Testicular Cancer

[livingwith]

Hey all guys who think it wont happen to them IT CAN. I was having the pain in the left testical and it went on about two weeks. I started feeling the area and yes I felt the lumps on the left side. I went to my Dr. and of course my wife is a nurse there. He beleived it to be cancer but wanted me to get a ultrasound right away. Well the LADY who does it at my wifes office was in that day so as embarased as I was I agreed. That was confirmed to be cancer. I was then sent to a urology clinic where...Read the full article

[Farley]

Hey Tucker,

I was just skimming through this site and saw your post....most likely this message may get to you past your surgery date but maybe it'll help a little. I am 32 now but when I was 21 I discovered a lump in my testicle...sort of self diagnosed that it was cancer as I was coincidentally studying this subject in Physical Therapy School. Anyway had the Orchidectomy and followed up a month later with the Retroperitoneal Lymphnode Disection. To my relief the cancer appeared to not have spread far but since I did not have any initial blood markers no one was sure if it had...so the surgery was to prove this. I was very fortunate as I did not have to undergo any chemo but did have CT-scan monitoring for the next 8 years (starting every month and spaced out as time progressed). From what I remember initially after the lymphnode disection surgery it was not pleasant because I could not cough or laugh and my abdominals were very weak for quite a while.....about 4-6 weeks I was walking around pretty good although still fatigued...I began to ride a bike with my girlfriend while she ran...that helped a lot since I was getting back to doing things again. About 3 months later I was back in the gym...pathetic as it was...I was able to lift weights again. This surgery was very uncomfortable and really slowed my return to physical activity but I view it as nothing compared to the alternative of not knowing of any metastisis or worse. I can say the scar on your abdomin is very large but if your like me the hair grows back enough to camouflage....be very diligent about applying sunblock to the scar (for ever)...as the scar cannot protect you from getting a burn....the scar will turn bright pink whenever you get hot. As far as any longterm sensations or discomforts....you will always feel the tugging or abnormal sensations in your groin depending on how many nerves were cut....and your abdomin may feel quite tight due to scar tissue formation but with routine stretching (gentle at first) starting as early as possible the tightness will minimize. One special point to make is my surgeon took extra care to preserve the nerves leading to the remaining testicle so that I was able to ejaculate normally and it worked as I was successful in having a child (now 4yrs)...if this function is not preserved there are other ways to still conceive a child of your own...but requires some medical assistance.

Good Luck Tucker...keep positive and focus on what is needed to be done versus what sucks in the here and now.