2012-2018: Background

Nick's story so far...



  • Early December 2012: Nick had been complaining of a sore back since being roughed up in the mosh pit at a concert in July. His pain seems to be getting worse.
  • December 13, 2012: Back pain gets extreme. Nick is taken to emergency and immediate diagnosed with metastatic testicular cancer.
  • Surgery in January 2013 (orchiectomy). Tumour markers fail to normalize.
  • Outpatient chemotherapy (January-March 2013).
  • First relapse (May 2013)
  • June-August 2013: in-hospital chemotherapy.
  • November 2013: The cancer now under control, Nick has an autologous stem cell transplant (21 days in hospital)
  • January 2014: Nick undergoes major surgery to remove  the massive tumour near his kidneys (RPLND). This 10+ hour procedure involved the removal of the tumour and various lymph nodes, and also the transplantation of one kidney from one side of his body to the other - reminiscent of how the eye of a juvenile flounder migrates from one side of the fish's head to the other upon maturation.
  • September 2014: Second relapse revealed by routine surveillance. Cancer in superclavicular lymph nodes.
  • December 2014: Surgical removal of these lymph nodes. CT scan reveals minor cancerous spread to lungs.
  • February-April 2015: In hospital chemotherapy.
  • September 2015: Bloodwork reveals third relapse, but nothing shows up on imaging. We wait.
  • January 2016: CT and PET scans show on diseased lymph node in chest.
  • February 2016: Lymph node is removed. Tumour markers normalize. No chemotherapy is indicated.
  • October 2017: fourth relapse revealed by surveillance appoint in Kelowna, where Nick had been living with his girlfriend Alex. Tumour located near sternum.
  • December 2017: Surgical removal of tumour. A relatively innocuous procedure, performed laparoscopically.However, tumor margins test positive for disease.
  • January-February 2018: Radiation treatments (24 of them).
  • February 2018: Nick complains of increasingly bad cough. Imaging reveals heavy spread of disease into lungs. Nick has lost 25 pounds within 4 weeks.
  • February 26th, 2018: Nick is admitted to hospital, stabilized, started on chemotherapy. He reacts anaphylactically to first chemo drug. This drug is discontinued, but the other two drugs in the cocktail are given the green light.
  • February  27th, 2018: Chemotherapy begins.

Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing this news. Few are as well equipped mentally and physically as Nick. Thankfully, we are living at a time when cancer is better understood and new therapies are now available when treatment response misses the mark. Finally, fortune favors the young for medical resources. I'm glad to hear Alex is in the picture as Good Vibes can never be too few.

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