More Decisions

I wanted to let you know what we found out today. We met with Dr. Bibawi at Richardson Regional Cancer Center for a second opinion on Wes's treatment. He was very helpful and explained things well. He strongly recommended we consider just monitoring Wes with frequent scans and lab work rather than going through chemo. He told us Wes's cancer was Stage 1A. That is there very best stage to be in. There are only 3 stages of testicular cancer where as other cancers have 4 stages (4 being the worst). Within each stage there are levels A, B, and C. A is the best and C is the worst. Stage 1A simply means that this cancer was discovered at the earliest level. All the results of his blood work were normal. He said it wouldn't be "wrong" to do chemo, but it would be "like killing a fly with a bazooka". Testicular cancer is very treatable and responds so well to chemo that if they found something while monitoring him closely Wes could undergo chemo at that time. He said if it were him, he would just get scans and lab work monthly rather than going through chemo. He also said since what he recommends differs from Dr. Roque, our first oncologist, that he would seek a third opinion. He was not concerned at all about the spots on Wes's lungs. He said that testicular cancer is very predictable in the way that it spreads. It would have to travel through his lymph nodes before it would reach the lungs. The spots are most likely scar tissue from an earlier sinus infection or bronchial infection.

All of this news was great to hear, however we are torn about what to choose now. It would be wonderful if Wes didn't need to have chemo. We are going to seek a 3rd opinion, at either UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas or MD Anderson in Houston. We are leaning towards UT Southwestern, and are hoping to get in to see an oncologist soon.

Please continue to pray for wisdom and direction.