Well it looks like I am in the club, too.

[bcon]

Bummer.
I am 53 years old. And in very good health otherwise.

I noticed a small mass on the bottom and back of right testical and mentioned it to my urologist. Had ultrasound on 6/18/2012. Slow radiology read and report (took them a week to get it read.). I missed a call from my doctor on 6/28/2012. He was out of town on Friday and Monday in surgery. No contact until finally heard from him yesterday (Tuesday). 4 x 5 mm "neoplasm". He gave me options of waiting another 4 weeks and do another US. Or go ahead with the Orchiectomy. I need to tell him tomorrow after the holiday.

I guess we're having surgery. I don't see much to be gained by waiting another month. What's it going to do? Simply dry up and disappear? Not hardly.
Still trying to get up off the floor. But I'll move forward. I'll have blood work with tumor markers done this week and most likely the I/O next week.

I appreciate any feedback- I am still trying to get my arms around all this.
Thanks guys. I already feel like there's support on this forum!

[Davepet]

Sounds like you have a plan. The US is something like 95% accurate, if any of your markers are up, that would add to the certainty, if they are not, it's still likely to be TC.

The I/O surgery is pretty easy & not a lot of discomfort. You will be on your way home in a few hours. Cold compress (some like a bag of frozen peas) helps keep the swelling down & loose fitting pants (sweats or scrubs)will be all you'll want for a week or two.

Keep us posted on your progress & if you have questions just ask.

Dave

[cbvance]

I'm 53 too. I discovered an enlarged and hardened testicle around Christmas last year, finally got an u/s diagnosis March. Once I knew it was probably cancer I wanted it out. No need to wait.

The IO is routine out patient surgery, just take it easy for a few days and follow doctor's advice. The pain medicine can cause constipation so you may want to get off those as soon as possible, I used stool softeners.

Once the pathology comes back and you have a CT scan for staging you will know which path to take for cure. Fortunately most TC cancer is sensitive to either chemo or radiation and the cure rates are very good.

[scozzie]

Sorry you have to be here, but you are in a good place for help and all the support you need to help you through this. Like the others have said the surgery is no huge deal, you will be up and about walking a wee bit funny the next day. There is plenty of advice on this board to help you through a speedy recovery.
I most defiantly agree to there being no point in waiting a full 4 weeks.

Good luck and keep your chin up mate.

Col

[bcon]

Well. Finally got to meet with my urologist. We are optimistic that we caught it quickly and we scheduled the orchiectomy for 7/18. They took blood samples for tumor markers. So i guess this ship has left the dock. I'll post more details this weekend.

[MJR]

Sorry to hear about the diagnosis. We all know how hard it is to deal with that kind of news, so you're in great company to talk about it. But, from the sound of things it seems you're pretty much in the best case scenario so far. It's good to get the surgery done and over with, but the fact you were given the option on waiting is in itself good news. When I went through my ordeal the Onco didn't give me the choice of waiting for a few weeks because he believed I was on the verge of metastasis (even having a biopsy done was high risk for me). The time between my diagnosis and my surgery was only a matter of a few days.

The surgery is pretty quick and I was home within 2 hours after waking up from it. I would have been home even sooner, but it took me a while to get up out of the bed an into a wheelchair because I got pretty sick from the morphine every time I tried to sit up. The nurses in recovery were actually getting impatient because I was taking too long to get out, they had other patients coming into recovery and they needed the room!

Obviously, you're going to be pretty soar for the first week. Laughing, coughing, sneezing, hiccups...it's all going to hurt a bit. The surgical area was tender and soar, of course, but most of my pain came from the drainage tube that was left in for those first few days. I don't think everyone gets one, but it was VERY uncomfortable for me every time I got up to move and I couldn't wait to get the damn thing out.

I had to stay with family for a day or two because I quickly realized after the surgery that I couldn't climb the few flights of stairs to my apartment... Just something you'll want to keep in mind if you have more than just a couple of steps to climb at home.

Looking back I wish I had some kind of air cushion to sit on for the ride home from the hospital. Even morphine didn't stop the pain from potholes and bumps in the road! Get yourself some stool softener too. The pain meds will cause constipation and the last thing you're going to want to do is use your abdominal muscles while struggling on the toilet. You're recovery will go quick, though. I was back to work on light duty within 2 weeks and after about 3 1/2 weeks I was back to handling my normal workload.

Anyway, good luck and keep us posted.

~Mike

[bcon]

My tumor markers came back within normal range So I am hoping that's a positive sign. I/O is on for July 18. then we'll go from there.

Good luck with you procedure next week! Keep me posted.

[MJR]

Same to you bcon. I'll be right along side of you in a way. I'm having my surgery on the 18th as well.

[maxine]

good luck, bcon, my boyfriend has his surgery on the 19th, the day after you, his blood also came back normal, which i'm taking as a good sign, keep us posted how everything goes...

maxine..

xx

[bcon]

Well tomorrow's the big day. It's been a bit of an emotional 2 weeks but I have had a lot of support from family and friends as well as other forum members. Not sure what to expect from here on out. But here we go! I'll post a report in a day or two - whenever I feel like it.

[nciungan]

Well tomorrow's the big day. It's been a bit of an emotional 2 weeks but I have had a lot of support from family and friends as well as other forum members. Not sure what to expect from here on out. But here we go! I'll post a report in a day or two - whenever I feel like it.

You'll be fine. The I/O is a relatively easy procedure and you'll be done before you know it. My biggest advice is take things day by day. Unfortunately it will become a waiting game but you could make yourself sick by worrying and over-researching all the possible next steps. Best of luck!

[phil63]

Hi bcon,

I had my I/O recently. It's a very straightforward operation. At my hospital, they normally let patients go home 3 hours after the op. They should give you advice on what you can and can't do during your recovery period. For example, I was told not to drive for two weeks and not to lift anything heavy for at least 6 weeks.

I was quite sore for the first week; standing up and sitting down was the most difficult. However, the day after my op, I was well enough to attend a family birthday celebration at a restaurant with the help of a couple of painkillers the hospital provided when they sent me home.

Try not to worry too much; it really is a very quick and simple op.

Phil