Men -- ages 15-40

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I already posted the following in General Questions, and although the subject is not at all mindless or pointless, I still feel the need to share here (especially the last paragraph):

First, let me state that I am not seeking medical advice. Someone very dear to me was recently diagnosed with testicular cancer and is currently being treated. During the past few weeks, I’ve learned more about it than I had ever dreamed, but I’m interested in hearing from somebody with first- or second-hand experience. I’ve visited – and posted to – numerous cancer message boards, but… Oh, I’m not very eloquent right now! Please feel free to e-mail me privately or post a response here. His prognosis, btw, is excellent, but the treatment sucks so badly!

An important side note: Although it’s very rare, Testicular Cancer is the number one cancer in men ages 15-40. There are thousands of you on this message board who fit that demographic, and I urge you to seek medical attention if you have any suspicious lumps. This website contains a ton of information: http://www.acor.org/diseases/TC/index.html

2

I don’t know much about it, except that a friend went through this a few years ago. His unfortunate experience was that an old family doctor misdiagnosed a lump–told him not to worry about it. It spread into his lymph nodes and he had to undergo very aggressive treatment involving extensive surgery and chemotherapy.

The good news is that he seems to be in pretty good shape now, and he and his wife were even able to have another baby.

3

Cancer? Been there, done that. For me it was Hodgkins Lymphoma, another form of cancer that hits men in that age group. Treatment sucks, you’re right about that, but your friend can get through it. And if the doctors say his prognosis is excellent then you have that going for you.

I’ll be thinking good thoughts about you and your friend.

4

What a good thread.

I used to play in a garage band called The Atomics with a great 22 year old guitarist named Matt. Five years ago, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. It was too late for him, it burned through his body and entered his lungs. He died a few months ago at age 27.

Check yourselves, dammit!

5

My very closest male friend had testicular cancer not once, but twice. Two different types. The first one was totally enclosed in the testicle and he recieved radiation as a precaution. The second time was about 5 years later, had chemo and many tests to check for spreading. This was 15 years ago and he is fine now. Feel free to email me, and I can give you his email address.

6

Chronos: You posted to my locked thread in GQ. (It’s locked cuz I’m an idiot and didn’t give cross-posting a second thought. I learn something new every day.) I’m thrilled to hear that your cousin has recovered! There are so many “good endings” with this disease because the cure rate hovers at 98 or 99%. However, you made an erroneous comment in that thread when you said, “If you’re quick enough to seek treatment, it can usually even be cured without needing to remove one.” From everything I’ve read, that’s not the case, due to the fact that doctors don’t even perform biopsies of a testicle because the biopsy itself will likely cause the cancer to spread and because removing the affected testicle is the first step in treatment. (How’s that for a run-on sentence?) It is highly curable though, [soap box] so I want every male here to check their testicles regularly… um, or have somebody you love (or even just like) do it for you. Information on said exam is in the link I provided in my original post.[/soap box]

cher3: I’m also happy to hear that your friend is now doing well. Because it’s so rare, even some of the best oncologists in the world aren’t “experts” when it comes to its treatment.

Trion: Thanks for the good thoughts. I’ll pass them along, and we’ll think good thoughts for you too. I know he’ll get through everything just fine, but – as you know much too well – the treatment (in his case it’s chemo) is very difficult. Are you now considered “cured”? I hope so. Sometimes the entire world seems to suck, you know?

Sax Face: I’m so sorry. I’ve been trying so hard to remain upbeat that I block out that 1-2% who don’t survive. Again, I’m so sorry. I like your message though; I’m much too soft-spoken to come across as well as you did.

dragonlady: Another success story! Check your mailbox; I’m taking you up on your offer.

7

Wouldn’t you know I had a complete physical just last week. The doctor went off on me, and showed me how to examine myself when I told him that I had never checked.

8

hmmm, I have had a small lump, about the size of a pea, in my left testicle for several years now, and ocassionally feel some pain (not much). About a year ago I went to have it checked and had an echography done. The comment of the guy doing it was that it looked like it might be just a cyst. So, lazy that I am, I never even returned to the doctor … I just assummed “it is just a cyst”.

Anyway, in the last week I have noticed what seem to be tiny amounts of blood in my semen… well, I guess it’s time to go to the doctor again…

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Please, please, please do! Oh, and do let me know that everything is OK.

10

not to be an anal nitpicker, but how can testicular cancer be both very rare and the number one cancer among men 15 to 40?

11

That can be because cancer doesn’t commonly “strike” people in that age bracket; i.e., if you’re a man between the ages of 15 and 40, and you get cancer, you’re most likely going to get testicular cancer.

12

Wait… not “most likely,” but “very likely.” (I’m a bit anal myself.)

13

BTW, sailor, were it just a cyst, it would very likely have disappeared by now. The fact that it hasn’t is cause for worry. One test that the doctor did on me, is he shined a bright flashlight through the lump. Being mostly water, it transmitted a reddish glow; had it been a solid tumor, it would not have. You might try this. On the other hand, blood in the semen sounds to my uneducated ears like a Very Bad Thing. Go see the doctor, and don’t settle for “it might be a cyst”. Be certain.

14

At 10:30 AM on July 14, 1999, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. My doctor said my left testicle had to be removed immediately; at 6:30 PM that same day, I went under the knife.

It all happened so quickly, I had little time to consider the magnitude of what was happening to me. I felt numb, and basically did what I was told. Thanks to wonderful caring support of my friends, I made it through the surgery with flying colors. I was pretty sore for about ten days, but was back at work in two weeks.

I was lucky; my tumor was a variety known as a pure seminoma, one of the most curable forms. I had discovered it early; it was a small, hard lump about the size of a pea on the bottom of my left testicle. It had not breached the testicular membrane, and there was no evidence that it had metastasized outside of the testicle.

Because of this, my doctor opted not to use radiation therapy. Among TC surgery patients, 80% never develop any other tumors, even without radiation. If tumor activity is detected later, TC responds well to radiation therapy, so most doctors do not use radiation unless there is reason to believe that the tumor has already metastasized.

I have regular cancer screenings every six months now, and there has never been any sign of new tumor activity. As my doctor said, “If I had to have cancer, this is the one I would choose”, because it is so treatable. However, if you ignore it, pretend it is something else or just try to wish it away, IT IS A KILLER. Once it metastasizes, it spreads very quickly, invading the abdominal lymph system, the lungs, liver and brain. If you or a loved one notices a hard lump on the testicle, get thee to a physician, stat!!!

Oh yeah, everything still works fine; the Little Terrorist is as active as ever, and Mrs. Fear has no complaints. When I see news stories about cancer survivors, I find myself trying to imagine what it would be like, then I realize that, hey, I am a cancer survivor too! I was very lucky, and I would like to thank Dr. Clarke and everybody at Providence Medical Center.

15

Well, it’s 3am and here I am losing sleep over something that I could not be bothered about for years…

I have been digging around and found the results of the sonogram which say… palpable nodule, 6.3 x 7 mm, appears to be cystic, no internal echoes… cystic and otherwise benign appearing mass…

So chances are it is a cyst. OTOH it does hurt like a feeling of pressure and I wonder what they’d do (take just the cyst out?) I cannot see how I could do the flashlight test because the lump is tiny and (almost) englobed in the rest of the testicle. It is part of the testicle itself, not just inside the scrotum but separate from the testicle.

At the time the doctor and said it was probably a cyst but I should have a biopsy done just to be sure. This sounds fine to me except
http://www.acor.org/diseases/TC/orch.html and healthcentral say a biopsy means they remove the testicle first and do the biopsy later… I am not real keen on this as I have become kind of attached to my equipment over the years…

Or am i misunderstanding it and what it means is that they cut me open, test right there and then and remove whatever is necessary? This makes more sense to me but the meaning seems to be “shoot first, ask questions later”…

Anyway, I’ll make some calls tomorrow and see if I can find a doctor who will promise not to take anything out without asking me first. Even if it is just a cyst I would like to get rid of the discomfort of feeling that pressure-pain. I am just awfully lazy about going to doctors hoping things will 'fix themselves".

I seem to find a lot about testicular cancer online but nothing about plain cysts.

16

Frannie wrote:

Well, the phrase we use is “in remission”. I’ve been in remission now for about two and a half years. You’re generally considered out of the woods after five years, so I still have to get regularly checked. But I had a CAT scan and chest X-rays this past June and everything checked out fine.

17

I found a lump on my testicle the size of a grain of rice about 6 months ago. I made an appointment and visited every cancer site I could find. My HMO is very slow paced and rigid about their little rules. It first had to examined by my primary doc (a woman), then, a week later, ultrasounded by tech and a trainee (both women). Then 2 weeks later, examinied by a specialist.

Turned out to be cyst. Worst month of my life.

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Mr. Cynical: :slight_smile:

Fear Itself: I’ll bet your testimonial will help convince others to have anything suspicious checked out. Thank you. As with any type of cancer, early detection is so important! Thanks for sharing your personal experience; I can only imagine how “private” a topic it must be. Know too that this thread is being read by the “someone who is very dear to me” that I mentioned in my original post. He too was diagnosed with seminoma, and although it has spread, his prognosis remains excellent. I’m glad to hear that you’re doing so well, and that the… um, “Little Terrorist” (gosh, you guys come up with the funniest names) is so happy.

sailor: Oh, yes, it very like is a cyst! I certainly didn’t mean to cause you to lose sleep, but if that’s what it takes to get you to a doctor, then that’s what it takes. (Gosh, I’m quite the philosopher, huh.) And yes, they do remove the testicle when they do a biopsy, but although I’m not an expert (yet), I know there are tests they can do to determine the likelihood of it being cancerous. They don’t go around cutting things off for no good reason (I’m sorry; I must be causing a lot of cringing here). When your doctor said that it seemed to be a cyst and suggested a biopsy, perhaps s/he didn’t understand what a testicular cancer biopsy means. Remember that this is a rare condition, so many doctors don’t have a lot of experience in this area. Get a second opinion. Heck, get a third and fourth! I know that I would. Please post here or e-mail me after you find out, OK? I’ll be thinking good thoughts.

Trion: :slight_smile:

spooje: :slight_smile: I hope sailor read that. (Damn HMO’s, btw!!!)

19

Bump

(cuz it’s important)

(Yeah, I’m shameless.)

20

Frannie: just thought I’d let you know that reading this thread provoked me to examine myself, right here at the computer. And they’re still the perfect little ovoids (well, not that little) that I know and love, but still, you reminded me to examine myself. You’re doing good works! Keep on!