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I had my orchiectomy last Thursday and I'm just now getting somewhat back to normal. At 51, I'm a little out of shape, so I'm probably struggling with this a little more than the 20-somethings, but I'm tougher than I look.
They found my tumor by accident. My doctor ordered an ultrasound to confirm a right side vericocele (confirmed), and in the process found a 4mm tumor imbedded in my left testicle. He sent me to a urologist at the Cleveland Clinic cancer center (one of the perks of living in Cleveland), who scheduled me for surgery. Tumor markers were normal. I've got an appointment to see him about the pathology on Friday.
The post-operative recovery has been less than fun, but not horrible. By Sunday I was off the Percocet and have mostly just encountered various forms of annoying discomfort. There's some uncomfortable bruising on the side of my scrotum (probably from the sledge hammer), and I still get occasional twinges around the incision that let me know I'm alive. I've also got a little yellowing of the skin (just today) around the area of the incision. I'm not sure if that's cause for a call to the doc or what.
I'm taking this week off work. My boss has been terrific about this whole thing. It's good to be able to sit up long enough to get this message done in relative comfort. The good news is that my urologist thinks it's very likely to be a seminoma, and that he'd probably treat it with surveillance. I told him I'd willingly forego RPLND.
With any luck, maybe I'm cured. Fingers crossed.
They found my tumor by accident. My doctor ordered an ultrasound to confirm a right side vericocele (confirmed), and in the process found a 4mm tumor imbedded in my left testicle. He sent me to a urologist at the Cleveland Clinic cancer center (one of the perks of living in Cleveland), who scheduled me for surgery. Tumor markers were normal. I've got an appointment to see him about the pathology on Friday.
The post-operative recovery has been less than fun, but not horrible. By Sunday I was off the Percocet and have mostly just encountered various forms of annoying discomfort. There's some uncomfortable bruising on the side of my scrotum (probably from the sledge hammer), and I still get occasional twinges around the incision that let me know I'm alive. I've also got a little yellowing of the skin (just today) around the area of the incision. I'm not sure if that's cause for a call to the doc or what.
I'm taking this week off work. My boss has been terrific about this whole thing. It's good to be able to sit up long enough to get this message done in relative comfort. The good news is that my urologist thinks it's very likely to be a seminoma, and that he'd probably treat it with surveillance. I told him I'd willingly forego RPLND.
With any luck, maybe I'm cured. Fingers crossed.
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