Thursday, August 19, 2010

Well That Is An Interesting Side Effect

Before I get started, I just want everyone to be aware that Brett Favre has decided to play one more year in Minnesota.  Prince must be super excited.

Okay so today was an interesting day, as I had my consult with the medical oncologist.  The medical oncologist is the doctor that oversees and mixes the drugs to be used in chemotherapy.  She is young and very smart, so I feel as if I am in good hands with Dr. Movva.  As mentioned earlier, chemo is such an unknown to me, so I have always been a little anxious to find out the details of the treatment.  She started the appointment off by talking a little about why chemo is necessary for my cancer.  Basically my class of sarcoma is quite aggressive, in that it grows fast, and larger tumors are more likely to spread cancer cells throughout the body.  Although my CT was clean, that doesn't mean that there aren't little microscopic radicals floating around.  The chemo has the job of basically nuking all these free radicals as well as to begin the process of shrinking the tumor to make the final surgery less invasive when it is finally conducted.

There are a few tests and other things I have to go through first, but it sounded like we are going to start the treatment sometime around 9/1.  The way it works is this:

1.  I will be admitted to the hospital and given treatment for about 3-4 straight days
2.  Once I'm discharged I will be sick for about 6- 10 days with symptoms very similar to a very bad case of the flu(or worse)
3.  My body will then begin to recover from the poison, I mean treatment, and I will feel very close to normal for about a week.  The process will then start over again.

I will do this same routine 6 times, so over an 18 week period I will receive 6 treatments and have an MRI taken after the 2nd, 4th, and 6th treatments.  Hopefully this will show that the tumor has shrunk in my thigh, which also will mean that the any free radicals were also nuked.  Despite getting hit with the realities of my tumor, I came away as positive as ever, because my doctor seemed adamant that her goal was to kill this disease, which is something I can get behind her on.

Sorry tonight's post was very technical and absent of my contrived humor.  I will end it with one funny exchange during the appointment.  So while she is talking about side affects such as possible heart issues and immuno deficiencies, she starts to lead into another dramatic side affect.  At this point I am like what the heck else can be worse than that?  Then she says there is a threat that I could become sterile due to the chemo.  I have to laugh at this point, because the last thing on my mind right now is making babies.  Regardless, we began to discuss the possibility of using a sperm bank to preserve the Oyler "legacy"(bad putting, good facial hair).  Of course all I can think about is Road Trip when that nerdy kid can't donate sperm for money because he had sex within the last 24 hrs (with a girl! if you remember).  So I have to make a phone call to check into the monthly rate at the local fertility clinic tomorrow, and of course plan my donation so that I haven't been with a large black woman, or smoked marijuana within 48 hours prior to donating.*

Thank you all for your support!


*Mom, I don't do either of these, please watch Road Trip again for clarity

23 comments:

  1. Large black woman 48 hours, no...48 days, quiet possible.

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  2. Michael, this entire sperm, sperm bank, getting sperm to the sperm bank scenario? Uh, maybe we shouldn't go there!

    Good luck with that one!

    Uncle Dave

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  3. So in essence, what we have now is a baby blog. And we know how much you love a good baby blog!

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  4. Michael, you HAVE to reproduce. You are too wonderful not to! Plus, you will be the best dad ever. I 100% support this sperm bank decision!

    xo
    Kendall

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  5. When are you going to change the name of the blog to "Is that cancer in your pants or are you just happy to see me" already......

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  6. http://www.evtv1.com/images/RoadTrip1.jpg

    God speed.

    d

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  7. YAY for Dr. Movva! I will pray that her hands work miracles over you Michael! Keep up your tremendously strong spirit!

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  8. Well played Ross. That should be the name of the post when Michael goes to the sperm bank.

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  9. As your father, I commend that you value the importance of maintaining the family name.

    Oylers have been very prominent in history. Your 17th cousin, once removed was Cen. Custers advance scout, your great, great, great uncle was the lookout for the Titanic, and your great, great uncle was the guy at Pearl Harbor that said things were "all clear" on the morning of 12/7/1941.

    So we must keep the Oyler name alive.

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  10. Hahah thank you everyone for your responses.. Yes, Trish this might as well be a baby blog, though I'm afraid that there won't be much to blog about once I freeze my son/daughter.. I don't think there is much activity over at the clinic.

    Thank you Paige, I think she is going to be a great chef that will create just the right recipe to get the treatment started in the right direction.

    Dad, aren't you forgetting that great Oyler who thought it might be a great idea to ground up beef and put it between br!

    Thanks Kendall, I hope you are right ;)

    Tommy/Ross, i honestly struggled with the title, i probably should have gone in that direction...
    Thank you everyone for your support!

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  12. These things are so hard to work! Keep your chin up, buddy. Mark Richt just told me that the Dawgs are dedicating this season to you after he gave a firey when one for Oyler speech. I'm thinking about you up here.

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  13. There are two medically relevant questions that have not been answered yet.

    1. Did Dr. Mowa address the healing power of Abba?

    2. Are Lebron Bombs being used as mainstream chemotherapy yet or is it still considered experimental?

    Love the blog. We are all with you! Steeplechase will be here before you know it!

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  14. Michael, Thank you for inviting me to your blogspot. I applaud your positive attitude and for taking this situation well in hand (not meant as a reference to sperm banking).

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  15. Michael,

    Trying to add a note but having computer glitch. Let me see if I can send this.

    Bette

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  16. Thanks Charlie, you have been such an inspiration, and I can't thank you enough.

    Bette, it worked, welcome!

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  17. omg. her big leopard underwear in that scene. so silky, so disturbing.

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  18. Haha Taylor.. Did you know that scene at the fraternity was filmed at UT in Knoxville?

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  19. Oyler, you are so funny. So funny, in fact, that Tom had to explain a few of your jokes to me. Tom and I have thought about you every day this week, and we have been sending good vibrations your way. The way you are approaching this battle is inspiring. I really enjoyed your dad's comments about the Oyler legacy too - guess that's where your weird humor comes from!

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  20. Oyler,

    So apparently I am not checking my social media enough these days because I had no clue any of this was going on. So proud of you for keeping your wonderful humor through all of this.

    and YES...I'm totally with the sperm bank idea! Your Dad's comment were very convincing :)

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  21. Michael,

    Your mother and I will help with the cost of the sperm bank, but we want "naming rights"!!! Someday there could be a "little Max" or a "little Karen" running around!!!

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  22. Oyler, Chris and I have been thinking about you and know there is no one better to face this thing head on...with optimism and a great sense of humor. Thank you for keeping us updated through your blog...you've already had me laughing throughout! We're all here for you buddy and know you're in our thoughts and prayers! Also please tell me the doctor actually referred to it as the "Oyler Legacy." I can think of no better desecription :) We love ya!

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  23. E. Davis,

    Great to hear from you, thank you so much for posting! I'm so thankful for friends like you to show such great support!

    E. Sims Miles,

    It is great to hear from you! How is semi-retired life treating you? It means so much to have such dear friends like you and Tom. I hate being apart from you both, but I know I will be back sooner than later. Thank you for your support, and I look forward to our next game of butt-face in the late spring!

    Rachel,

    Thank you and Chris so much for your support, it means so much to me. I am glad you are enjoying the blog, I hope it continues to make you laugh.. If that happens then I have done my job! I miss you two, and I look forward to seeing yall as soon as possible!


    Thank you all for the support!!

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