Things as of lately…

Nobody ever thinks they are going to get cancer. No one ever thinks that their spouse is going to get cancer but that’s exactly what happened to my husband, Casey. Six months ago we noticed a slight difference texture size of one of his testicles. He brushed it off that maybe he had strained it working out. Nothing changed so we didn’t think much more of it until the first week in October when we began taking Intermediate Shag Dancing Lessons. Shag dancing is very popular in Eastern North Carolina and it’s similar to the jitterbug. When Casey noticed some swelling and some pain after our second lesson, we knew there was something wrong.

Casey got laid off from his search engine marketing and web design job in January and with the amount of unemployment he was getting we couldn’t afford to add him to my insurance which would run $502 a month. We were barely getting by with what we had. So, the Friday after our second lesson we took him to Urgent Care. They did an ultrasound and found a mass. They couldn’t be sure what it was so we referred to an urologist and we had the entire weekend to wait and worry over what it might be. As soon as we walked into the urologist’s office he gave us the bad news. He was 98% sure it was testicular cancer and Casey would need to have surgery right away.

A right orchiectomy was performed that same day because Casey hadn’t actually eaten or drank anything before his appointment and we had a trip planned that weekend to see some friends in New York City. This is standard procedure when there is a risk of testicular cancer because if the testicle was biopsied it could actually spread the cancer cells to the skin or remaining testicle.  He was going to have outpatient surgery just a few hours after we had learned he had cancer. I was a nervous wreck. I called and cried my eyes out to my Mom but my family lives in Ohio and we live in North Carolina. I never truly realized how alone I was until that point. Most of my friends and coworkers live in Greenville or Wilson and then I called Casey’s mom and she came to wait with me at the hospital. I wish I could say I was strong about the situation, but I just fell apart. All I could think of was that God was going to take Casey away from me and I was just not done loving him yet. I don’t think I’ll be done loving him on my final day on this earth. I turned to twitter in my time of need and asked for prayers for my husband who was about to go into surgery. The outpouring of love, support and prayers we received was just absolutely amazing. While I sat alone I had hundreds of people praying and thinking about us.

For those of you who don’t know Casey, I wish you could have a chance to get to know one of the greatest men I’ve ever met in real life. He is the most caring, loving and thoughtful man that I know. He would give you the shirt off of his back if you were cold. He’s so affectionate and funny. He knows more about sports than the anchors on ESPN and he’s quick to make you smile when you’re having a bad day. Casey took all of this news like a trooper. He was determined that he was going to fight this disease and that was the end of the story. He held my hand and wiped my tears until it was time them to wheel him away to surgery. He apologized to me for putting me through all of this. I’ve just never met a more unselfish person in my life.

He made it through surgery great and the first thing out of his mouth was a joke. “Now I’m going to be all off balance. “He said. “I’ll have to start putting something extra in my right pocket.” He knew how to make us smile even when we were so worried about him. Then we began to wait. We wouldn’t know the pathology results for 5 days. We went to New York and had an amazing time catching up with friends and seeing the sights. Casey never once complained even though he was obviously in pain and still recovering from the surgery. The break was welcomed and it was a great diversion from the waiting.

We saw the Urologist that Monday and he gave us the news. Casey definitely had testicular cancer stage I and had a non-seminoma tumor.  The pathology results did not show spreading in the sperm duct but to be sure he had a CT scan done the same day. Thankfully, the CT scan came back mostly clear. There is one lymph node the doctor is mildly concerned about but other than that the cancer has not spread. He will start two rounds of BEP chemotherapy on this Tuesday November 10th.  We did decide to have a second opinion and decided on seeing on oncologist at the Leo Jenkins Cancer Center at East Carolina University. I feel better knowing that my institution is the one that will be taking care of my husband. I have great faith in the power of the medicine and technology that is available to him.

However, because he will only receive two rounds of chemotherapy and his treatment for the most part will be done by the first of the year he did not qualify for Medicaid or any financial assistance since he was receiving unemployment. If he gives up his unemployment and is able to receive the medicaid he will not be allowed to have any income come in to help with the everyday bills. This has put us in a tough situation. Just with the ultrasound, surgery, CT scan and pulmonary tests, we’ve already accrued $15,000 in medical bills.  They estimated that we may have upwards of $40,000-$50,000 worth of medical bills once he receives the chemotherapy. At this point, we can’t worry about the money. We can only worry about curing Casey’s cancer.

This blog will be about the journey we’ve traveled thus far and the path of the future. You might read about some sports, about some books I’ve read or you might read about the effects of the Chemotherapy. I hope you’ll join us on this journey and feel free to comment and join in the conversation.