Jared's Cancer Saga
Donation protected
In October 2016, my brother Jared was diagnosed with stage 2 testicular cancer. Fortunately, testicular cancer responds very well to chemotherapy treatments and the cure rates are very high. However, in the words of his doctor, "it's going to be a battle" to get through this. Jared has already had surgery to remove a cancerous mass, and will undergo four rounds of chemotherapy, with potentially another surgery after the chemotherapy is complete.
I started this page as a way to keep in touch with family and friends about Jared's condition. I've included a Timeline and Updates section below so people can stay informed about Jared's condition and what goes into battling testicular cancer. Through the myriad of doctor's appointments, laboratory tests, invasive surgeries, and overnight stays in the hospital for chemotherapy, Jared has stayed positive and lighthearted.
Another reason I started this page was to help Jared financially. Due to his condition, Jared has not been able to work as a carpenter. I'm hoping to prevent additional stress in his life by helping him cover (at least some of) his financial obligations over the next six to ten months. This way, Jared can focus on getting better. Any money received would go towards medical expenses not covered by insurance, as well as personal monthly expenses, including rent, electricity, cell phone, groceries, and car expenses.
There a few ways people can help:
1) Computer work
Jared has expressed interest in earning money by doing computer work from home, such as data entry, online research, transcription, etc. If you would be interested in hiring Jared for these types of tasks (or other computer-related tasks), please email me on this site.
2) Light-duty, indoor carpentry work
Jared would also like to keep doing carpentry work while he is recovering, ideally doing indoor, light-duty carpentry work with our father. If you have a potential project, also email me on this site.
3) Donations
If you don't have any work for Jared but would still like to contribute, donations of any size are always appreciated!
4) Write Jared a letter
When times are hard, it's always nice to know people are out there supporting you. Words of encouragement are crucial during these times and I know Jared is so grateful for those who have already reached out to him. Feel free to leave him a message on this site!
Jared, myself, and the rest of our family are incredibly appreciative of the support Jared has received so far and have been blown away by the outpour of support. We also thank you in advance for any help you can provide!
Thank you thank you thank you thank you,
Lauren Zielinski
Timeline and Updates
10/11/2016 - Jared checked himself in at an urgent care center, where he found out he had a large mass in one of his testicles.
10/14/2016 - Appointment with urology department at Concord Hospital to begin planning treatment of the testicular mass.
10/18/2016 - CT scans of abdomen and chest were performed to see if the mass was cancer and if it had spread to other parts of his body.
10/19/2016 - Surgery to remove the testicular mass.
10/26/2016 - Follow up meeting with the surgeon, where we found out Jared had a classic type testicular seminoma, a type of testicular cancer that produced the mass in his testicle as well as large tumors on his lymph nodes in his lower abdomen. Based on the results of his CT scans, there was also concern that the cancer may have spread to his lungs due to unidentified shadows on his lungs. Due to the large size of one of the tumors on his lymph nodes, a second surgery after chemotherapy may be required to remove the remaining mass.
11/03/2016 - Meeting with NH Oncology to discuss cancer treatments. The oncologist (cancer specialist) said Jared would require four rounds of chemotherapy to treat the tumors on his lymph nodes and prevent any additional spreading of the cancer. Additional tests were scheduled to see if the shadows in his lungs were tumors or a lung infection. An MRI of his brain was also scheduled to see if the cancer had spread to his brain due to frequent headaches.
11/10/2016 - Meeting with the pulmonologist (lung specialist) to investigate lung issues. Jared received medication for his long-standing asthma and the pulmonologist scheduled a bronchoscopy to investigate the shadows in his lungs.
11/11/2016 - MRI of Jared's brain. Results indicate that there are no tumors in his brain.
11/15/2016 - Bronchoscopy, where they navigated a tube with a camera to see the surface of his lungs and to take a swab for a potential lung infection. Results confirm that there were no tumors in his lungs, but that he had common pneumonia, which needed to be treated using antibiotics before chemotherapy could begin.
11/18/2016 - Jared begins with a new primary care physician.
11/25/2016 - Discussed fertility options for the future.
11/28/2016 to 12/03/2016 - First round of inpatient chemotherapy at Concord Hospital. Treatment consisted of five consecutive days of IV infusions, including Etoposide (chemotherapy drug), CISplatin (chemotherapy drug), steroids, nausea medication, Pepcid, and hydration packs. Possibly due to his recent pneumonia, Jared had a hyper-allergic reaction to the Etoposide, which required additional steroids to keep his allergic reaction manageable in subsequent treatments. There were no major issues the rest of the week. Jared finished treatments on Friday, but stayed until Saturday morning for observation. He was discharged Saturday morning by his oncologist, who was optimistic about the improvements in his lungs and his general condition after a week of treatment.
12/08/2016 - Jared went in for his first lab tests after chemotherapy. His hemoglobin levels were low and his white blood cell count was also low, but normal for post-chemotherapy.
12/10/2016 - Jared cut his hair!! The physical manifestation of his rockstar persona now sits inside of a plastic bag.
12/14/2016 - Jared went in for his second lab tests after chemotherapy. His white blood cell count was extra low (lower than typical for post-chemotherapy), which causes him to be tired and extra susceptible to infections. He also addressed a persisting cough, which required a chest x-ray and a phlegm culture.
12/16/2016 - Based on the phlegm culture, Jared had bacteria typical of pre-pneumonia, as well as Bordetella, the bacteria that causes kennel cough (yes, Jared has kennel cough). This might have come from his adorable rabbit Buttons, but how can you blame this guy?
He was prescribed another week of antibiotics, which pushed his second round of chemotherapy back a week.
12/27/2016 - No more kennel cough! Jared's lab test came back negative for bacteria in his lungs and his blood levels came back great. So he's all cleared to begin his second round of chemotherapy.
12/28/2016 - Jared checked into Concord Hospital for his second round of chemotherapy. So far, he's had no allergic reactions to the drugs and his energy level is very high. (A little too high if you ask me...sit down already!) The pulmonologist checked out Jared's lungs and said they sounded great and is very happy with Jared's progress.
A cool side note: Concord Hosptial has a lot of really cool integrative medicine options, such as aromatherapy, reiki, acupuncture, and putting up art in each hospital room. So far, Jared has been reikied twice and said, "my face melted off" (which I think means he liked it) and chose some really nice art to be added to his room. He also uses the aromatherapy canisters often (as do I, they smell soooo nice). Maybe acupuncture is next!
01/01/017 - The nursing staff helped us ring in the New Year with Jared! He was only awake for about 20 minutes, but at least we got some nice photos out of it!
01/02/2017 - Jared's second round of chemotherapy went very well, and he checked out with happy doctors and happy nurses! They gave him smaller doses of his steroids, so he spent more time resting and sleeping than last time (which is probably a good thing, both for his recovery and my sanity). However, all the sleeping must have helped because he left feeling great and in great spirits!
01/04/2017 - First lab results after the second round of chemotherapy. His white blood cell counts were normal, but due to a few days of nausea and lots of sleeping, he was a bit dehydrated. They gave him an IV bag of saline and he was back to his old self again (AKA wouldn't sit still and made me go on errands with him constantly).
01/09/2017 - Jared took a field trip down to Catholic Medical Center in Manchester to get CT scans to see how the tumors are reacting to the chemotherapy so far. We'll keep our fingers crossed for positive results...
01/11/2017 - Jared had his labs and a check-in with his oncologist. His blood levels were "great" according to his doctor, meaning his levels of iron, white blood cells, hemoglobin are where they should be (or at least not low or at a level of concern). The doctor didn't have the final comparison of the CT scans, but preliminary results were that his tumors are shrinking!! Yay!! Also, the oncologist was VERY excited about how Jared's lungs are doing (gold star for Jared!).
In other news, Buttons the rabbit is adjusting nicely to his new home in my house. And he's currently being treated for his kennel cough, which means he'll get to go back home to Jared's at some point in the future. Yay Buttons!
01/18/2017 - Jared's lab showed that his white blood cell levels were very low, which means that he cannot start his third round of chemotherapy this week. So we'll wait another week to see if his levels rebound. His oncologist said that his other levels look good, and that some people recover from chemotherapy at different rates than others. Here's to next week!
02/25/2017 - Wow! Time flies! Since our last update, Jared successfully completed his third round of chemotherapy with no complications. After being released, Jared has been staying at home recovering (AKA playing video games) and is feeling much better. The first three days after he got home, he dealt with some severe nausea, which eventually subsided. However, for the last 10 days before his fourth round of chemo, Jared didn't feel the need to take his anti-nausea medications at all! Which we think is a good sign.
Similar to round three, round four of chemotherapy was put off for a week due to his low levels. But we are now in the hospital for his LAST round of chemotherapy, which we are all very excited about.
On Monday, Jared goes in for his third round of x-rays and CT scans to see how the tumors responded to the full chemotherapy treatment and if surgery is required to remove any larger tumors that are still intact. Let's keep our fingers crossed for no surgery!
3/20/2017 - Time keeps on flying!! Since we last spoke, Jared completed his fourth and final round of chemotherapy. Everything went really well, and he even got a certificate of completion from his nurses!
Due to some strange miscoordination that worked out in our favor, Jared got his first set of scans the day after he left chemotherapy. And the results???
:: drum roll please ::
Jared's tumors are either gone or are so small, they aren't of concern!!! Yay!!! They did find a small node in his chest, which wasn't diagnosed before. But his pulmonologist looked at his scans and said nodes of that size often disappear a few weeks or months after the last round of chemo, and that she's not concerned about it at this moment. So basically, he got the "all clear" from his oncologist, his urologist, and his pulmonologist to become a normal human again (well, "normal" for him).
He'll need to get scans every two months for the next year, and then less and less often over the next five years to keep an eye on everything to see if any tumors reappear. But, once his immune system has recovered from the last round of chemo, he'll be able to start going outside, be around groups of people (and animals), and start working again. Basically, he can leave his house for other reasons than just for doctors appointments. The doctors did say it may take a few more months to get his full energy levels back, but this is a good start. And Buttons can return home!
Again, we would like to thank EVERYBODY for their amazing support and generosity. While hopefully we're reaching the end of the "dramatic" part of this saga, it's still going to be a big part of our lives for the next five years. So here's to five years of health and happiness for Jared. Cheers!
04/02/2017 - During his most recent lab work, all of his blood levels were back to normal except his red blood cell count (which is typical for chemo patients and will return to normal in a few months). But Jared is regaining his energy and spice for life, along with his hair! Well, his mustache more so than his hair, but still counts. He is getting back to working part-time and even went to a concert! Rock n roll, dude! His next round of scans will be at the end of May, so we'll post another update after those happen.
Again, a huge thank you to everyone for your continued support and encouragement! It really was a life saver and big personal relief to have the funds and emotional support over the past 6 months, and hopefully things are beginning to be "normal" again.
I started this page as a way to keep in touch with family and friends about Jared's condition. I've included a Timeline and Updates section below so people can stay informed about Jared's condition and what goes into battling testicular cancer. Through the myriad of doctor's appointments, laboratory tests, invasive surgeries, and overnight stays in the hospital for chemotherapy, Jared has stayed positive and lighthearted.
Another reason I started this page was to help Jared financially. Due to his condition, Jared has not been able to work as a carpenter. I'm hoping to prevent additional stress in his life by helping him cover (at least some of) his financial obligations over the next six to ten months. This way, Jared can focus on getting better. Any money received would go towards medical expenses not covered by insurance, as well as personal monthly expenses, including rent, electricity, cell phone, groceries, and car expenses.
There a few ways people can help:
1) Computer work
Jared has expressed interest in earning money by doing computer work from home, such as data entry, online research, transcription, etc. If you would be interested in hiring Jared for these types of tasks (or other computer-related tasks), please email me on this site.
2) Light-duty, indoor carpentry work
Jared would also like to keep doing carpentry work while he is recovering, ideally doing indoor, light-duty carpentry work with our father. If you have a potential project, also email me on this site.
3) Donations
If you don't have any work for Jared but would still like to contribute, donations of any size are always appreciated!
4) Write Jared a letter
When times are hard, it's always nice to know people are out there supporting you. Words of encouragement are crucial during these times and I know Jared is so grateful for those who have already reached out to him. Feel free to leave him a message on this site!
Jared, myself, and the rest of our family are incredibly appreciative of the support Jared has received so far and have been blown away by the outpour of support. We also thank you in advance for any help you can provide!
Thank you thank you thank you thank you,
Lauren Zielinski
Timeline and Updates
10/11/2016 - Jared checked himself in at an urgent care center, where he found out he had a large mass in one of his testicles.
10/14/2016 - Appointment with urology department at Concord Hospital to begin planning treatment of the testicular mass.
10/18/2016 - CT scans of abdomen and chest were performed to see if the mass was cancer and if it had spread to other parts of his body.
10/19/2016 - Surgery to remove the testicular mass.
10/26/2016 - Follow up meeting with the surgeon, where we found out Jared had a classic type testicular seminoma, a type of testicular cancer that produced the mass in his testicle as well as large tumors on his lymph nodes in his lower abdomen. Based on the results of his CT scans, there was also concern that the cancer may have spread to his lungs due to unidentified shadows on his lungs. Due to the large size of one of the tumors on his lymph nodes, a second surgery after chemotherapy may be required to remove the remaining mass.
11/03/2016 - Meeting with NH Oncology to discuss cancer treatments. The oncologist (cancer specialist) said Jared would require four rounds of chemotherapy to treat the tumors on his lymph nodes and prevent any additional spreading of the cancer. Additional tests were scheduled to see if the shadows in his lungs were tumors or a lung infection. An MRI of his brain was also scheduled to see if the cancer had spread to his brain due to frequent headaches.
11/10/2016 - Meeting with the pulmonologist (lung specialist) to investigate lung issues. Jared received medication for his long-standing asthma and the pulmonologist scheduled a bronchoscopy to investigate the shadows in his lungs.
11/11/2016 - MRI of Jared's brain. Results indicate that there are no tumors in his brain.
11/15/2016 - Bronchoscopy, where they navigated a tube with a camera to see the surface of his lungs and to take a swab for a potential lung infection. Results confirm that there were no tumors in his lungs, but that he had common pneumonia, which needed to be treated using antibiotics before chemotherapy could begin.
11/18/2016 - Jared begins with a new primary care physician.
11/25/2016 - Discussed fertility options for the future.
11/28/2016 to 12/03/2016 - First round of inpatient chemotherapy at Concord Hospital. Treatment consisted of five consecutive days of IV infusions, including Etoposide (chemotherapy drug), CISplatin (chemotherapy drug), steroids, nausea medication, Pepcid, and hydration packs. Possibly due to his recent pneumonia, Jared had a hyper-allergic reaction to the Etoposide, which required additional steroids to keep his allergic reaction manageable in subsequent treatments. There were no major issues the rest of the week. Jared finished treatments on Friday, but stayed until Saturday morning for observation. He was discharged Saturday morning by his oncologist, who was optimistic about the improvements in his lungs and his general condition after a week of treatment.
12/08/2016 - Jared went in for his first lab tests after chemotherapy. His hemoglobin levels were low and his white blood cell count was also low, but normal for post-chemotherapy.
12/10/2016 - Jared cut his hair!! The physical manifestation of his rockstar persona now sits inside of a plastic bag.
12/14/2016 - Jared went in for his second lab tests after chemotherapy. His white blood cell count was extra low (lower than typical for post-chemotherapy), which causes him to be tired and extra susceptible to infections. He also addressed a persisting cough, which required a chest x-ray and a phlegm culture.
12/16/2016 - Based on the phlegm culture, Jared had bacteria typical of pre-pneumonia, as well as Bordetella, the bacteria that causes kennel cough (yes, Jared has kennel cough). This might have come from his adorable rabbit Buttons, but how can you blame this guy?
He was prescribed another week of antibiotics, which pushed his second round of chemotherapy back a week.
12/27/2016 - No more kennel cough! Jared's lab test came back negative for bacteria in his lungs and his blood levels came back great. So he's all cleared to begin his second round of chemotherapy.
12/28/2016 - Jared checked into Concord Hospital for his second round of chemotherapy. So far, he's had no allergic reactions to the drugs and his energy level is very high. (A little too high if you ask me...sit down already!) The pulmonologist checked out Jared's lungs and said they sounded great and is very happy with Jared's progress.
A cool side note: Concord Hosptial has a lot of really cool integrative medicine options, such as aromatherapy, reiki, acupuncture, and putting up art in each hospital room. So far, Jared has been reikied twice and said, "my face melted off" (which I think means he liked it) and chose some really nice art to be added to his room. He also uses the aromatherapy canisters often (as do I, they smell soooo nice). Maybe acupuncture is next!
01/01/017 - The nursing staff helped us ring in the New Year with Jared! He was only awake for about 20 minutes, but at least we got some nice photos out of it!
01/02/2017 - Jared's second round of chemotherapy went very well, and he checked out with happy doctors and happy nurses! They gave him smaller doses of his steroids, so he spent more time resting and sleeping than last time (which is probably a good thing, both for his recovery and my sanity). However, all the sleeping must have helped because he left feeling great and in great spirits!
01/04/2017 - First lab results after the second round of chemotherapy. His white blood cell counts were normal, but due to a few days of nausea and lots of sleeping, he was a bit dehydrated. They gave him an IV bag of saline and he was back to his old self again (AKA wouldn't sit still and made me go on errands with him constantly).
01/09/2017 - Jared took a field trip down to Catholic Medical Center in Manchester to get CT scans to see how the tumors are reacting to the chemotherapy so far. We'll keep our fingers crossed for positive results...
01/11/2017 - Jared had his labs and a check-in with his oncologist. His blood levels were "great" according to his doctor, meaning his levels of iron, white blood cells, hemoglobin are where they should be (or at least not low or at a level of concern). The doctor didn't have the final comparison of the CT scans, but preliminary results were that his tumors are shrinking!! Yay!! Also, the oncologist was VERY excited about how Jared's lungs are doing (gold star for Jared!).
In other news, Buttons the rabbit is adjusting nicely to his new home in my house. And he's currently being treated for his kennel cough, which means he'll get to go back home to Jared's at some point in the future. Yay Buttons!
01/18/2017 - Jared's lab showed that his white blood cell levels were very low, which means that he cannot start his third round of chemotherapy this week. So we'll wait another week to see if his levels rebound. His oncologist said that his other levels look good, and that some people recover from chemotherapy at different rates than others. Here's to next week!
02/25/2017 - Wow! Time flies! Since our last update, Jared successfully completed his third round of chemotherapy with no complications. After being released, Jared has been staying at home recovering (AKA playing video games) and is feeling much better. The first three days after he got home, he dealt with some severe nausea, which eventually subsided. However, for the last 10 days before his fourth round of chemo, Jared didn't feel the need to take his anti-nausea medications at all! Which we think is a good sign.
Similar to round three, round four of chemotherapy was put off for a week due to his low levels. But we are now in the hospital for his LAST round of chemotherapy, which we are all very excited about.
On Monday, Jared goes in for his third round of x-rays and CT scans to see how the tumors responded to the full chemotherapy treatment and if surgery is required to remove any larger tumors that are still intact. Let's keep our fingers crossed for no surgery!
3/20/2017 - Time keeps on flying!! Since we last spoke, Jared completed his fourth and final round of chemotherapy. Everything went really well, and he even got a certificate of completion from his nurses!
Due to some strange miscoordination that worked out in our favor, Jared got his first set of scans the day after he left chemotherapy. And the results???
:: drum roll please ::
Jared's tumors are either gone or are so small, they aren't of concern!!! Yay!!! They did find a small node in his chest, which wasn't diagnosed before. But his pulmonologist looked at his scans and said nodes of that size often disappear a few weeks or months after the last round of chemo, and that she's not concerned about it at this moment. So basically, he got the "all clear" from his oncologist, his urologist, and his pulmonologist to become a normal human again (well, "normal" for him).
He'll need to get scans every two months for the next year, and then less and less often over the next five years to keep an eye on everything to see if any tumors reappear. But, once his immune system has recovered from the last round of chemo, he'll be able to start going outside, be around groups of people (and animals), and start working again. Basically, he can leave his house for other reasons than just for doctors appointments. The doctors did say it may take a few more months to get his full energy levels back, but this is a good start. And Buttons can return home!
Again, we would like to thank EVERYBODY for their amazing support and generosity. While hopefully we're reaching the end of the "dramatic" part of this saga, it's still going to be a big part of our lives for the next five years. So here's to five years of health and happiness for Jared. Cheers!
04/02/2017 - During his most recent lab work, all of his blood levels were back to normal except his red blood cell count (which is typical for chemo patients and will return to normal in a few months). But Jared is regaining his energy and spice for life, along with his hair! Well, his mustache more so than his hair, but still counts. He is getting back to working part-time and even went to a concert! Rock n roll, dude! His next round of scans will be at the end of May, so we'll post another update after those happen.
Again, a huge thank you to everyone for your continued support and encouragement! It really was a life saver and big personal relief to have the funds and emotional support over the past 6 months, and hopefully things are beginning to be "normal" again.
Organizer and beneficiary
Lauren Zielinski
Organizer
Concord, NH
Jared Zielinski
Beneficiary
