It hit like a ton of bricks and it wasn’t something that I was prepared for – maybe later in life but not at 32. In one week I went from a normal life to finding out I had testicular cancer and undergoing surgery to remove the infected testicle. There was no time wasted and little preparation for the blow to my psyche.
The week started like any other, I went to work on Monday and something just wasn’t right. As it turns out something was more than just wrong. An ultrasound on Tuesday would indicate cancer had invaded my right testicle and my fears were confirmed. Wednesday brought a meeting with the urologist that would remove the testicle and Thursday was surgery. In less than seven days, my life changed.
You also have to understand that my medical life was so very charmed before all this. I’d never broken a bone, had a cavity, I still have all my wisdom teeth, and I’d never had surgery before. To be honest my worst fear was that I’d wake up with a tube down my throat like on ER and have to deal with that. To my great comfort there was no tube, just a bandage virtually duct taped to my hip and a missing testicle upon my waking in the recovery room. As I walked out of the hospital that day I realized there was a long road ahead.
Before I could begin chemotherapy, I had to bank sperm (in case the drugs left me sterile), undergo breathing tests (since the Bleoymicin can scar your lungs) and have an additional consultation with a radiation oncologist should my condition require radiation as part of treatment. I was lucky since a pure seminoma responds well to chemotherapy and likely would not require radiation.
I had heard the horror stories of chemo, loosing weight, frequent bouts of vomiting, and a generally miserable time. I prepared for all that, but it never came. During the course of my treatment, I never got sick, actually gained weight, and the worst thing that happened was that I perpetually felt tired. It’s a difficult feeling to describe, what chemo feels like that is. I used to say, it feels like I’m hung over and walking through loose sand all the time. But as I read the description it doesn’t make a ton of sense to me either, but that’s the way it felt.
The bottom line is that I made it through and have been fine ever since. My chemo lasted from October to December and between each cycle I had a CAT and PET scan to judge the progress. All along the way we saw the infected lymph nodes get smaller and the disease gradually die.
You might be asking, so how did he get through? What allowed him to cope? I’ll be honest – I gave in to the simple fact that I didn’t cause this. I had no hand in causing my disease; it’s not like lung cancer from smoking of ruining your liver from drinking. Once I came to this realization, my focus shifted to killing the disease and getting it out of my body. While I can’t say that I enjoyed the weekly IV sticks and the daily trips to the cancer treatment center, I didn’t mind them as much. Beyond the mental shift, my family played a tremendous role in my recovery. For the surgery and the chemo my family was by my side and kept me going. While I could have done virtually all of it on my own, it was very helpful to have someone at the house since I really wasn’t working at this time and too much time alone would not have been good.
While this story seems very positive, there are a few aspects of my cancer diagnosis that require some attention. First, I have this feeling that I’m not out of the woods yet. I have kept up with all my follow-up visits and have regular CAT and PET scans, blood work, and physical exams. However, there’s a voice in the back of my head that every now and again whispers to me – beware…And finally, while my surgical scar has healed and I’ve lost the weight I gained during chemo, there are emotional issues that I’ve yet to deal with fully. I think some upfront counseling would have helped, but that didn’t happen and now I’m dealing with it.
Bottom line – testicular cancer is beatable with modern medicine. The thing is if you think there’s a problem, get it checked out. Find a doctor you trust and tell them the facts, while we all hope for the best case, you need to be more prepared for the truth than I was. Should the diagnosis be cancer, understand that it’s not the end of the world and there are places to turn like the American Cancer Society for advice and a friendly person to talk to who has been where you are now.
I live in South Florida and am married to a lovely woman. I have a passion for Swiss Watches and run a online watch store, www.swisswatchdeal.com in addition to my government job.
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