nit picking my orchiectomy (how long did it take)

[Physast]

I think I am getting somewhat scared about the orchiectomy my doctor performed on me. He told me that the surgery only lasted 15 minutes and that he cut into the testicle at the operating table to see what it looked like.

Is this normal to cut in to the testicle before the pathologist gets it? And 15 minutes seems really fast. Although I do admit it doesn't sound like its a hard surgery, but I would eb afraid that just ripping it out in 15 minutes might cause some of the cancer to spread to other tissue in the groan area.

I know I am probably just scaring my self but it does seem odd.

Any thoughts? What was the average time for others here?

Thanks
Charlie

[Fed]

Hey Charlie,

Indeed, the I/O is a quick operation. My best friend, who is a urologist and has performed many of these, told me that it is fairly straightforward, and the entire procedure from start to finish takes between 45-60 minutes. Also, I should note that the testis is quite a sturdy organ that has a strong capsule, so there's no risk of it falling apart during the surgery (and in the off chance it does, the pathologist would notice it immediately).

The slicing after surgery is sometimes done to inspect the gross specimen. Sometimes a frozen section is taken after extraction to give a preliminary diagnosis. A frozen section, however, is not fully conclusive, hence the need to make paraffin blocks and mount slides for a more accurate diagnosis.

[italian_tc]

hi!!! my i/o was done in 22 minutes...plus some time for waking up from the surgery...

[Physast]

Fed

that is what concerns me because I have read that the average time is 45 - 60 minutes. But my finance remembers them telling her that I was under so she went to walk around outside and wait for the surgery to be complete, but she said they called her back 15 minutes later and the doctor talked with her about how the surgery went.

Good to know the pathologist would be able to tell if the testis feel apart.

I need to stop worrying and just wait for the second opinion on the path from Indianapolis.

[dadmo]

The urologist who worked on our son said it would be 45 min. He didn't show up for an hour and a half. It scarred the heck out of us but then he told us he was done in about 25 min but wanted to examine the testicle.

[Physast]

dadmo

I couldn't imagine waiting longer than expected and not being able to find anything out..

[dadmo]

Charlie:
If you should decide to visit Sloan we have a spare room you can use.