Officially Diagnosed 10.9.19

[dkent479]

Hello All, I stumbled upon this site about a couple of days ago. I have been doing a lot of reading and internet searches after finding a lump in my testicle. This site is a great resource and has helped ease my mind and also understand what is happening.

I discovered an abnormality in my left testicle about 5-6 weeks ago and scheduled an appointment with my Primary care Dr. Had my appointment on 9/17/19 and was referred to get an ultrasound.

Ultrasound took place 9/27/19 @ 2:00pm, the office called by 3 pm and informed me i had a tumor in my testicle. Referred to urologists.
Urology appointment was last wednesday 10/2/19 followed by radical inguinal orchiectomy on 10/3/19.

Got pathology report back yesterday:

"FINAL MICROSCOPIC PATHOLOGIC DIAGNOSIS
A: TESTICLE, LEFT, RADICAL ORCHIECTOMY:
-EMBRYONAL CARCINOMA, MEASURING 1.8CM
IN GREATEST DIMENSION, LIMITED TO THE TESTIS AND INVADING RETE TESTIS.
-GERM CELL NEOPLASIA IN SITU.
-LYMPHOVASCULAR INVASION IS PRESENT.
-THE SURGICAL MARGIN IS NEGATIVE FOR TUMOR.

COMMENT: Immunostains for CD117, CD30, and AFP are performed with adiquate controls.
The Tumor cells are positive for CD30, while negative for CD117 and AFP. This immunophenotype supports the above diagnosis. "

I'm currently waiting on CT scan to be scheduled and I'm just waiting. I'm not best at handling the waiting and I know this is all very treatable and it's something that will be beat, just very worried and stressed out.

Thank you for anybody that has any input, it really is appreciated.

[biwi]

What are your pre and post orchiectomy tumor markers? (bHCG, AFP, LDH)

Yes, waiting is very annoying!

[dkent479]

Pre-Orchiectomy
LDH: 174
AFP: 6.5
bHCG: I'm not finding this one.

I am not aware of any post orchiectomy results at this time. Went for my follow up yesterday and was kind of taken aback from the cancer diagnosis and did not ask many questions.

[wjonw]

Hi Dkent

Sorry to hear this and sorry you have to go through this! I'm glad you found this forum, since it is full of information, full of reassurance and full of pretty amazing dudes and caregivers that are here to help / can answer many questions.

I was diagnosed July 2018 and relapsed in January 2019 then went through chemo 3xbep and finished in April. I just had my 2nd follow up post chemo which ended all good.

Anyways you are still in the early stage of all this and hopefully, you'll find out you caught it early. But the beginning is just a long waiting game where you just have to figure ways to trust the process and stay positive. As you mentioned this is treatable but i know how it is when there are so many unknowns still. Just stay on top of the doctors and the results and take it one day at a time. Also, do what makes you happy for the next few weeks, you deserve it and I hope you can stay positive during this crappy time

If anything, please reach out

[JoeTheAstronaut]

Sorry for you to find out! And waiting is the worst part, man. But soon you will find out and it'll get much easier because one way or another, you'll know what's happening!! Is there anything that helps you take the mind off things?

[dkent479]

I have scheduled my CT scan for Monday. Glad this whole process has moved fairly quickly.

I have been training to run a half marathon in February, jogging really did a lot to help ease the stress. Unfortunately the surgery was a little tougher than I thought it was going to be so, training is put off for a little while. Really looking forward to being recovered and able to do some physical activities.

[billandtuna]

Hi dkent,
Welcome aboard, and I'm sorry you're facing this.
Yes, waiting for all the test results, and facing the decisions is tough, no doubt about it.

I think the phrase I read in a medical journal that helped me out the most in those first few weeks was this: "The survival of men with testicular cancer is indistinguishable from men without it."

[billandtuna]

Hi dkent,
Welcome aboard, and I'm sorry you're facing this.
Yes, waiting for all the test results, and facing the decisions is tough, no doubt about it.

I think the phrase I read in a medical journal that helped me out the most in those first few weeks was this: "The survival of men with testicular cancer is indistinguishable from men without it."

Eager to hear how things went for you.

[dkent479]

Hi All, so at this point I've had my CT scan and everything looked normal. Had my follow up with the urologist on Friday and he presented three options.

1. Surveillance
2. Chemotherapy
3. Robotic RPNLD @ MD Anderson or UT Southwest

He strongly encouraged the RPNLD surgery. After doing a little research and talking to family this is the route i decided to take, just waiting on everything to be scheduled now.

[billandtuna]

Hi dkent!
Welcome back and thanks for the update!
I'm sure you already know that all your options are good ones at this point.
Good luck with the robotic RPNLD, and let us know how it goes :-)

Good luck getting back on the marathon track - you'll be able to do it it again sooner than you think.