chris' surgery

i am realizing that i'm being more private lately. as in, i'm not sharing as many things with people as i normally do. why the change? dunno. i guess i have my reasons. but regardless of whether this is a temporary or permanent change and regardless of my reasons why, i'm coming out with one of the big things that i've been keeping quiet lately:

three weeks ago chris went to the dr. because he found a hard spot on his testicle. the dr. sent us to get an ultrasound and we were informed that chris has testicular cancer. what?! yes. that is right.

here are some quick facts about testicular cancer:

-cancer of the testis is the most common solid tumor in men aged 15-35.

-testicular cancer usually manifests itself as a painless swelling or a mass in the affected testicle. a man also may experience a dull ache or the heavy feeling in the lower stomach, scrotum, or groin area.

-testicle cancer is the most curable form of cancer but it's still scary stuff. for more info, go to the national cancer institute website.

now fast forward to last thursday: chris went in for surgery and had his testicle removed. now chris is in the company of these uni-testicular men: tom green, comedian

lance armstrong, cyclist and 7-time tour de france winner,

and olympic gold medalist ice skater scott hamilton (no picture, because i couldn't find a good one that wasn't compltely fruity).

the good news? the surgery went immensely well. apparently the tumor had gotten smaller (does that even happen?!) since the time of the ultrasound so that was pretty miraculous. i believe the fasting, prayers, and priesthood blessings showed their power here. he was very sore for a few days but is doing much much better now. in fact, he had the surgery on thursday and was up walking around on friday. wow, what a trooper. he even went to school the monday after! so obviously, he is recovering well. the dr. said that when he took out the tumor that it was very small and the chances that it had spread were very slim. he's getting a CT scan tomorrow just to make sure it hasn't spread anywhere else,but we're very relieved that everything has gone so well thus far.

what's the next step? that's the question we're trying to figure out. radiation? maybe. surveillence? again, maybe. we just have to weigh the pros and cons of each one and figure out what's best for chris. i was very anxious and worried about it before the surgery and even for a while after, but now i feel like everything will be ok.
and although he does have a 3-inch gash on his lower abdomen (see above), and while we're not out of the woods yet, chris and i are both very pleased with how everything is going and think things will be just fine.