Cancer +3 weeks

This week has been pretty good. I was able to return to school 2 days before the end of classes. I was a great experience. All of the kids we happy to see me. All of their faces renewed my strength.

My gifted class made me some hilarious “get better” movies. Some of these kid’s sense of humor is disturbing. I received hugs from all the staff and many of the students. All in all its was a great return.

Later that night I sat through training with my teachers. It was the last two training sessions of a two year program and I wish our final fair well to emints could have been under different circumstances, but it was still great. After the training session we went to a pub that we hang out at. I didn’t think about cancer once. I had a cocktail, played some shuffle board, and had a great time.

The only draw back of this week has been a minor complication. I developed a hematoma down there. Basically its a big blood clot. Needless to say it gave me quite a bit of discomfort but I had some minor surgery to take care of it.

I will say that I’m have some anxiety about chemo. I have decided go with cisplatinum and etoposide instead of the standard three drug routine of BEP, or bleomycin, etoposide, and platinum. This will force me to take 4 rounds as to opposed to 3. I didn’t want to take the risk with the bleomycin because research has shown that there is risk of lung damage.

Next week is the countdown to chemo or as I joyfully refer to it as chemo college since I’ll earn 120 hours of toxic chemicals. Any college around gives you a bachelors for 120 hours so I’ll earn a bachelors in chemo.

Day After D-Day

Still Icing the Junk! Swelling is a surreal situation. An ice pack and some ibuprofen is a must. Doing OK!!! Chemo’s next.

D-Day

Today is the day! Progress West Hospital is the venue. Dr. Levy is calling the plays. Totally ready! Lets get it on.

Had pastor give a big shout to the man. Big thanks to Kathy, Bill, Mom, Dad, and Lauren for all of their support.

Lets kill some cancer!!!!

Cancer +1 week

The first day was pretty tough to take. I knew something wasn’t right for about a month. I remember having a heavy feeling while I was on a school expedition in Dauphin Island, AL. After I got back I scheduled an appointment with my urologist Dr. Levy. At first he thought it was an infection and gave me some antibiotics and steroids to reduce the swelling. See you in three weeks.

As the days went by the swelling went down but things didn’t feel right. I knew something was wrong when I had to drop out of a race because it was too painful to run in riding shorts. Sucks because the race was within walking distance from my house.

So three weeks passed and I went to see him. At this point I was a little worried and told him that things haven’t changed that much and to check for cancer. He checked and sure enough he felt a tumor. He sent me to get a sonagram. Fortunately enough they were able to schedule me within the hour.

At this point I knew it was cancer. It doesn’t take an MD to figure out that tumors down there are rarely benign. Ultasound tech conducted her scan. As she’s scanning I asked her “how big is it?” She said “Its Pretty Big” Then I said “OK” “What about the tumor?” Anyway, 3.1 cm was the official size of the tumor. It was a fast mover. Three cm in three months. The radiologist called Dr. Levy. He said that he wanted to see me the next morning.

As I was driving home I remember crying and thinking what the fuck! Why is this happening to me and my family? I mean come on. The last two years for the Grossman’s have been rough. I felt like we had the curse of the Kennedy’s.

Two years ago my dad’s diagnosed with kidney cancer.

Kathy and I are told that we’re pretty much infertile.

I broke my foot.

My dad almost gets killed in a car crash.

My brother is leaving for Iraq.

The hardest part was telling Kathy. I called her earlier to give her a heads up. She was scared. I called her again and gave her the news. She asked if I was alright and I started to break down. She asked if I wanted her to come home. I told her that I was going to go for a run to wrap my head around it. She told me that she was coming home.

When I got home I grabbed my dog Kobe and my ipod and rolled out to the wilderness area that I go to run. On the way out there I drove int a daze. When I got there I started out slow and started to think. Wow this is going to change my whole life. Its going to change everything. I am no longer immortal. Not that I thougth I was. As an athlete you often feel that way from time to time. But then I started to think that maybe this is life’s way of saying that its time to change your ways. I started to feel more positive. So positive that I knocked out 5 miles instead of the normal 3. I felt if anyone can beat this its me. Not only am I going to beat this, I’m going to be become an advocate for TC and cancer in general. When I get well I’m going to help other people get well.

When I got home Kathy was there. I walked in and we hugged. At this point I felt good about my chances and fortitude. I told her that we are going to beat this. She knew that I was determined. I though this is going to be easy if the rest of my family took it this way. The first person I called was my dad. My first inclination was to call my mom. After all I was the a momma’s boy. I was the first child. Instead I called my dad because he had been through this before with his cancer.

Right from the get go my dad was nails. He told me not to be afraid, because I had the whole family behind me. He had been through this before and that he would do everything in his power to help me because I had helped him during his car accident. I started to cry. Not from sadness or pity, but sheer gratitude and love.

Next came my mom. She had a few questions, but basically her response was… Looks like its time to rally up the Grossman Support Network again. I love her. She is perhaps the strongest woman that I have ever met. Her strength and love still astounds me to this day.

Lauren was easy because in some ways her and I are alike. She’s not one for getting emotional. She was more of the mind set of “Lets knock this thing out” “Lets move forward and kill this thing” She has a lot of the strength of my mom.

Finally came my brother. I debated on maybe not telling my brother because I felt that he had a lot on his plate. However, my parents felt that I should tell him because he might feel hurt if I didn’t. So I called him up. I said what do Lance Armstrong and Dave Grossman now have in common. He figured it out quick. His response was similar to my sister’s. “Get right son” Thats army lingo for getting everything straight. And thats what I was going to do. “GET RIGHT”

That night I felt at ease. I felt calm and actually had a good night’s sleep. No dreams. Just peace.

Live Hard! Dave vs. TC

On May 8th, 2008  I was diagnosised with stage II testicular cancer. These are the tales in my fight to beat TC.