Newly diagnosed

[mdt1972]

Well I guess a good place to start is with my story. I am 34 years old and have been recently diagnosed with TC. Everything has seemed to be a whirlwind of events, just going from one appointment to the other. It has been a lot to assess in 3 weeks and I still don't think I have fully comprehended/taken in everything yet.
On May 8th I went to my family physician because I had notice a change in size and texture to my right testicle. Upon examining me he said I need to get to the Urologist ASAP. So he made me an appointment to see him the next day. When the Urologist finished his examine he sent me over to the hospital for an ultrasound. I brought the films back to him and he thought that it was a teratoma, but said that there was a chance it could be cancerous and that he would need to remove the testicle so that the pathology could be done on it to know for sure.
On May 11th I had a right inguinal orchiectomy. The surgery went very well and the recuperation has not been bad at all. I wasn't too concerned with loosing my testicle, as I was more relieved at that time that it was out and felt pretty confident it was a teratoma, so I really wasn't sweating it. Silly me.
On May 14th I saw the urologist and got the news that it wasn't a teratoma but a pure seminoma and that I would need a CT scan to see if the cancer metastasized.
On Friday, May 18th I had my CT and lucky me they gave me a copy to take back to the urologist on Monday. So I had the wonderful pleasure of stressing over those stupid films all weekend about the possible spread of cancer and everything that comes along with that.
I met with the urologist on Monday and got the good news that the cancer hadn't spread and that all I would need is some radiation therapy to ensure there was no spread of the cancer to the abdominal lymph nodes.
Today, May 30th, I met with the radiation therapist to start planning out my therapy. It is just 3 weeks of radiation M-F. He seemed very confident/comfortable with everything, which was very reassuring.

I think when all is said and done I am feeling extremely lucky/blessed with the outcome of everything. I have an excellent prognosis.

Thanks!

[NavyHoldi99]

Welcome!

I'm glad that everything looks good and hope that radiation is all you will need!

Ask any questions you need answered because chances are someone here will be able to answer it based on personal experience. Plenty of people have a lot of resident knowledge on everything TC...which I have personally found tremendously helpful!

[Fed]

Hey mdt,
Indeed, welcome to the Forums! It's great that you have been proactive about taking care of this, and a diagnosis of pure seminoma that has not spread is actually not all that bad. Without any spread and without lack of lymphovascular invasion (you didn't mention this, but your pathology report should have), you would also be a good candidate for surveillance being that the orchiectomy alone could have cured you (about an 80-85% chance of that). Regardless, you have no bad options. Both surveillance and adjuvant radiation are thoroughly vetted options for treating stage I seminoma. It will just boil down to what makes you feel most comfortable.
It sounds like you are handling this very well, so keep up the good work. Any questions, just fire away!

[dadmo]

mdt1972:
Have you been to an oncologist. If your correct about your pathology you may be a good candidate for surveillance. That option should really be discussed and an onclolgists opinion is key. You really don't have any bad choices but I would rather save the big guns for when you're sure you need them.

[Scott]

Welcome to the forums! One question: what were your blood test results for tumor markers? I'm assuming your AFP was normal with a pure seminoma diagnosis.

[fuse929]

Hello mdt,

Reaffirming what the guys have said, depending on the stage of your seminoma you may in fact be a good candidate for surveillance. I was a 1A seminoma, and opted for surveillance. I'm comfortable with my decision, and am glad I was given the option to choose between it and radiation. If you would like, I recommend you talk to your urologist or oncologist about your path report and discuss if surveillance is a possible choice.......it may save a little hardship on your body in the long run. Either way things will work out just fine!

Bobby