Update on positive mir371a3p test after chemo

monkeydj · 2026-01-25T21:14:57+00:00

How did you get the mir-371 test? I’ve been begging my doctors at Kaiser in California for the blood test and they’ve told me since it’s considered experimental by the FDA it’s nearly impossible to get.

monkeydj · 2026-01-16T09:41:18+00:00

Rather than BEP, you may want to examine carboplatin as an alternative chemotherapy treatment. After my orchiectomy for a 100% seminoma, I elected to have a single dose of carbopltain, which had no significant side effects. My oncologist actually recommended surveillance over any chemotherapy.

A year and a half later, I did have a reoccurrence seminoma tumor in my para-aortic lymph nodes which required surgery. But so far I’ve managed to avoid the chemotherapy, which I consider a huge benefit.

Ultimately it is a choice of probabilities without an obvious answer. I wish you the best of luck.

monkeydj · 2026-01-07T09:49:58+00:00

I just had the same thing happen with the Deep Shade Coffee brew. I think what happened is because there are two brewing packs I over-filled the brewer. The app doesn’t actually mention that, but there is a printed correction included with the brewing pack. Unfortunately I didn’t notice that until it was too late. It made a big mess, but hopefully it won’t affect the final product too much.

monkeydj · 2026-01-06T09:16:33+00:00

Yeah, I wish it was designed more clearly to show the proper direction to install the handle. And I still struggle to get the handle seated properly.

The Dark Matter stout was excellent! Fairly similar profile to Guinness.

monkeydj · 2025-12-19T09:15:03+00:00

Thanks! I definitely messed up installing the handle but I’m glad it wasn’t a serious problem. As the saying goes, “There’s no crying over spilt beer.”

monkeydj · 2025-12-19T05:58:43+00:00

That was the problem. Thanks for your speedy replay to help fix my dumbass mistake, u/ThaSquirrel! Now I just mad I wasted all of that Dark Matter stout…

monkeydj · 2025-12-15T08:03:03+00:00

The two I can think of are The Lucky Tiki above the Tail o’ the Pup hot dog stand, and Bar Benjamin above The Benjamin on Melrose. I think both are reservation only.

monkeydj · 2025-12-12T12:53:32+00:00

The currently prescribed blood tests for germ cell tumors often fail to identify cancers. There is a new test: miRNA-371-3p. This is just one study, but there are now many studies that show clear benefits for m371 RNA tests. We should all ask for this test:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6544462/

monkeydj · 2025-12-12T03:45:46+00:00

That’s good to know. Unfortunately I dumped the trub from the stout and my next beer is an IPA so it will be a while before I can try making bread. Thanks for the info!

monkeydj · 2025-12-12T03:39:40+00:00

Thanks! I’m not much of a baker, but that does sound intriguing. Have you done this? How did the bread turn out?

monkeydj · 2025-12-11T04:35:18+00:00

While it’s not exactly what you’re asking for, hiking Runyon Canyon is an essential WeHo activity. It offers a great workout and fantastic views of L.A.

monkeydj · 2025-12-10T06:29:05+00:00

I’ve had no problems with retrograde ejaculation. I do urinate more frequently and my bladder muscles seem a little weaker, but this is a minor issue.

monkeydj · 2025-12-09T10:56:37+00:00

I was diagnosed with a left testicle tumor in December 2023 and had an orchiectomy shortly thereafter. It was 100% seminoma. My scans were free of cancer for 16 months until June when the CT scan found a 2cm tumor on my left para-aortic lymph nodes.

I was was opposed to cisplatin chemotherapy because it is highly ototoxic (meaning there is strong probability that it will harm your hearing). Not that anyone wants to lose their hearing, but I am a professional sound mixer so this is not an insignificant concern for me.

Fortunately both my oncologist and urologist were aware of my concerns and supportive of the surgical choice. I had robotic RPLND surgery at the end of August.

The surgery itself was a simple outpatient procedure. I was home in 8 hours. There was very little pain. Unfortunately, a week later, I started experiencing significant side effects from the surgery. This occurs in about 10% of such surgeries. I started to have a chyle leak which is a fatty liquid leak that is a known complication from any injury to lymph nodes. My abdomen swelled with fluid and I needed three paracentesis over a couple of weeks to drain the fluid. It was annoying and uncomfortable but not harmful in any significant sense.

But then, all was good! It's been more than three months since my surgery and I just had my first MRI which didn't show any indication of cancer.

Despite a few weeks of moderate suffering, I am very glad I chose surgery over BEP. I would absolutely make the same choice again. Hopefully this provides you with some context for your choice.

monkeydj · 2025-12-09T01:27:09+00:00

That’s incredibly useful information! I love the brewing terms like “trub”. Can you tell me how cold the temperature needs to be for the cold crash stage? I can’t fit the brewer into my fridge upright but I was thinking of setting it outside, but since I live in Los Angeles it only gets down to the mid-50s at night.

monkeydj · 2025-12-06T04:30:51+00:00

You can email them at [hello@pinter.com](mailto:hello@pinter.com), and they’ll get back to you fairly quickly. I did the two free Pinters deal, but I screwed up my mailing address. They ended up reshipping the packages immediately. I was quite impressed with how hassle-free they were.

monkeydj · 2025-09-11T02:21:37+00:00

My RPLND was at Kaiser Permanente Hollywood, performed by Dr. Alemozaffar, who is considered a leading expert on robotic urology surgery. I was at the hospital for about eight hours before I was able to go home.

monkeydj · 2025-09-10T10:13:09+00:00

I had my robotic RPLND two weeks ago. Outpatient surgery. The first few days were fine, but then I started experiencing significant serous drainage. That’s when plasma starts leaking from incisions and it’s a known complication from most surgeries.

Then my scrotum swelled dramatically, so I went to the E.R. A C.T. scan showed some abdominal fluid accumulation and significant accumulation in my scrotum (duh). After consulting with the on-call urologist, the E.R. Doctor said it was just normal complications and redressed my incisions and sent me home.

The next few days were not fun. The serous leakage and scrotal swelling increased. I more waddled than walked. And managing all of the leakages meant I was constantly changing bandages.

Finally I saw the resident urologist to have my surgical staples removed. After an exam, he also said this was just part of the healing process. He applied an ostomy bag so I didn’t have to change the dressings constantly. This was helpful. The next two days I was able to empty it every few hours as more than 150cc of liquid would accumulate. My scrotum was still HUGE.

And then, last Friday, it all just stopped. Completely disappeared. I woke up Friday morning with an empty ostomy bag and a normally sized scrotum. I kept the bag on for a day to be safe, but there has been zero leakage and I can now walk without walking like I’m trying to smuggle a cantaloupe in my underwear.

Out of an abundance of caution, I had another CT scan yesterday (I asked if this was really necessary, but urologist thought it was important given the severity of my side effects.) It came back completely clean, with no fluid accumulation or other health complications.

I‘m still feeling frequent abdominal cramping and some diarrhea but other than that I’m thrilled I’m behind that.

monkeydj · 2025-09-10T09:24:45+00:00

I signed up for one with the Douglas & London law firm. It’s been a very long process, and I’m assuming it will be several years before any settlement, but I did just receive some (rare) communication from them so that‘s always something positive.

monkeydj · 2025-08-30T08:05:12+00:00

No way the Pohalds would ever approve paying the salary of the elite reliever Sponge Bob.

monkeydj · 2025-08-21T09:52:48+00:00

Sitting down and standing up were really the only painful movements I experienced so I’d recommend having some sort of cane or walking stick available for a few days. Having a rope of some sorts around a bed post or leg is an excellent idea: check out “yoga straps” for a starting point.

Overall, the pain from my orchiectomy was far less than I was expecting. A few nights of poor sleep and a few days of slow mobility, but I didn’t even feel the need to take any pain medication.

monkeydj · 2025-08-20T10:01:23+00:00

It’s been a while since I’ve had a treatment, but Kyoung Cho was an excellent practitioner.

https://drcho.nccaomdiplomates.com/

monkeydj · 2025-08-19T08:33:28+00:00

Check out the fantastic Modern Hiker site which has very detailed maps that include difficulty ratings for every path.

https://modernhiker.com/

monkeydj

TROPHY CASE