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Hi everyone!
Unfortunately my story starts about 1-2 months ago. Long story short, I felt a lump in my left testicle and decided to see my medical practitioner who then urged me to get a sonogram right away. The results indicated a mass. My doctor then sent me to an urologist who told me I have testicular cancer. He said it was still in early stage. The urologist then made me an appointment with an oncologist/urologist who said that I would have to undergo an orchiectomy procedure.
The orchiectomy was performed on 08/18/17. They removed my left testicle. All my blood work seems to be in the norm pre-op (I will have results at the bottom.) CT scan shows no spread throughout my pelvic and abdominal area pre-op. I am concerned that they did not do an evaluation for my chest/lungs but the oncologist did inform me that it is very rare for the cancer to go directly to the lungs/chest without it penetrating my abdominal section first.
My oncologist believes that I may have seminoma because of blood test results. He did tell me a pathology still needs to be performed because of the different types of testicular cancer. I will find out what type I have on 08/28.
It has been a little bit less than a week and I have been recovering well. I did opt for a prosthetic testicle and although it does feel different, I am happy on how it looks. There is some numbness throughout my genitalia but I assume this is normal. Erection is normal and was able to have some oral intercourse with much great release! I have been walking here and there but I do get some pain when I’ve been walking around for a bit so I would have to keep my exercise to a minimum for a few more days.
I now await my results for my pathology and for some reason I feel a little bit concerned. I know I shouldn’t but I just want to know what type of cancer I have. I am happy that the mass is no longer in me. I just hope I had caught it in time and that nothing will spread. Only time will tell. For now, I will definitely be changing my diet and starting an exercise regimen. I know this type of cancer can’t be prevented, but If I can help minimize the risk of other types of cancers with a healthier lifestyle, why not!
Almost forgot to mention, I am 25 years old.
I do have a couple of questions and hope some of you guys can help me out!
How can an urologist tell if my testicular cancer is in its early stage? The dimension of the mass is around an inch or less.
Why are my blood results normal? My AFP, HCG, and LDH are within the standard range. I would suspect some sort of boost in one of these results.
In my CT scan results, it states “Lung bases in the field-of-view- are unremarkable.” I believe the lung bases are the bottom part of the lung?
Are pathology results 100% accurate? I believe I had read somewhere in this forum that a pathology result is very complicated and should be done by numerous doctors.
CT IMPRESSION:
Abdominal and pelvic organs are intact and appear unremarkable.
No adenopathy or ascites.
NO GI tract abnormality is identified.
Blood results:
AFP 1.5
HCG <1
LDH-BLD 176
I appreciate any information anyone gives me and I hope can I return the favor by helping other people in the forum!
Unfortunately my story starts about 1-2 months ago. Long story short, I felt a lump in my left testicle and decided to see my medical practitioner who then urged me to get a sonogram right away. The results indicated a mass. My doctor then sent me to an urologist who told me I have testicular cancer. He said it was still in early stage. The urologist then made me an appointment with an oncologist/urologist who said that I would have to undergo an orchiectomy procedure.
The orchiectomy was performed on 08/18/17. They removed my left testicle. All my blood work seems to be in the norm pre-op (I will have results at the bottom.) CT scan shows no spread throughout my pelvic and abdominal area pre-op. I am concerned that they did not do an evaluation for my chest/lungs but the oncologist did inform me that it is very rare for the cancer to go directly to the lungs/chest without it penetrating my abdominal section first.
My oncologist believes that I may have seminoma because of blood test results. He did tell me a pathology still needs to be performed because of the different types of testicular cancer. I will find out what type I have on 08/28.
It has been a little bit less than a week and I have been recovering well. I did opt for a prosthetic testicle and although it does feel different, I am happy on how it looks. There is some numbness throughout my genitalia but I assume this is normal. Erection is normal and was able to have some oral intercourse with much great release! I have been walking here and there but I do get some pain when I’ve been walking around for a bit so I would have to keep my exercise to a minimum for a few more days.
I now await my results for my pathology and for some reason I feel a little bit concerned. I know I shouldn’t but I just want to know what type of cancer I have. I am happy that the mass is no longer in me. I just hope I had caught it in time and that nothing will spread. Only time will tell. For now, I will definitely be changing my diet and starting an exercise regimen. I know this type of cancer can’t be prevented, but If I can help minimize the risk of other types of cancers with a healthier lifestyle, why not!
Almost forgot to mention, I am 25 years old.
I do have a couple of questions and hope some of you guys can help me out!
How can an urologist tell if my testicular cancer is in its early stage? The dimension of the mass is around an inch or less.
Why are my blood results normal? My AFP, HCG, and LDH are within the standard range. I would suspect some sort of boost in one of these results.
In my CT scan results, it states “Lung bases in the field-of-view- are unremarkable.” I believe the lung bases are the bottom part of the lung?
Are pathology results 100% accurate? I believe I had read somewhere in this forum that a pathology result is very complicated and should be done by numerous doctors.
CT IMPRESSION:
Abdominal and pelvic organs are intact and appear unremarkable.
No adenopathy or ascites.
NO GI tract abnormality is identified.
Blood results:
AFP 1.5
HCG <1
LDH-BLD 176
I appreciate any information anyone gives me and I hope can I return the favor by helping other people in the forum!
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