Hello Everyone!
Welcome to my blog about testicular cancer. I know, cancer is not something we like to
talk about/read about/or even think about, but if you are here it means that
you either have/had testicular cancer, or you know someone who did/has and
would like some additional information regarding the symptoms, treatment,
prognosis etc. Well, you have come to
the right place.
I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little
about myself.
I am 26 years old and residing in South-Africa. When I was 20 years old, my journey with
testicular cancer began. Like all young
men at that age, you feel invincible.
Testicular self-examination was not part of my daily, weekly, or even
monthly routine. I was young, fit and by
all means I considered myself extremely healthy. Until one night when I climbed into bed and felt
a sharp pain in one of my testicles…
Immediately I did a “self-exam” and tried to discover the
origin of this unfamiliar pain. It was
from my left testicle. My first thought
was that the left testes might have moved around a bit and the veins attached
to it might have become entangled and is now cutting off the blood supply (this
condition b.t.w. is called Torsion), but unfortunately this wasn’t the case with
me. Right at the bottom of my left
testicle I felt a lump. When moving my
fingers around it, I felt immediate discomfort (I’m lying a bit here, it was
extremely painful!). Nevertheless,
warning lights and sirens went off in my head.
“That’s not supposed to be there!?” I thought to myself. After tossing and turning in my bed for a few
hours, I tried to reassure myself that it might just be inflammation or an
infection of some sorts, and it most probably would go away in a few days… But
it didn’t.
Although my parents and I share a pretty close relationship
with one another, this wasn’t quite something I wished to bring up randomly around
the dinner table. But I knew I had to
tell someone. I honed in onto my best
friend. One night while visiting him it
kind of brought itself up. After
noticing I walk with slight discomfort, he started to ask questions. I then told him exactly what I felt a few
nights before. He went quiet for a while
and then sat down in front of his laptop and logged on to the internet. We did some research for a few hours… The
more we researched, the more anxious I became.
I was worried. Almost every
webpage we opened talked about one thing.
Testicular-cancer. They described
it as a “dull ache” in one of the testicles. It was my experience to the letter.
After we did the research we each drank a beer and sat in
silence. We both knew what was
happening. I realized that I needed to
see a doctor PRONTO. So, the next day I
mustered up the courage and asked my dad if I could talk to him for a
second. I told him what I felt, what I
suspect, and asked him to make an appointment at the doctor’s office for
me. That night I couldn’t sleep… The following day I went to see the doctor
and after I explained my problem to him, he sent me for a couple of blood tests
and a sonogram. The tests would only be
available the next day so he advised me to go home and get some rest. He tried to give me peace of mind by telling
me that the “big C” is only last on his list of possible causes.
I remember how it all began… The next day I was watering
some flowers in the garden when my mother called me inside. She said my dad had just phoned and that I
should meet him at my doctor’s office as soon as I could, he is waiting there
with my doctor. As I entered the room I
saw both their faces. I sat down and
gave a fake smile and asked what’s going on.
The doctor explained that the two blood tests he sent me for (alpha
feto-protein and beta human ganadotropin) came back elevated above normal. Like all patients I immediately asked what it
meant. He went on to explain in a soft
but firm voice that I have cancer. I
didn’t want to relive that day, but as I write these words I remember that
everything went quiet in my world. It
was like I could see his lips moving but no sound reaching my ears. When my father placed his hand on my arm, I
jerked back to reality.
The first words that left my mouth after that, was, “Am I
going to die?”. The doctor went on to
explain that there have been many breakthroughs in the cancer field and that
the experimentation with Cisplatin chemotherapy allowed cancer patients (like
me) to have a 96% chance of survival, providing the stage of the cancer (not
spread to other organs etc) was Stage 1 (cancer confined to only the testicle),
which luckily (I guess?) was my case. I
went on to have a radical orchiectomy (excision of the infected left testicle).
Right after my surgery my doctor advised me to go for the 2
blood tests he had sent me before. The
results? Normal levels of both hormones. I was elated with joy! My cancer ordeal was over! I remember I jokingly said:”WOW, it was just
like having flu for a few weeks”. After
keeping an eye on my health and further blood work, we decided 6 months after
surgery, that the case was closed. I am
cancer free.
A year later I went for the blood tests again. I assumed they would come back as they did
the 6 times before. CLEAN. But again…I was called to the doctor’s
office. Without beating around the bush,
my doctor revealed that the tumor markers came back not only elevated, but 4
times higher than my very first tests.
It was back…and with a vengeance…
He immediately made appointments at a nearby hospital (60 miles away),
in order for me to begin with intensive chemo-therapy.
After meeting with a new doctor at the hospital, and a few
CAT-Scans and X-rays later, my doctor revealed to me that my prognosis for my
bout with testicular cancer wasn’t so good.
The scans showed metastasis (spreading of cancer) to other parts of my
body, and my prognosis was 40%. Not
pleasant news at all, especially if you’re only 20 years old J
We started intensive chemo-therapy with 3 cycles of
Bleomycin, Cisplatin and VP16, lasting 4 months. I would receive chemo for 5 consecutive days,
then once a week for 3 weeks. That was
one cycle. After completing the first
cycle I felt great. No hair loss (yet),
no pain, no discomfort. The second cycle
brought on hair-loss, severe nausea and extreme fatigue. I could sleep all day. My appetite also underwent serious changes as
I could not stand the usual food that I loved, partly due to my inability to
taste certain foods, and the awful taste I got from others, even my favorite
foods.
Cycle 3 was pretty much the same as cycle 2. I shall call it “bearable”. By the end of the third cycle all of my tumor
markers came back negative. At that
point I asked my doctor whether or not chemotherapy would cease, seeing as I’m considered
“clean” again. She said nope, you have
to hang in there, one last cycle to go, “You don’t want to have cancer 3 times
do you?”, she asked jokingly. And so it
went. The fourth and final cycle was the
toughest experience I had to endure in my entire young life. I was vomiting constantly, and my inability
to eat (due to my oesophagus being scorned by the chemo-therapy and my
recurrent regurgitations), I lost 25lbs.
Once I was an active athlete weighing in at about 175lbs, then I became
a mere shadow of my former self, pulling the scale at a mere 165lbs. But… I made it. I had to undergo yet another surgery after
the chemotherapy, to remove a growth from my liver. But that went well, and a few days later I
was back on my feet.
Three weeks after surgery and my last chemotherapy session
at the hospital, my strength was returning slowly. Food tasted better, and my severe fatigue was
starting to abate, even my hair (which I lost completely), started to grow
back. It grew back a lot thinner, and even
a different color! I had a thick head of
brown hair before, now I have thin, blonde hair. But I guess that’s the price I paid. Today, 6 years later, I am happy to report
that my life is back in full swing. I am
healthy and enjoying life. I still go
for blood tests regularly, but only once a year. Scans also done once a year. And although I fear each time I go for these
tests that it might come back different, it doesn’t stop me from trying to live
life to its fullest.
If it does come back though, I will meet it head on. I will go down swinging if I have to. All I know is, cancer, CAN BE BEATEN!
Thank you for reading my story.
