scared bride

[bbbride]

i'm not sure if i belong in this space or if it's for men only... but i am the fiance of a wonderful man--we are getting married next week--and he just told me that he found a lump in his testicle. we both decided to get physicals before the wedding just to make sure everything was a-okay, and now this... i haven't felt the lump myself but he told me it's in his left testicle, the size of a ball bearing, and near the top between the tubes leading into it (not sure what they're called). his pcp told him during his physical that it was probably a cyst and nothing to worry about, but that he should have it checked with a sonogram. maybe a year ago, he was feeling some pain in his groin and had a sonogram--he tells me he can't recall if they looked at his testicles also or just his groin--and anyway, they diagnosed him last year with a muscular pull. but now i am wondering if this may have all been connected, if they missed the lump last year, and if this is all part of the same issue. i'm so scared and worried and also angry--at the doctor, who seems like an idiot to me, and at my fiance, who first found this lump in february or march but didn't go to the doctor about it until this week. any help or advice or words of encouragement from anyone out there would be so useful. we don't know what it is yet but we also have the added pressure of spending all next week out of town for the wedding, of getting appointments not soon enough (right now, they don't want to the ultrasound until july 20!!), all that. this is scary and i'm not sure the best course of action for us.

[Karen]

Welcome. You do belong in this space, which is for the men and women that TC affects. Sorry your upcoming wedding has this anxiety added to it.

No use thinking about the past...move forward from here. Your fiance can get the report from last year pulled to see if they scanned the testicles. Of course a lump can develop over a year so it really may not help. You can get the US moved up by pushing HARD on the doc. If there is something there you can start looking for a urologist that has experience in TC. The there is a mass he will need blood work for tumor markers (another thing you can push on the doc to do ASAP) as well as a specialist to deal with the next steps.

TC is rare, and it may very well be a cyst. Hang in there!

[dadmo]

Is the lump attached to the testicle or the tubing. If it's on the tubing it won't be tc.

[bbbride]

i am not sure where the lump is exactly. he said it was attached to the top of his testicle, but he also said it was right in-between the tubing. perhaps the location of the lump in relationship to the tubing is what drove his pcp to say that it was probably cystic, since he didn't do the light test i keep reading about. we looked at some information online, and he said that the picture of spermatocele that we saw at the mayo clinic site looked like what he was feeling, so perhaps that is it. i am hoping so. i just want to be proactive and get everything tested. he has been reluctant and i have been pushing him to take it seriously and not go just based on his doctor's hunch.
thank you for the prompt replies here... it helps to just get out all the things i have been feeling the past couple of days surrounding this. i feel like i can't tell my friends or family because with the wedding so soon, it will just be more drama than i can really take. i appreciate this forum as a place to share and vent.

[Karen]

http://tcrc.acor.org has instructions on a self exam as well as the anatomy of the testicle. From your last description it does sound like an Epididymal cyst...but we aren't docs and can't diagnose. The doc not doing the light test is a good thing...an outdated, unreliable method. Sonograms are the diagnostic tool for this.

[Hopeful Wife]

I had a similar situation with my husband. He has known for 2-3 years that his testicle was not normal size. We got married august 22, 06 on New Year's Eve of '06 he started getting really sick. First we were told he had an ecoli overgrowth and then that he had a hynera. Finally, a CT scan was done and it was confirmed TC. I was so angry at my husband. Words can not describe how angry I was at him because he waited so long to have the testicle checked out.


But, the main thing that you can do for your fiancee is be supportive of his fighting the cancer and don't look back on the past. I learned that. Looking back and saying what if or why doesn't change anything. Main thing is you need to be there to comfort and support you fiancee.