Is this TC

[dk1003]

Hello all,

My Nephew who just turned 19 last month has something going on. Back in May he had told me and my sister in law that he had a lump in his testicle and that it was somewhat sore. I was frightened for him at that very moment as I have a cousin who had TC at 18. (He is now in his 40's and after 3 reoccurrences he is now well.) I told him to get to the doc or tell his mom who is a nurse. I have no idea what happened between then and now but he had not gone to a doc. I guess it has gotten worse and the hospital his mom works in did an ultrasound and she said they ruled out everything else besides cancer. There are now 3 masses on his testicle. He has an appointment with an Urologist tomorrow at 9:30 am. Today they did an X-ray and found a mass in his growing area and his lymph nodes are swollen. To me it sounds like TC. If they found a mass outside of the testicle does that mean it has metastasized? Also they said that they have never seen tumor that looked like that they said it looked like Swiss cheese. Who knows what that means.. Anyhow and feed back would be appreciated.

Thank You,
Concerned Aunt

[dadmo]

Concerned Aunt:
It certainly sounds like tc and it should be an easy diagnosis. Have they removed the testicle or just done an ultrasound? With swollen nodes it probably spread but that doesn't make it less treatable. Please keep us up to date as you get more information.

[dk1003]

dadmo

Thanks for your responce. No they have not removed it yet. We will probably found out when today. I will keep you all updated. Again Thanks!

[dk1003]

I just found out that there is more than one mass in his abdomen. It was not in his groin area after all but his abdomen. His spirits are high as he is on his way to the Uroligist, his mind set is waiting and see what they say. His mom is of course very worried but is hiding that from him. I will update you as soon as I know more.

[dadmo]

Do you know if by "mass in his abdomen" they mean the lymph nodes? It's quite common for more then one of those to be enlarged.

[dk1003]

My Sister in law told me that he had a couple of masses as well as swollen lymph nodes so I assumed that they meant masses. I just called and nobody has heard anything yet, it's been 2 hours... Scary! I thought she discribed it as like a football but not the shape as one. I will know more soon, and I will let you know. thanks so much for trying to figure this out with me...

[dk1003]

Surgery

All I know is they are doing the surgery tomorrow at 12:30.... Hope to get more info soon.

[dk1003]

Update...

My nephew had his surgery today and the doc said that he is almost positive that it is cancer that they are dealing with. His next appt is on Monday and they will get the results then. He handeled the surgery well, was painful but he is good.
Let you know what we hear Monday.

[dadmo]

Yes, please keep us posted. If you can please also let us know the results of the bloodwork, scans and x-rays.

[dk1003]

Update.....

I feel like I need more information here but I am going to tell you what I know. My nephew has 3 different types of cancer cells. The first is Seminoma the second is embryonal carcinoma and the 3rd is Immature teratoma. I have been trying to research these and it is not easy. Is it common to have 3 different types? I am going to call and see if I can get more info. As far as blood work all I got is one of his levels is 88 and I am not sure which that was for. I will be back.....
Thanks

[Scott]

Yes, it's very common to have multiple types. When it's not pure seminoma, it's treated as "non-seminoma." You'll find more information about each type in the TCRC Dictionary.

[dk1003]

Thanks Scott

I was just reading about the different types. So it is common that is good to know. How about the prognosis. Are these common types that go togother? Would it be more helpful if I had the stages of them? I am going to see if I can get a copy of the patholoigy report..

[Scott]

You will definitely want a copy of the pathology report, which should give approximate percentages of each type found, the size of the tumor, and whether there was vascular or lymphatic invasion. Staging is based on whether there are signs of spread, independent of the cell types. The lower the stage, the better the prognosis; stage I is almost always cured.

[dk1003]

Found out the stage

Stage 2b... I am going to go and get the pathology report soon. Thats all I found out...

[dadmo]

Stage 2b is very curable. My son was stage 3 with embryonal and teratoma as components along with yolk sac. It was a long road but they had no problems what so ever curing him and your nephew should expect to be cured also.