked us if we would want any food and they brought us lasagna! It was so nice. My mom also came over to help clean up the house. We were hardly home this week because we spent 10 hours a day at the cancer center and driving to/from home. My mom even offered to come over and stay with Blake so I could go ride my horse. I'm so happy, I haven't rode my horse for over a month! Everyone has been so helpful!