Anyone else out there with testicular hardeneing?

[Scott]

It's good things are moving quickly. By the time you read this, surgery will be over. When will you have blood test results?

[Karen]

Yup, the faster they get it out the better. You should recover just fine from the surgery. I kept bags of frozen peas for my husband to use as a ice pack. Hang in there Brandon, you'll get through this!

[dadmo]

Brandon:
Have a quick recovery. Please post you pathology information so we can try and help you sort that info out.

[Mom]

Hang in there Brandon. My son's situation was similar to yours. No lumps, just one hard testicle. The tumor was taking over the testicle. It finally cut off the blood supply which caused horrible pain. Thank God you listened to your body. Keep posting. Dianne

[Ras Joe]

Prayers for you and your dog, too. Odd enough, when I got sick this last time one of my dogs got really sick with me-- I am feeling better now and so is he!?

[TEXAS123]

Still no pathology results on the testicle. However, the blood work came back normal for the "3 markers". I am not sure how important/telling this is though, since the doc said not all cancers show up with those markers. Tomorrow I should hear from the doc early to see what the next step is. The dog is off to see a specialist too. We are beginning to think she is having little seizures, but will have to wait until later this week to find out more.
As soon as we have more info on my situation I will post. It all happened so fast.
I am just relieved to have it out.
Thanks again everyone,
Brandon

ps-finally ran the spell check...testicle is not a word I use everyday

[Ras Joe]

"Normal" markers are always a good sign, even if some (teratoma, I think?) do not give them off. It means that none of the cancers that do give blood markers are big enough, growing and doing the nastiness that they do that gives the abnormal bloodwork. Also, I happen to have a dog that has seizures and have some helpful advice-- if they put your dog on anti-seizure meds ask about Potassium Bromide. It has really made a difference, the pheno-barbital that they usually prescribe (and unfortunately Sampson will be on for life) doesn't always do the job and they try upping the dose until they finally go for a combination of both (or possibly just the KBr to start with). You can possibly save yourself some horrible times with the seizures and I am sure that the specialist vet will know all about KBr. Best wishes.

[Karen]

Brandon,
Seminona does not show elevated markers in ~90% of the cases. 10% have elevated bHCG, never AFP. The final patholgy report is key. Heal well and keep us posted when you get the report!

[Bampy1]

Howdy Texas123

Hi, I'm new to this very scarey game,and am in the prediagnosis stage,lump,ab and back pain and a bottle of sulfaoxymeth something or rather. I feel for you
man,I probally can't be as much help as all these great people(who probally type faster than me too) but..... I toohave a pup who mysteriously started having seizures after going to the vet for shots ,to go to the kennel for a weekend. She never had a seizure in her life and let me tell you her first one was like a steven king novel,or exorcist movie.I couldn't bear to see her go through that,the 1st.,
vet overmedicated her , she tested a positive(5 for 5) reading for lyme,which in itself will not cause seizures.The 2nd one(much better) put her on phenol barb and she was always out of it,so he changed it to potassium bromide and voila' shes
mostly herself again,she still has the occassional seizure,which I still have a problem seeing but the potassium bromide gave us back our Beagle Bailey,and
gave her back a quality of life the phenol barb could not.I would still rather be Ill than see her going through this,and you probally feel the same way.We'll most likely be in touch again good luck to you and your buddy.

[TEXAS123]

SEMINOMA....and???

SO I just got the call from the doc...and the verdict is in....seminoma everyone!! So what the heck does this mean? I mean I know it means I have cancer (not a surprise), but are there any good resources to tell me what exactly happened or what this means? Also, they are not done with pathology on righty, so I might just be the lucky recipient of not one...but two or more types of cancer. And it's not even my birthday. the doc decided we should jump on what we have so I am due to get the CT early tomorrow. I will post after they hit me with either those results or the complete pathology report. As for the pup, Shatzie (I somehow mispelled it earlier) is due to go down to a speacialist in Louisiana later this week. It's funny. We have spent more on her medical bills already than we have on mine. Thank God, really, Thank God for insurance. As always, I really appreciate you guys this forum has been a great place to talk. It is great that we are all able to share so freely here. It's a real blessing.
Thanks to all.
-Brandon

[dadmo]

Brandon:
First remember that you may already be cured. Follow this link for more information about your cancer. read everything you can and bring a copy of the list of questions to ask. If it has spread it is still very curable. Stay strong you will beat this thing.

[TEXAS123]

Thanks dadmo. I am checking the link out right now.
-b

[Ras Joe]

For my second time around it was pure seminoma also-- I freaked out b/c they just want to put me on "surveillance" instead of killing any remaining cancer with the radiation, I know it sounds wierd that I actually wanted chemo or radiation but the wait and worry is pretty hard on you to!! Well, I was freaked out as I said until I got an email from Dr. Einhorn (an expert on TC). He had told me that there is a 90% cure rate from the orchiectomy alone with a pure seminoma stage I. He also said it was extremely important that I went to ALL of my follow ups and got the CT scans b/c like Karen said seminomas don't always show in the blood. Sorry, for miss leading you before--Karen was right about the seminoma and the blood markers-- I had it backwards, duh!! And you are right about insurance-- life saver!! Thousands on the dogs and $30 co-pays for me.

[Karen]

Brandon,
Seminoma is very responsive to radiatin and chemo, so you can give it the one-two punch if you ever need to. Because of the radiation responsiveness RPLNDs are not in your future if a pure seminoma. The CT will fill in blanks on the lymph nodes and give the staging. If you have no markers and chose either surveillance or RT it is CRUCIAL that you keep up with follow ups since seminoma is a slow growing bugger and can recurr after 10+ years. Let us know the final path report. I keep copies of all my husband's blood work and scan reports for reference and if we ever move or need another opinion (plus I am neurotic and like to read everythign myself). You may be cured already and you will be fine!!!

[TEXAS123]

Thanks Karen,
I appreciate your advice as far as staying responsible witht the ongoing maintenance and being realistic about the nature of the beast. As soon as we know I will be sure to make a little cancer folder and keep up with all of this stuff. I will let you guys know how tomorrow goes.

thanks,
Brandon