Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hi everyone. I'm Orophin. Some of you may remember me, most probably won't.. The guild has really grown since i was last here!

So anyway.. heres whats been going on with me for the past few months.

This whole thing started a long time before i had any idea it was happening. Which is probably the scariest part about the whole thing 'if i didnt notice this, what else could be wrong!?' sort of thing... anyway, im being excessivly vague -- i'll get on with the story.

Near the end of 2004 or maybe near the start of 2005, i dont quite remember any more. I had had enough of all the crap. The parents guild and one other thread that i posted in was the only place that wasnt driving me mad... so i left Gaia.

My life was going pretty smoothly -- had a job with a solid income, just working and making money (putting some aside of course). But the job (checkout operator at a supermarket) was really starting to grate at me... i was becoming more and more irritable every day... i found myself saying "i hate..." alot instead of "i like..."... it just wasnt me, something had to change... so mid-year '05 i left my job with the honest intention of having about a week off and then finding a new job.

I was in control of my life, or at least i thought i was...

A during my "time off" i got sick... and i stayed sick for week or two... so i went to the doctor and got told "Oh, its just a virus, keep cool and drink some water, you'll be fine"... having faith in the medical practioner's words i went home and kept cool and drank plenty of water. For a day or two it worked... but then it came back..i got sick again and this time it was worse...

I starting coughing -- A LOT... every morning i'd cough and cough, untill some sort of liquid came out of my lungs. Sometimes it wasnt so bad... other times i would cough untill my throat was bleeding. It wasnt fun to say the least..... I went back to the doctor with these new symptoms.... after my examination i got told the same thing... "oh, its just a virus, keep cool and drink plenty of water".....

okay.. this is feeling pretty crappy.. but then, you're the doctor not me..

So... i continued on the coolness and water intake... it wasnt doing anything.... by the third time i went to the doctor my coughing had gotten so bad i had bruised my right ribs.... it hurt to laugh... and laughter was what i really needed then...

On the third visit to the doctor the normal person i saw wasnt there but another doctor was... she took me a little more seriously... bruised ribs? chances are it wasnt a virus.... But once again i GOT TOLD THE SAME THING.... "oh, its just a virus, keep cool and drink water"... except this time i got perscribed some anti-infalmatory drugs to reduce the swelling around my ribs... at least i might be able to laugh?...

Went home and started obeying doctors orders...

My mum was talking to one of her friends about my situation -- surely a virus couldnt last almost 2 months!?.... eventually mum decided to take me to her friends doctor. I was cool with that -- if a friend has been going to the doctor for ages they might be decent!

Went to the new Doctor... He listened to my story and then to my chest... 4th go lucky! this time i didnt get told it was a virus. He said he couldnt be sure what was going on but thought it might be astma related. He told me to stop taking the pills the other doctor perscribed and then he perscribed me an astma puffer to take twice a day for a month...

That month rolled by with more coughing .... the puffer didnt do anything...

So we went back to the doctor and mum said "this is crazy! nothing is working. I want you to do a blood test!"... so, the doc ordered a blood test.
(jesus, i've had so many needles now, im totally not scared of them anymore XD )

Anyway... blood test results came back... and the doc had a bit of a funny look on his face.... He gave us 2 forms and asked us to go to Medical Imaging to get some scans done. i was to have an Abdominal Ultra-Sound and a Chest X-Ray...

We got to medial imaging and went in... first was the ultrasound... xp the gel is cold... but i didnt care, i wanted to know what the hell was going on... the operator rubbed and pressed... i watched the screen... made no sense to me but the operator seemed perfectly calm. Good Sign.

Next was the X-Ray... this was a lot quicker and more pleasant than the ultrasound... but this is where things started to turn... well... pearshaped.. I stood back from the X-Ray machine on the wall and was asked to wait outsid in the little changing booth -- they just had to check the X-Ray. ok, cool.

I was sitting in the little booth for a few mintues wondering what was going on... and i suddenly had the thought... 'what if its like in the movies where they do the x-ray and... DUN DUN DAH! theres something there!!' .... i say quietly for another few minutes pondering ... The technician came over and said i could get dressed again, but wanted me to wait in the waiting room instead of just leaving .... "the doctor wants to speak to you".... oh s**t.

So... the doctor at medical imaging takes mum and i into his office and gets us to sit down.... He then explains that there was something on the x-ray.... something Big. He says he isnt sure what it is, but they want to do some more scans to try and get a better look at it.... mum was kinda freaked out... i was too i guess but i was definately handling it better...

Next thing i know i had a canular (IV needle) in my hand (the veins in my arm are pretty crap, so they had to go in the hand) and i was being pumped full of dye while being buzzed through the CT Scan machine... it wasnt overly fun... the needle sucked the most, but it was fairly straight forward.

This wasnt turning out to be a very pleasant day...

We went back to our GP and he had gotten the reports from medical imaging (they had also called him before they did the CT scan)... he was worried... it was fairly bad apparantly ... The GP referred us (after a few angry phone calls on his part from his office) to a lung specialist...

A day or two later we saw the specialist and he looked at the scans... he was even less happy with what he saw than the GP... He wrote a letter and put it in an envelope... told us that i was to go straight to hospital and have a biopsy... (big needle into the chest to take a sample of the mass)
so... we took the letter and went to the hospital... We went into the Emergency Department and gave the triage nurse the letter as per instruction... a moment or two later a doctor came out and admitted me instantly!

They got me onto a bed and stuck the little dots on me (ECG) to measure my pulse... It was through the roof!... 140bps (thats VERY fast.)...after everything settled down and i was moved to a room (my pulse was still way up, i was calm as normal)... I stayed over night... next day the Biopsy happened... i have to say it was quite a plesant experience.. but then i was drugged up to my eyeballs so that helps.

Went home that afternoon, with an appointment to see the specialist....

when we went to see him he wasnt too happy... he explained a few things... and then told us what it was....

I was diagnosed with testicular cancer that had presented as a germ-cell tumor in my chest. At the time of the inital scans, the tumor was from almost the top of my right lung to the bottom, it was crushing my lung against my ribs, and displacing my heart downwards. At its widest part it was 13.5cms (almost 7 inches ) wide....

When he told us i was kinda shocked... but in a way more relieved -- we finally knew what was going on

The specialist made an appointment for us to see my onocologist (and hero.) Dr. Craft.

We saw Dr. Craft and soon after (a week, maybe less?) started Chemo therapy. My "Protocol" was to be POMB ACE, which means i was going to be in hospital for a week with POMB, then at home recovering for a week... then into hospital for an hour or two each day for a week for ACE, over and over, untill Dr. Craft told us otherwise. So. i've been doing that since november. Untill a couple of weeks ago... when i went into hospital for my last week there -- this time in a different ward. smile The Surgery Ward! ... thats right... last time i was in hospital they cut the b*****d out of me. Now, im feeling a lot better and back on track for a normal life.

Let my just say -- Its been one Helluva Ride.

Some really good things that have come out of this:
-I've decided what i want to do with my life! once im healed im going to Uni and going to do a Diploma of Social Welfare -- and become a Counsellor!
-My eldest brother has given up smoking. As he told me, there he was, almost thiry, smoking and not caring about his body, and here i am 21 with cancer... and thats all he could think of every time he lit one, so he quit
-I've made a heap of friends 3nodding some of the nurses at the hospital are real 5 star human beings!

Wow Orophin, I am glad you are doing alright after all of that. Good thing they finally checked it out. That must have been really scary. I had wondered what happen to you. Hope you make a full recovery and have much better health from here out. *Hugs*

Again! Welcome back Orophin, glad to see your return smile

3nodding heart Thanks everyone.

whee Guess all the video games paid off -- Going from one horrendous disaster to the other and saving the world every other week has really helped me get through it! ( or stay sane at least )

Thanks 3nodding I made an effort to stay positive... but even if i didnt all the amazing people that have helped my would have kept my positive im sure
sweatdrop Well, bruised ribs etc was a pretty obvious sign... but still i agree, get a second opinion.

I am.. its not every day you get a second chance at life.

Great story. I wish they had caught my fathers early. We lost him to colon cancer about 11 years ago. By the time they found it, it was too late. I blame his doctor for not being more concerned when he presented symtoms and for not doing any testing. Congratulations and luck to you.

What they did was a rather crappy thing.

I'm glad you're doing better though. 3nodding

It's good to have you back.