Could you explain yourself a little more? Do you think the side effects we
are having are too hard that the baby won?t be able to handle them? May he
be killed by the chemo side effects?
At this moment, we know there is a small tumor on his left teste, 2 cm. long
more or less, away from the test itself, but inside the escrotus. The
biopsia stated that is germ cell tumor.
He has also the above mentioned small mass on his abdomen, looking benign,
and some spots on the lower part of his lungs.

?.

Just to show you where the pineal gland (mentioned above) is (in the brain)
http://uscneurosurgery.com/glossary/p/pineal%20gland.htm
J

They have done so and found another small tumor there. It looks like this
one is the generator of the others, but they want to wait until they see the
effects of the chemo before going again on surgery.

?.

clacy@cwgsy.net said...

He is beautiful, and he looks so happy!

I'm so sorry he has to go through all this and I'm sorry you have to
watch him suffer.  I'm a mother myself and I know how hard it can be
to have a child in hospital - although my children have never had
anything very serious.

My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family, especially
for little Nicol?s.  And from my own Nicholas (6 yrs) lots of
{{{{{hugs}}}}} for you all.

We feel is the best thing we can do. It comes to my mind this quote, maybe
because the moment we are living: "Hero is not the one that never fells
down, it is the one that always stands up"
Regards,

?.

http://www.rush.edu/rumc/page-P07219.html - I am only posting some of it...read
the rest please.
Germ cells tumors are malignant (cancerous) or non-malignant (benign,
non-cancerous) tumors that are comprised mostly of germ cells. Germ cells are the
cells that develop in the embryo (fetus, or unborn baby) and become the cells
that make up the reproductive system in males and females. These germ cells
follow a midline path through the body after development and descend into the
pelvis as ovarian cells or into the scrotal sac as testicular cells. Most ovarian
tumors and testicular tumors are of germ cell origin. The ovaries and testes are
called gonads.
Tumor sites outside the gonad are called extragonadal sites. The tumors also
occur along the midline path and can be found in the head, chest, abdomen,
pelvis, and sacrococcygeal (lower back) area.

Germ cell tumors are diagnosed in about 900 children each year. Germ cell tumors
account for 16 percent of all cancers diagnosed in adolescents between the ages
of 15 and 19 years old, and nearly 4 percent of cancers diagnosed in children
younger than 15 years old.

Germ cell tumors can spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body. The most
common sites for metastasis are the lungs, liver, lymph nodes, and central
nervous system. Rarely, germ cell tumors can spread to the bone, bone marrow, and
other organs.

What causes germ cell tumors?
The cause of germ cell tumors is not completely understood. A number of inherited
defects have also been associated with an increased risk of developing germ cell
tumors including the central nervous system and genitourinary tract malformations
and major malformations of the lower spine. Specifically, males with
cryptorchidism (failure of the testes to descend into the scrotal sac) have an
increased risk to develop testicular germ cell tumors. Cryptorchidism can occur
alone, however, and is also present in some genetic syndromes.
In addition, cells from testicular germ cell tumors can have structural
chromosome abnormalities involving chromosome #12, which may explain the
uncontrolled cell growth and tumor formation.

Some genetic syndromes caused by extra or missing sex chromosomes can cause
incomplete or abnormal development of the reproductive system.

What are the symptoms of germ cell tumors?
The following are the most common symptoms of germ cell tumors. However, each
child may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms vary depending on the size
and location of the tumor. Symptoms may include:
a tumor, swelling, or mass that can be felt or seen
elevated levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)
elevated levels of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (?-HCG)
constipation, incontinence, and leg weakness can occur if the tumor is in the
sacrum (a segment of the vertebral column that forms the top part of the pelvis)
compressing structures
abnormal shape, or irregularity in, testicular size

What are the different types of germ cells?
Diagnosis of germ cell tumors depends on the types of cells involved. The most
common types of germ cell tumors include:

teratomas
Teratomas contain cells from the three germ layers: ectoderm, mesoderm, and
endoderm. Teratomas can be malignant or benign, depending on the maturity and
other types of cells that may be involved. Teratomas are the most common germ
cell tumor found in the ovaries. Sacrococcygeal (tail bone, or distal end of
spinal column) teratomas are the most common germ cell tumors found in childhood.
Because these sacrococcygeal tumors are often visible from the outside of the
body, diagnosis is made early and treatment and/or surgery are initiated early,
making the prognosis for this type of germ cell tumor very favorable.

germinomas
Germinomas are malignant germ cell tumors. Germinomas are also termed
dysgerminoma when located in the ovaries; and seminoma when located in the
testes. Among children, germinoma, or dysgerminoma, occurs most frequently in the
ovary of a pre-pubescent or adolescent female. Dysgerminoma is the most common
malignant ovarian germ cell tumor seen in children and adolescents.

endodermal sinus tumor or yolk sac tumors
Endodermal sinus tumor or yolk sac tumors are germ cell tumors that are most
often malignant, but may also be benign. These tumors are most commonly found in
the ovary, testes, and sacrococcygeal areas (tail bone, or distal end of spinal
column). When found in the ovaries and testes, they are often very aggressive,
malignant, and can spread rapidly through the lymphatic system and other organs
in the body. Yolk sac tumors are the most common malignant testicular and ovarian
tumors in children. Most yolk sac tumors will require surgery and chemotherapy,
regardless of stage or presence of metastasis, because of the aggressive nature
and recurrence of the disease.

choriocarcinoma
Choriocarcinoma is a very rare, but often malignant germ cell tumor that arises
from the cells in the chorion layer of the placenta (during pregnancy, a
blood-rich structure through which the fetus takes in oxygen, food, and other
substances while getting rid of waste products). These cells may form a tumor in
the placental cells during pregnancy and spread (metastasize) to the infant and
mother. When the tumor develops during pregnancy, it is called gestational
choriocarcinoma. Gestational choriocarcinoma most often occurs in pregnant
females that are 15 to19 years of age. If a non-pregnant young child develops
choriocarcinoma from the chorion cells that originated from the placenta that are
still in the body, the term used is non-gestational choriocarcinoma.

embryonal carcinoma
Embryonal carcinoma cells are malignant cells that are usually mixed with other
types of germ cell tumors. They occur most often in the testes. These types of
cells have the ability to spread to other parts of the body. When these cells are
mixed with an otherwise benign type of tumor (mature teratoma), the presence of
embryonal carcinoma cells will cause it to become malignant (cancerous).
Many germ cell tumors have multiple types of cells involved. The diagnosis,
treatment, and prognosis are based on the most malignant of the cells present and
the majority type of cells that are present.

Thank you very much.

They are doing so. We have had tests and as a result of them, blood and
platelets were given to the baby. They are looking closer at his counts, but
since the baby stays with us at home, we must be very carefull with the
symptoms.

?.

Someday in the distant future, archeologists digging thru the ruins of
alt.support.cancer  will discover that J <DownLoad@example.org> had this
to say on 03 May 2004:

relevant headers:

NNTP-Posting-Host: 10.20.31.4
X-Complaints-To: usenet@teleline.es
X-Trace: telenews.teleline.es 1083077374 10.20.31.4 (Tue, 27 Apr 2004
16:49:34 MET DST)
Organization: Terra Networks

10.20.31.4 is identified as a private IP address.  some spam filters will
assume a forgery on that basis, and fail to forward the post.

One solution is to determine if NNTP-Posting-Host is an optional header
on teleline.es, and not include it.

teleline.es redirects to terra.es. There are no reported current problems
with terra.es as a spam source that I know of, making localized blocking
seem unlikely.