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MyJewelz
11-19-08, 09:16 PM
Hi everyone,
I've found this wonderful site by accident with all the online research i've done so far.
So where do i start.....ok here we go

During our vacation to Hawaii 10/15/08 I found a small hard nodule on my right testicle no bigger than a pea. I
guess i wasn't too worried so i started researching more on the internet thinking it was a cyst or varicocele. So
on the remainder of our vacation i was online at least 3hrs a night. I found a Urologist through my healthcare
provider just in case if i needed to schedule an appointment when i got home
.
Our vacation needless to say was great, we returned home 10/20/08, the next day I returned to work with the thought
of going/not going to the doctor, lunch time i called the Urologist office and told the what was going on "BAM" come
in now, HUH, so off to the Dr's office. The office was nice and all the nurses were real professional, they walked me into
a small room, a nurse comes in takes my vitals and leaves, now my female Dr walks in, attractive, talkative, asks me
what's going on, tell her my story, now for the testicular exam, she palpates them for a good 3min then does a DRE,
she seems to think it's a varicocele but to be shure she sends me down the hall for a Ultrasound.

The Ultrsound Technician walks me into the room told me to drop my shorts and hop up on the table, she used a towel
to cover me up. So I'm thinking I'll be out in 10min, nope more like 45minutes of cold goo and rubbing going on. She leaves,
15min later Dr walks in "We need to talk" we found a solid mass in the right testicle and we need to take it out,
can you come in tomorrow? We need to see if it is cancer, 95% of the time it is malignant. I guess i was in shock
hearing that, why me? The next step was a blood test for Tumor Markers, poke me now, the sooner the better. So
this all happend on the 1st day back from vacation. Went home sick to my stomach, waited for the wife to come
home, the world seemed to have stopped revolving, that's how i felt. Broke the news to my wife and we both sat and
talked and hugged for the rest of the evening.

10/22/08 Recieved call from my Dr, blood test for Tumor Markers came back Normal no elevated levels, I ask her is
that good, she says it doesn't help the diagnosis, we still need to take out the testicle. She schedules me for
Abdominal/Pelvic C/T Scans with IV contrast and a chest Xray

10/23/08 In for my C/T's and Xray, i was given my films to carry to the Urology Dep so they wouldn't have to wait,
dropped them off but i peaked at some to the films and i didn't know what the hell i was looking at. So the
waiting game begings, the scans were done on a Thursday and i didn't want to wait till Monday to hear the results so
i kept calling the office for results, so finally 10/24 friday evening my Dr called me back and said all the C/T's
and chest xray came back Normal and Clear and told me everything is looking good so far and thinks we might have
caught it early, he scheduled me for a Rt Orchietomey on Tuesday

10/28/08 I'm in the pre-op room waiting for my surgery. I remembered surgery started at 130pm and I was home at 5pm
sitting in my lounge chair watching the news and popping pills. Dr calls me at 7pm seeing how i'm doing, i opted for
the SiliMed Testicular Implant and he inquired how it felt, told me that they will call for my next appt and Pathlogy report
Now the real waiting game

11/6/08 Follow up appt with Oncologist, Pathology report shows
Final Pathologic Diagnosis:
Seminoma, 1.5 cm right testicle (right radial orchiectomy)

Gross Description:
Recieved in formalin and labeled "right testis" is a 5 x 3 x 2.2 cm testis with attached 12.5 cm long 1.5 cm average
diameter spermatic cord. The testes exhibits an smooth white-tan tunica albuginea and is bivalved towards the
epididymis to reveal a 1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 cm fleshy white-tan mass within the lower pole of the testes. The mass
grossly abuts but does not extend through the tunica albuginea, a 0.5 cm from the rete testes, 1.9 cm from the
epididymis, and 11.0 cm from the spermatic cord margin. The tunica vaginalis is freely moveable over the tunica
albuginea. The uninvolved parenchyma is pink-tan and soft.

Microscopic Description:
The section from the spermatic cord margin is negative for malignancy. The section from the tumor mass shows a
Seminoma. The tumor is composed of enlarged uniform tumor cells with clear cytoplasm and large round nuclei with
prominent nucleoli. There is atrophy at the surrounding seminiferous tubules, with intratubular germ cell neoplasia.
The tumor does not extend into the tunica albuginea. I do not see nonseminomatous elements. I do not see vascular
space involvement. The epididymis is unremarkable.

So my Dr. recommends adjuvant treatment, scheduled me with a Radiology Oncologist for consultation
After serious thinking and more tinking and other opinions i have decided to have Radiotherapy to increase my odds

11/19/08 Went in for 1st Radiotheapy Simulation

So there you have it in a "NUTSHELL"
Thanks for listening and being able to share my story with all of you makes me feel better knowing there are people here who understand my new world i am living in

Rob

MRMRSU
11-19-08, 11:02 PM
Hey Rob...welcome, glad you found us and sorry for the price of admission to the club. You must be feeling pretty good to post after your appointment today, which is so very encouraging. Glad your cancer was caught early and that you have been proactive since. Keep us posted on your progress...we're good listeners (check that, good "readers" :D).

Russ Perez
11-20-08, 12:38 AM
Welcome to the club and that was a great post. Good luck w/ radiation. That's the same choice I would have made.

Margaret
11-20-08, 07:44 AM
Rob, bummer that we have to have you here but welcome to our group. Great news about ir being caught early and good for you about staying on top of your health. You are setting a good example.

Not Today
11-20-08, 07:53 AM
Well Rob, it looks like you are a fairly "new member" here... my member ship has just been submitted (surgery today, as you know from my thread). I am beginning to realize that there is a real "family" here and I'm sure long term, I am going be here to support "new members" as best I can.

Best wishes and keep us posted on your progress!!!!

Fed
11-20-08, 09:09 AM
Hey Rob,

Thank you very much for sharing the details of your story. It clearly shows the roller coaster ride we go on once receive such a diagnosis. Given that you already had your radiation simulation, you are likely set on that track. I do hope that your oncologist noted that you do have other options. Absent any lymphovascular invasion, you are stage I-A which gives you an 80-85% that the I/O alone has cured you and any further treatment would be overkill. Surveillance (with scans and bloodwork done every 4 months) is a viable option. In addition to radiation, adjuvant chemotherapy is another option available in which you get one or two shots of carboplatin. Both XRT and adjuvant chemo will increase your relapse-free rate to 95+%, but this is at the expense of potential long term effects (for XRT, there's an increased likelihood of developing cardiac problems or a secondary malignancy in the radiation field; for carbo, long term effects are not known).

You have no bad choices here, and either one of them will confer a near 100% chance of disease-specific survival. Best of luck, and again, thanks for signing on. Cheers,

Fed

dadmo
11-20-08, 11:58 AM
Rob:
It certainly sounds like you caught this early. The doc's and tech's who did your work were certainly on the ball :o with getting this thing taken care. As you surf this site you'll find many members who had to wait weeks before any meaningful actions were taken.
It sounds like you course of treatment is set so good luck with that and remember your chances for a cure are fantastic.