teratoma

[rosebud]

my 20 year old son had his left testicle removed and went through 9 1/2 weeks of chemo. He has to have his nodes removed in March, his doctor said his scan show a small spot which may just be from the chemo or he could have teratoma, I dont understand this, is this another form of cancer?, or just from the chemo? I live in a different state than my son so cant ask the dr about this, hopefully someone will know. thanks Rosebud

[Scott]

Teratoma is technically a benign growth, but it does need to be surgically removed. (See this link for more detail.) If your son does need to have RPLND surgery, he really should have it done by someone who does it often. Where is he scheduled for it? Do you know how big the enlarged lymph node is? Has he had a second opinion on whether RPLND is definitely necessary?

[rosebud]

My son will be having the surgery in san jose ca, his doctor said it is small, my son really trusts his doctor, he has taken care of him since he found out he had the cancer. My son is okay with the procedure his doctor has laid out for him. My son says that his doctor has done this operation many times, he specializes in testicular cancer.

[justinsmom]

My son was also just 20 when he was diagnosed. He had the testicle removed (orchiectomy) and then chemo and then a 2nd surgery to remove "teratoma" in his abdomen. Basically the teratoma is sort of a "byproduct" of the original cancer. It doesn't respond to chemo so it won't go away without being surgically removed. It is a "benign" growth (non-cancerous) but it has to be removed because it can grow and cause problems. God Bless-Lanette

[rosebud]

Thank all of you for your answers about my son, I spoke with him last night and he said his doctor is sending him to a pulmonary doctor as his lungs are not working to full capacity and wants him checked out. Other than that he is feeling fine. Just recieved a call from my 23 year old who is in Iraq, he found a lump in one of his testicles this morning and is going to see the doctor in the tomorrow, hopefully it will be nothing. Does anyone know if testicular cancer hits more than one child in a family?

[MRM]

Having a sibling with TC does put a brother at a higher risk, but the overall risk is still small. When I told people I had testicular cancer, my brother-in-law and a few of my friends subsequently found "something" on their own testicles when performing a self-exam. All turned out to be nothing.


Still, he's smart to have it checked out.

[rosebud]

Hi again, My son who is in Iraq had some tests done and was told his lump was not cancer, so that was great news. My youngest son has to have some breathing tests and a lung scan before they can do his surgery to remove the nodes, I still dont know how many they will be removing. He is feeling fine and wants to get this all done and behind him.

[dadmo]

The doctors won't know how many nodes need to be removed until they get in there. Don't let the numbers frighten you but it's common to have 25-40 removed.

[rosebud]

25-40 nodes seem like alot to remove, does a person have to take any meds after having nodes removed? There is so much I dont know about all this.

[dadmo]

rosebud:
The lymph nodes are tiny things so 40 is not a big number and if everything goes right they wont be missed. No special medication is needed they will heal fine the only thing I will recommend is that your son go on a low fat diet. This is something that Sloan Kettering really pushes and they are one of the two best facilities in the world for this particular operation. If you search this forum you will learn all there is to know about the RPLND. If you want to see a case that ended up being difficult chek out "Scott's L-RPLND Adventure" he had a really tough time and has shown us all how to fight this thing with a positive attitude and great courage.