Today, our friends Danny and Angie took us to Chris' second surgical opinion appointment at Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer hospital in Manhattan. Once we walked in the front doors, it was clear that people call MSK "the best" for a reason. Every single person we encountered today (and it was a long day) was supremely professional, warm and helpful. Dr. Joel Sheinfeld is a well renowned surgeon in the testicular cancer world and was referred to us by Danny (seriously what would we do without you?) after he was treated for TC over three years ago. Dr. Sheinfeld is a calm, pleasant man who eased Chris' fears and whose vast expertise made the choice to go with MSK an easy one. After examining Chris and going over his reports, Dr. S booked him for surgery tomorrow morning. Chris wasn't expecting to do the surgery so soon, so we had to hit the ground running with pre-surgical testing (X-rays, ECG, labs and exams).
The surgery tomorrow will be a routine orchiectomy (removal of testicle). This is done by making an incision in his pelvic area much like a hernia surgery. It should take about 45-70minutes plus some time in the recovery room. He will be recovering further at home for 5-7 days, depending on how his body responds. At this point, he is most concerned about the doctor's orders not to work-out or lift anything over 10 pounds for 4-6 weeks. We all know how Chris feels about his fitness! After the surgery, the doctor will do a biopsy on the tissue removed so that they can determine what subtype of cancer it is and figure out the next steps. Chris feels very comfortable with Dr. S and is looking forward to getting his treatment started sooner so he can get back to dreaming of opening day of hunting season. He has written you all a message below and he is loving all the comments, texts, calls and messages. Thanks so much for being there for him, and for us. Love you all!
Love & Thanks,
Lainey
Thanks for all the support guys. It really means a lot for you all that have reached out to me and portrayed your confidence that I will get through this successfully. Just to give you a laugh, wanted to share a funny moment when Dr. S was helping me and Laina about deciding on implanting a "prosthetic testicle" during surgery. He actually said that they are "flying off the shelves, believe it or not." I had no idea that people were so nuts for "nuts"....haha! (see below)
-Chris aka B-tah
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