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Greetings folks,
Over the last few days, as I’ve been trying to give myself a crash course on testicular cancer, I’ve found this site to be an enormous help…both as a source of information but also as a way of de-fusing anxiety. So, my thanks to the participants and the excellent administrators.
My case currently has my GP, the urologist and an oncologist a bit stumped. Thoughts and insights from the collective wisdom here would be appreciated.
I’m a 34 year old with two little kids and no particularly bad habits except for the abuse that two toddlers and a demanding desk job throw at you. About 3 months ago, and during a very random accident, I’d got my testis caught on the crotch of a pair of trousers that were hiked up too high and a bit too tight. Embarrassingly, I somehow gave myself a reverse wedgie that resulted in a lot of swearing and an uncomfortable couple of days. The pain went away and I didn’t think much of the event until about three weeks later when I identified a lump on the affected testis and sought immediate attention.
The GP thought the bump felt like the swelling from a bruise and that it had only become noticeable a few weeks after the accident due to a bit of blood clotting that was trapped under the outer layer of the testis. To be sure, however, he sent me along for an ultra sound and over the last two months, three ultra sounds have shown the lump shrinking from 20mm*15mm to its current size of 9mm*5mm. Good news.
In the last month, I’ve also met with a urologist who did some blood work. The first blood test (from about 2 weeks ago) was normal in AFP but the beta HCG levels came in at 12 (I understand 3 is normal). This created some cause for concern. The blood work was redone a few days ago and the beta HCG have come down to 9… which is still quite high but at least moving in the right direction.
The urologist has now called an oncologist with – so I’ve been led to believe – experience in testicular cancer (I missed the name but was something like “Dr. Tester” from Leeds in the North of the UK where I live). They are confused as to why the ultra-sounds and blood tests would be pointing in different directions but will re-do the blood tests in 2 weeks. If the betaHCG levels still remain above normal, then I’ll be in for immediate surgery to remove the affected testis.
My questions for the forum are (1) does this approach sound sensible or should I advocate for more immediate surgery – clearly not an attractive option if the testis turns out to be healthy…; (2) are there any thoughts as to why the ultra-sound and the blood test suggest different things and (3) does any of this sound likely to be associated with the injury? Might there be a tumour lurking under the bruise? In which case, that reverse wedgie might have been extremely lucky…?
Cheers folks,
Evan
Over the last few days, as I’ve been trying to give myself a crash course on testicular cancer, I’ve found this site to be an enormous help…both as a source of information but also as a way of de-fusing anxiety. So, my thanks to the participants and the excellent administrators.
My case currently has my GP, the urologist and an oncologist a bit stumped. Thoughts and insights from the collective wisdom here would be appreciated.
I’m a 34 year old with two little kids and no particularly bad habits except for the abuse that two toddlers and a demanding desk job throw at you. About 3 months ago, and during a very random accident, I’d got my testis caught on the crotch of a pair of trousers that were hiked up too high and a bit too tight. Embarrassingly, I somehow gave myself a reverse wedgie that resulted in a lot of swearing and an uncomfortable couple of days. The pain went away and I didn’t think much of the event until about three weeks later when I identified a lump on the affected testis and sought immediate attention.
The GP thought the bump felt like the swelling from a bruise and that it had only become noticeable a few weeks after the accident due to a bit of blood clotting that was trapped under the outer layer of the testis. To be sure, however, he sent me along for an ultra sound and over the last two months, three ultra sounds have shown the lump shrinking from 20mm*15mm to its current size of 9mm*5mm. Good news.
In the last month, I’ve also met with a urologist who did some blood work. The first blood test (from about 2 weeks ago) was normal in AFP but the beta HCG levels came in at 12 (I understand 3 is normal). This created some cause for concern. The blood work was redone a few days ago and the beta HCG have come down to 9… which is still quite high but at least moving in the right direction.
The urologist has now called an oncologist with – so I’ve been led to believe – experience in testicular cancer (I missed the name but was something like “Dr. Tester” from Leeds in the North of the UK where I live). They are confused as to why the ultra-sounds and blood tests would be pointing in different directions but will re-do the blood tests in 2 weeks. If the betaHCG levels still remain above normal, then I’ll be in for immediate surgery to remove the affected testis.
My questions for the forum are (1) does this approach sound sensible or should I advocate for more immediate surgery – clearly not an attractive option if the testis turns out to be healthy…; (2) are there any thoughts as to why the ultra-sound and the blood test suggest different things and (3) does any of this sound likely to be associated with the injury? Might there be a tumour lurking under the bruise? In which case, that reverse wedgie might have been extremely lucky…?
Cheers folks,
Evan
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