The search is on!

We began looking for a Urologist right away. Finding "the right" doctor in such a huge area and under so much stress was the hardest part. How do you know where to start? I didn't know any Urologists personally, and any connections my parents had were back in Colorado. I started by talking to the only person I could think of- my Gynecologist! Yep, my OBGYN gave me a few different names and I began doing my research. There are very few websites out there who give you a doctor's history for free. You can pay for specialized reports but I wasn't willing to do that so I went to California's medical board website (http://www.medbd.ca.gov/) and checked out when and where these doctors graduated, whether or not they had ever been suspended for questionable practices, whether or not they had any special area of expertise etc. This website was not great but it gave me more then I had before!
Casey called me the next day and told me that everyone he had called was booked until the middle of October (obviously WAY too far away!) but he was able to get an appointment with a female urologist for a few days from now. He gave me her name and I went to my buddy, Google. 10 minutes later I called Casey back and said "not to be pushy, and I'm not trying to step on your toes but I don't think you should see this lady." "Why?" he asks. "Well, from what her FACEBOOK page says, she just passed her boards 3 weeks ago and this is her first month dealing with patients." Now, I am all for giving everyone a chance and I know we all have to start somewhere but this was not the time. We wanted Casey to see someone with more then 3 weeks of experience under his belt, and with more then a month of patient contact. Yikes. Casey agreed and I was able to get him an appointment with a highly recommended Urologist in the area. We had to wait a few (agonizing) days but finally, Monday morning rolled around. My parents and little brother all flew out from Colorado to be with Casey for the coming week.
We all walked into the appointment and the receptionist looked at us like, are you serious? Myself and my daughter, my parents, my little brother, and Casey's friend Amy all crowded into the tiny waiting area. Casey went back first to speak with the doctor and then they brought my parents back. I can honestly say that I have never been so close to heaving my breakfast all over as I was for those 20 minutes. 20 minutes felt like hours and every time the door would open our heads would whip around, hoping it was some kind of news. Then it finally was. Casey followed my parents out, we stepped out of the waiting area and into the elevator bay- my dad started crying. My dad NEVER cries, so I knew it was bad. "It's cancer. They are removing the testicle tomorrow morning. Doc thinks Casey's lymph nodes look normal (from the CT scan taken earlier) but we can't really be sure of anything else until we get the testicle out." Casey was stoic. Very quiet and that scared me. My little brother was very emotional. Casey is his hero and the thought of any of this being a reality was a lot for him to shoulder. We went to a cafe and just kind of sat there. We were all in shock and a bit numb, but we had to discuss what would happen in the following days. I felt so hopelessly helpless. I would've done anything to make this all just go away, and little did I know at the time, this was just the beginning!