Cody's appt yesterday

I'm still waiting on a call from Cody's oncologist at Stanford, but I'll fill you in on what we know so far.

We met with Cody's oncologist here in our hometown yesterday. We knew Cody would need more chemo, but weren't certain just how much. It looks like he will be getting 3 - 4 more cycles depending on how the tumors react.

5 days = 1 cycle per month

So basically we're looking at chemo every month for the next 3 - 4 mths.

It's a pretty tricky thing because even though Cody's tumor marker levels are almost completely normal again, the CT scans are showing that the tumors have spread. The tumor marker levels are what determine how active the cancer cells are, so we know the cancer is barely active at all anymore.

It's confusing, I know!

Therefore, the oncologist believes the "new" tumors are what's called Teratoma. They are benign, but if left untreated can become malignant. When Cody had the tumor removed from his testicle it showed 3 types of germ cells, one of which was teratoma. It has been known not to respond as well to chemo as the other types of germ cells. So we will try a totally different type of chemo than what Cody got in the past.

We'll go for a "chemo teaching" on the 22nd... basically a class to give us info about the new drug and it's side effects. Cody will then start chemo on the 28th.

It's a pretty big bummer, especially for Cody because he's just so ready to be done with everything and have his life back. Also his hair has really started to grow back, but now it's just gonna fall out again. Cody's in good spirits today and me, I have incredible peace. I can't even explain it or describe it but somehow I just know everything is going to be ok.

Your continued prayers are much appreciated and much needed.