The first visit to the oncologist

I had my first visit with my oncologist today and it went really well...about as well as I could have hoped for. My doctor is really nice, and seems like real no-nonsense, straight-shootin' type of guy, which is good. I still don't have any idea about what stage or where I stand with this disease, but have a bunch of tests scheduled next week and will know more when I go back to Dr. Penley's office a week from today. I do know that one test will involve me drinking some sort of radioactive milkshake and then having fancy machines scan my body, which is pretty cool.

I went ahead and had a sample of bone marrow taken today, which was wholly unpleasant. Basically you have to lie on your stomach while a nurse holds you down and the doctor jabs a huge needle in the the bone just above your ass. My doc is a pretty big guy, and he had to put all of his weight into it, essentially pinning me to the table for like ten minutes, causing supreme discomfort. It hurt a lot, but was more just scary and severely uncomfortable. I did get to pull my pants down and show my butt to a bunch of nurses which I thought was funny.

I was also scheduled today for probably the most surreal thing so far: a visit to the sperm bank. To me that seems even weirder than being diagnosed with cancer for my 27th birthday. Apparently chemo renders some guys infertile, and so I have been advised to put some of my boys on ice just in case before the treatment starts. Because I am still lightyears away from having children of my own (but have always wanted to someday), this whole concept is just making me think of my future-self in such more concrete and practical ways. Very odd.