Going In to Loose one....what do you think?

[Gunney]

Great site. I'm glad I found it.

I'll give you my current situation and let you all fire away.

I am a 42 year old male. I have been to see two Urologists. Both agree.

I found a hard lump on my right testicle. Had an ultrasound. It revealed a testicular mass. Blood Work is as follows:

Alpha-Normal
Beta-Normal
LDH-Normal
Testostorone- Still Not Back Yet

Docs are pretty positive it is Testicular Cancer. Most recent Doc ( I am most comfortable with him), predicts that it is Stage One Seminoma. He said that there was a very small chance it is nothing, but odds are it is testicular cancer.

I am scheduled for surgery Thursday afternoon the 15th of Feb to remove the right testicle. I will also be doing a CT scan earlier that morning before surgery.

Based on the info given, could it be nothing, and if cancer what can I expect.

God Bless

[huckchef]

sounds as though things are correct. solid masses in the testical are high percentage cancer. seminoma usually presents with no marker elevations. orchiectomy may be the only course of treatment you'll need if nothing is shown on the ct scan. if there is lymph node involvement and it is seminoma ..radiation will be possible treatment. But you will be cured!!!!
My thoughts and prayers ,
Brian

[dadmo]

I always feel odd saying this but welcome.
A solid mass in the testicle almost always turns out to be testicular cancer. based on your age and blood work I would agree with the doctors that it is Seminoma. It's not possible to judge the stage with the scans and x-rays but stage one souds great to me. If it is stage one when they remove the testicle you will be cured. Nothing further will be required other then frequent follow-up visits. Check out the tcrc web site for some great information.

[Karen]

I concurr....age and markers point to seminoma. Removal of the testicle for stage 1 seminoma will mean you are most likely cured. Even with no evidence of lymphovascular invasion there can still be micrometastesis, so an I/O is not a 100% cure...but very close. That said, seminoma in early stages can be treated by surveillance or radiation to the paraaortic lymph nodes. Highly cureable...you will be fine!

The part about stage 1 seminoma that is a bit agonizing (aside from the cancer and surgery thing of course) is that you may be the one to make the choice bbetween watch-and-wait and RT. Pros and cons to both. The site dadmo pointed you to is great for the background info you need as well as questions for the doc.

The I/O sounds bad but it's really not (and yes, I know I will never need one so it's easy for me to say ). Keep the area iced (bagged rozen peas are good for that), laxatives, if needed, so you don't stain with bowel movements, no lifting for 4-6 weeks, if you need to sneeze, cough or laugh use your hand to put pressure on the incision so you don't have the burning feeling that you ripped your sutures...which you won't. Move around as much as possible to lessen internal scar tissue formation.

Lots of experinece, strength and hope on this site...glad you found us! You will be fine.

[djmac]

Hi and welcome,

When I was diagnosed 4 short months ago, I was focused on the I/O. I wanted a prosthetic and worried about it all. In the end I opted out of the prosthetic and I'm really glad I did.

It certainly sounds like seminoma. It is very unlikely that it is not cancer. Given your age and markers, chances are good its seminoma. You may even luck out and get 'spermatocytic seminoma' for your path, like someone around your age recently got, and then you won't even have to worry about mets. But I would bet "classic seminoma".

When I got my official path report, I was in this weird alternate universe where I was actually HAPPY with the result. I met my cousin in a restaurant immediately afterwards to 'celebrate'. My poor mother was really bewildered by all of this, but the reason we were happy is that if you are stage I for seminoma and for most non-seminomas, you should be fine.

Gunney, best of luck to you, and we are here for any questions. Don't worry about the nut too much, after the surgery you will be absolutely relieved it's gone... and know that it probably isn't working well (or at all) anyway.

djm

[mrb1980]

Gunney,

Welcome to the forum. You'll find that we're all like family here.

I had a similar experience, though I had embryonal carcinoma. My family physician did an ultrasound, then my urologist did blood tests and a CT scan. Shortly thereafter, the urologist's nurse called and told me, "You're having surgery in two days. Get ready." Not really much time to prepare.

I agree with other folks regarding the probability of seminoma. If that's true, you appear to be in great shape. As djmac said, this forum is a great resource where you can find information and support. It kept me going!

[Fed]

Yo dude,
Your lab data sound oddly familiar . There seems to be a consensus of 'seminoma' among all of the previous posts, and I fully concur. What's key is that it sounds you have everything under control. Great that you are getting the CT scan done promptly. That, alongside the pathology report you will receive within a week of your surgery, will be the two most important tools that will determine further treatment (if indeed seminoma, surveillance, adjuvant radiation or adjuvant carboplatin).

The surgery is actually a piece of cake, and you should be feeling back to your pre-I/O status (minus a tainted nut) after 4-6 weeks. Best of luck with the surgery, and keep the questions coming.

[Gunney]

Big Thanks

Hey All,

Thanks for all the responses and support. I'll definately be reading and sticking around this site.

I just retired from the Marine Corps after 23 years in March and have been working for the railroad. I am still trying to figure out being a civilian.

Then I get this news. I was really caught off guard. I guess I'm not angry at this point; I just kinda wonder why?

I have a great number of people praying for me and my wife and that in itself is so reassuring. I'm trying to pray, but I feel so distracted at this point. I just want to get the ball rolling.........no pun intended (but it may be a great joke later.)

I can't thank you guys and gals enough.

God Bless

Billy

[Karen]

Billy,

The waiting is tough...once you get the I/O done you'll have taken the biggest step. The path and CAT will give you type and staging and after that weigh your options and ask as many questions as you can.
It's strange, but when my husband had his I/O in Dec 05 I was so terrified of all this. This site is a wonderful source of comfort and information. We're here for you as well as your wife. Lots of us wives are on this site and we can help ease her fears.

Last but not least, thank you for your service in the Marines! You'll enjoy retirement after this is behind you, and it soon will be.

[curt]

Lost one 3 weeks ago

Good luck with the surgery. I had an orchiectemy 3 weeks ago and am going in for an RPLND tomorrow.

The orch wasn't too bad actually. What kicked me was the epidural. I took that option because I had a surgery under general about 8 weeks ago and felt HORRIBLE. Thought the epidural would have been better. The actual surgery went well but I had an epidural and my bladder went “to sleep” (apparently that happens in some patients having epidurals). Having had a number of surgeries, I would go under general if I had to do it again – even though I felt horrible for 24 hours after surgery under general anesthesia. Unfortunately I could not urinate after surgery (out at 3pm) and didn’t have the catheter put in until 6 am the next day – 1600 cc of urine later I was good-to-go but had to wear a catheter over the weekend because of bladder distention. For all the horror stories I read on the net, I was a bit anxious about having the catheter “installed” and removed but it getting in and out wasn’t any big deal – a little discomfort was all.

I'm still sore after 3 weeks but it really didn't bother me too much after a week or so. I was able to "function" (although delicately) after 10 days.

Best of luck!

[huckchef]

Gunney,
Thank You for serving this great country and giving my family the freedoms we have today!!!
Best of luck with everything and I hope all goes well for you in the next few months.
Be knowledgeable... it will help with the anxiety!!!

[curt]

Howdy Gunney

I just retired after 23 years in the Army on 30 Nov - got cancer a month after retirement - go figure. I'm having all my stuff done at Bethesda NNMC. I've been extremely happy with the squids that have been working on me. Fortunately their is at least one Army surgeon scrubbing in for my RPLND tomorrow as well. I'm relying on her to make sure the squids take all the sponges out :-)

A couple weeks ago I was in the cancer ward recovering from orchiectemy and wondered down the hall to say hi to all the heroes coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan (they're on the same floor, next ward over). Talk about humbling. Seeing all those young men make me appreciate that I have TC versus something worse. It sure gave me some perspective. This is going to be a piece of cake.

Semper Fi!

[Gunney]

Thanks Again All

Thanks again all, I really appreciate it. I can't tell you how much it means to me.

.................


Curt,

I can relate totally. I was ready for the 2nd half of my life. Now I am really ready for it.

I hired on with the UP Railroad in March.

My wife made a great joke about all of this the other day.

The past 23 years in the Marine Corps focused on giving you a great set of balls.

Now after just a year, the Railroad wants to take them away......go figure.

It lightened things up a bit.

I know what you mean about all the Vets. I retired from the Pentagon, so I went to Walter Reed and Bethesda quite a bit. It is nothing less than humbling.

I will never be the same after this experience.

God Bless and Semper Fi

Billy

[huckchef]

I may be visiting Bethasda soon to visit the National Cancer Institute for some genetics study that I'm taking part in.
Brian

[Gunney]

Ipdate

Greetings,

First off, let me take a few lines to thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, emails, and phone calls during this extremely trying time in our life. Cindy (My wife) and I believe that prayers work and the Good Lord listens to sincere hearts. Again, you all have proven this to be the case. Words cannot express the gratitude that we feel. And as Cindy says, I was certainly feeling the love.

We were able to have the surgery in Mount Vernon, Illinois at Saint Mary’s, Good Samaritan Hospital. The Lord again works in mysterious ways, it a Catholic Hospital and one of the Head Nuns, Sister Benot is Cindy’s bosses roommate (she is the principle at St Theresa’s Catholic School where Cindy volunteers). Anyway, Sister Benot came down before surgery and prayed with us. The Staff was incredible and got the ball rolling (no pun intended).:-)

The nurse that prepped me for surgery was a former Female Marine from the 1960’s. She was awesome as well as hard as nails. She held my hand and we ended our conversation with a Semper Fi before leaving pre-op.

Surgery went well yesterday. I was in and out less than an hour. I was in recovery a couple of hours. We did get some bad news, but the good news over shadowed it.

Stage I Cancer (Seminoma) was found in my the right testical, however it did look to be isolated to the testical, and the Doc saw no evidence of spreading. The CT scan came out well and only showing the mass in my right testicle. My blood work has also come back normal. This all answered prayers. Of course the Doc can not be definite until the pathology results come back from the lab. We are scheduled to meet with him next Friday to discuss the results and the program for surveillance.

Other than being a little lighter in the under carriage, I am a little sore. I’m walking a little slow, but walking just the same.. The railroad has taken care of us by letting me work in the office for a couple of weeks starting next week until I get on full duty.

Please continue your prayers until we get though the woods on this. For the mean time, everything is pointing in the right direction towards recovery and healing.

Again, please accept our heartfelt thanks for your support and we will keep you updated.

God Bless