Help, worried for the holidays

[Jimmy Z]

Hi Guys,
I'm really hoping to get some feedback from the group. I'm not trusting the Kaiser doctors at the moment. In a nutshell (no pun intended), I've suffered through the following chain of events in the last 6 weeks - Vasectomy, Hydrocele diagnosis, surgery to remove hydrocele, new finding during surgery, massive amounts of pain. Below are the details. Please let me know your honest thoughts. Could I have testicular cancer??

I had the vasectomy on Friday the 13th last month...that was the first mistake. About 5 days later I noticed major swelling on the right testicle. Swelled to about 4 times it's size, felt like a big egg in the sac. About a week and half later the doctor confirmed the condition as a Hydrocele (light test and ultrasound) which is extra fluid in the sac that surrounds the testicle. Prescription: Wait 3 months and see if it goes away. If it becomes too uncomfortable, come back for surgery. I waited a few more weeks, and decided it was far too uncomfortable (easily irrated, always sore). Note: A hydrocele is supposed to be painless. I went for second opinion and the new doc confirmed the diagnosis. We scheduled surgery for last Friday.

I went in for what was supposed to be a 30 minute procedure where they planned to make a small cut in the sac to drain the fluid before stitching me back up. The 30 minute procedure took 2 hours and I woke up in a ridiculous amount of pain...yelling for pain killers. I was so drowsy from the pain killers that I had trouble breathing and had to receive oxygen. After finally coming around a bit mentally, my wife asks me if I remember talking to the doctor after surgery....of course I say no. I had no clue I had talked to him. She then breaks me the bad news...

The condition was NOT a Hydrocele. When they cut me open, they found blood and VERY inflamed hardened tissue surrounding the testicle. The decided to cut me WIDE open, in the shape of an L, all the way across the sac. The doc cut the tissue around the testicle and somehow turned it inside out. He then installed a little tube/drain to allow the blood and any fluids to leak out. End result: About 10 stitches on my L shape cut, plus a special stitch on the drain side.

This last Monday I got the tube removed. I 've been told to give it 4 weeks and to deal with any residual pain and inflammation. The doctor assures me it will improve. So basically, wait and see.

My concern - The pain associated with this, one week after surgery, is incredible. When I am standing, it is at an 8 or higher on a scale of 1-10. This is constant. Forget about walking anywhere. When I sit, depending on the position, it is always at around a 3-4 minimum. I get relief only when I lay down or elevate my legs. When I touch the area that used to resemble a large testicle (4 times the size), I can still feel the hardened tissue there. Very hard, under the skin, partially surrounding the right testicle.

Anyway, I'm looking for your opinions. I'm afraid that this may be TC based on what I've read recently. But if so, wouldn't the doctor have noticed when he had me cut wide open? Or is it something easy to miss even under those circumstances?

What do you think??

Worried in California...JZ

[Scott]

If the doctor had found a tumor, I'm sure he would have removed the testicle.

[dadmo]

Jimmy:
I wouldn't worry about tc. The doctors wouldn't miss tc during a visual examination. Take a look at this site and you will see why. I wish I had some explanation for your problem but I'm stumped on this one, sorry.

[Russell's Mom]

2nd opinion

Hello from another Kaiser member,
My son has advanced metastatic disease after 5 care providers missed the diagnosis. Kaiser!! You are entitiled to a 2nd opinion, in or out of Kaiser. They won't want to work with you very much $$, call the patient satisfaction group. They should be able to tell you how to go about it. I understand Kaiser should pay, even if it is an outside source. Where in California are you? There are some very good doctors within the system, if you know someone who knows someone. Russell's mom, Sharon

[Jimmy Z]

Thank you for the replies

Thanks for the replies. I will be seeking another opinion if the pain continues much longer. I have to keep reminding myself that it's only been a week since the last surgery. It's just unlike any pain I've experienced and I can't believe this is "normal" at this point. My mid next week, I will be going back in O'm sure.

Sharon - I am in Riverside County. I will be looking outside the network. My office is also changing to Blue Cross at the first of the year. PERFECT TIMING.

Dadmo - I'm stumped as well. Normally I can find anything if given enough time in front of the PC. I can't seem to locate a similar occurence or name for what I've experienced. I've started to call it "My Series of Unfortunate Events". My sense of humor is fading however. It's one of those things where I really feel like the doctors are missing something here, ever since the Hydrocele diagnosis. They seem too quick to diagnose and I feel as though they are not hearing me, such as the amount of pain I was in with the Hydrocele which is supposed to be painless. Waking up to find yourself in 10 times the pain after a surgery that took 4 times longer than expected is frightening. I'm convinced there's more bad news to come. Not sure what the next few weeks hold, but I will be certain to update the group here. If nothing else, it may provide a reference for someone else in the future who experiences a similar 'series of unfortunate events'

Thanks again.

Happy Holidays.

JZ

[kfo9494]

Jimmy

Jimmy, I am sure what the other people told you is correct. The dr would have noticed something during the vascetomy.
However- this may have nothing to do with my TC but I have always had this nagging feeling that it has someway effect my testical.
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I got a vascetomy in 94. And after the procedure, I always had this sore spot on my left testical. It was really nothing but if I rubbed a certain area I would feel some small pain. I went back to the DR but he said it was due to the procedure and I thought nothing about it.
Over the years, from time to time, I had a small pain in that testical. But did nothing about it.
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In 2005 that same testical was the one that was removed when TC invaded.
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I am not saying that the vasectomy was the reason for the TC but I feel like I let some pain in my testical go because I always felt it was nothing. Please keep up with any changes in your testical and let me suggest a different dr if you get the same response each time when you know something is wrong. And because of my stupid pride, I went to the specialist after my testical was about the size of a baseball.
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I wish I had changed dr's when the first told me that it was just an infection. I went another three months taking medication that I did not need for a infection that was not present.
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Good luck to you.