Hey everyone! I am sorry it has taken a bit to get these sites going, it has been a very crazy time.
So where do we start?
Mike went in to the ER on August 27th because he had such horrible back and abdominal pain. He was sure he had a kidney stone. After getting in the ER and getting some labs and imaging done, they found two large masses near his groin. It was no kidney stone. They told him they were sure it was lymphoma. Not at all what he was thinking was wrong or what he wanted to hear. They gave him pain medication and set up an appointment with radiology to get a biopsy done. He went home early that evening.
August 28th-
Nichole got ahold of me and told me that Mike was in horrible pain, worse than before, and hadn't slept much at all. We decided he needed to go back in and get his pain under control because he was in agony! They ended up admitting him that night to Essentia where they kept him comfortable for the weekend. He was discharged and sent home with more pain medication and appointments for a biopsy and the oncologist.
Things weren't getting any better for Mike with his pain and his body was growing more weak. He finally went to Sanford where they too ended up admitting him and worked to keep him comfortable while they got more labs and images taken care of.
After several tests, images, and a biopsy Mike was told that he has Stage 3 metastatic seminoma. His oncologist quickly devised a treatment plan and said that it will require Mike to endure 8 hours of chemo every day. His first few treatments went ok, but he has been very sick and extremely weak. Mike is not used to being down for the count like this. He likes to stay busy, fix things that are broken, relax and watch movies with his wife, and was working on living a sober life again. So, as you can imagine, things have been a bit challenging.
Mike made it to Tosha and Patryk's wedding on 9/26 and he had one hell of a good time! Our hope is that he will be able to do more of that and get back on his feet the way he wants to be!
We will update more later on as more treatments and information becomes available. He did just recently receive amazing news on 9/28 that his MRI showed the cancer HAS NOT spread to his brain!!!!
