Phantom Pains?

[wjhall]

Hi all,

I got just got my results back from an Abdominal and Pelvic CT scan that I had done. All clear, thank GOD!

I went to the doctor because I was having pains, very similar to the dull aching I had when TC was diagnosed. The pains come and goe for the past week, worse in the evenings. I experience a dull ache in my removed testicle and pain travels up through my groin all the way to my side.

It has been eight months since my I/O with no symptoms until now. Has anyone else experienced this. I did a search on this forum but no one has said anything about the pain going up through the groin and into the side.

If anything was left in me ( ie gauze ) I would think it would have been a problem before now.

Do phantom pains really exist and how dong do they last??????


Thanks
Jay

[Fed]

Dude, you totally read my mind.

I've been having exactly the same issue you report: a dull, but sometimes sharp and acute pain that shoots up from the bottom of the inguinal canal (right next to the scrotum) at times making it all the way up to the incision site. I recently spoke to my uro buddy from college, and he said that in some cases, the I/O procedure will cause damage to the nerves that travel along the spermatic cord. The damage leads to the formation of a traumatic neuroma, which is a region of uncontrolled nerve growth (hence the pain, particularly close to where there is scarring). This is a normal process in nerve regeneration. He said that the pain can be felt long after the I/O, usually 6 months or more. The other, probably less likely reason if you were careful during your recovery from surgery is a hernia, which would be diagnosed by your urologist. A regular check-up by your urologist is warranted if the pain becomes unbearable.

Hope this helps out. Cheers,