IamA 23 year old cancer patient

312

Hello everyone.

Im sitting here, on my bed. My hospital bed.
In a department with 23 people over 60.
I am 23. 23 years young and diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Not in my testicles no. in my bonemarrow lymphs lungs and kidney.

Back in march 2015 i went to the emergency doctors post because i collapsed at work. they tested my blood and told: go home get some rest.

The same night i collapsed again. My girlfriend rushed me to the hospital. stayed there for 3 days. A week later she did a pregnancy test. the test led to nothing. i did one aswell. and it tested positive.

On the same day i was transfered to a diffrend hospital and the day after my semen got frozen and chemo started. 4 terrible months later they said it wasn't gone yet and they had to remove 2 lymphs ranging from 3 to 15 cm. Surgery started at 9:00 and ended at 18:00 they hit my aorta and a vein surgeon had to fix it.

6 weeks passed and i went on holiday to germany everything was great i was having the best time of my life untill i woke up 4 days ago with pain in my shoulder. I called the hospital and drove there 15 minutes later.
After a quick scan they told me to stay. i didnt know what was wrong untill a scan later that evening. i had a lungembolia and the cancer returned.

So here i am writing this behind my laptop on a hospital bed. sweating and in pain from an infected vein and the cisplatin chemo running to my veins.

I'm not asking for donations. im asking to help the young people get past this time as fast as possible. the money will be used to buy art supplies for the family room in the VU medical cancer center in amsterdam.
Most people ask how I found out I had cancer. I went to the doctor 7 times and they couldn't figure it out. Girlfriend did a pregnancy test and so did I for fun.
Result: mine tested positive hers didn't. That's how I figured it out

Heres some more information: http://www.cancer.gov/types/testicular/hp/testicular-treatment-pdq#link/_390_toc

I have nonseminoma testicular cancer.
Scar from surgergy:
http://imgur.com/n2NZw4a AFP levels since start:
March: 150.000
May: 40.000
June: 35
July: 11
September: 0!
Current: 19
As requested:
gofundme.com/f8bg5bfw
My gofundmepage to help decorate the family room in the VU medical center. I will post pictures later of how it looks now and what i will buy with the donations.

[b]For cards: [/b]

Stefan
De Boelelaan 1117
1081 HV Amsterdam Department 3C
Room 44

Here's pictures : http://imgur.com/a/3YaKD Injection: http://imgur.com/NaKnLhw

Edit: Eddited the FP a little bit, grammar ect. Edit2: Editted the FP again story should be more clear now. grammer formatting ect.

Comments: 160 • Responses: 51 • Date: 2015-11-21 05:03:04 UTCsource

justanothercook18 karma2015-11-21 11:05:10 UTC

I'm sorry for your diagnosis - cancer is shitty, and I hope you get better. Unfortunately, with any advanced cancer, it's worth asking:

Have you discussed end-of-life care options with your doctor and any important people who will be consulted during decisions (e.g. girlfriend, parents)? Also, have you made a will and filled out a health care proxy form?

If so, how was that experience? I was not prepared to do that stuff at age 23, and I'm curious what it was like.

If you haven't done it, I'd highly encourage it - it's awkward and painful to think about, but if you make your wishes known, you will save your loved ones a lot of trouble if you aren't lucky enough to survive. Even if you don't have much, it can simply be a comfort to people to know that they are acting according to your actual wishes, rather than what they believe your wishes are (especially if 2 important people believe different things about what you want). It can also bring you closer to people, as it can open the door for people to discuss their worries and hopes during a difficult time when they otherwise might not know that's ok.