2nd time testicular cancer

Good afternoon.
I had my orchi back in March with no real timescale beforehand as the priority is getting it out quickly. Therefore no isolation period before. I had my preop on the Monday and the surgery on the Friday morning. I was first on the list and was in and out of the hospital the same day to reduce time in that environment. I had to be alone with no visitors and had to be picked up from outside the ward.

The biggest change from his previous op is that they will now most likely do it with an epidural and not put him under anaesthetic due to the increased risks with this. This scared me at first but I was given relaxants to help as I started to panic. The key thing is that things will happen quickly.

My wife had fully prepped the house for afterwards with food and drink etc so that we could isolate properly afterwards. As for the chemo it will be dependant on the type that he has this time. There are several options dependant on type and amount of spread etc. One of the options for chemo can last for nearly 12 weeks dependant on spread.
Hope this helps a little. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to write back to me. This is very helpful and all new information - very insightful. We heard from Macmillan this afternoon that he should get in for the operation this week..  I hope you well into your recovery and your family are ok too 

No worries at all.

There’s a few pages available to help your other half through it in this day and age compared to when he last went through it with social media etc over on facebook. It will also help with what goes on after the op because there will be a couple of weeks waiting for the pathology to come back. The waiting is hard! 
The groups on here are great for general advice about dealing with cancer as a whole.

just some things to help with post surgery would be to have home comforts to help him get over it and just to cheer him up. Try not do too much over the first couple of weeks but try be up and about to keep the body moving. 
coughing and laughing hurt (if he forgot after the last time) and also grab some stool softener as it’s hard to strain with the incision where it is. 

more than happy to answer any questions etc if you need help. Use all the resources that are available to you both (Macmillan, Maggies etc) as it’s a tough time but also remember that TC is extremely curable And he has a great future ahead of him. 

Hi NatJB

I had my surgery in the first week of May. I was given about a week’s notice, so didn’t have a full 2 weeks of isolation. I was given a Corona Virus test a few days before surgery though.

The NHS in my area actually took over a private hospital and kept it as a ‘Covid-free’ site. So I was put under a general anaesthetic and had my surgery there. I wasn’t allowed any guests, which was a bit scary having never had surgery before. But it was a quick operation and I was the first of the day, so was home by 5pm. 

I was allowed a guest with me when I met the Oncologist a few weeks later.  They said because it was my first appointment they allowed one extra person.

Good luck and I hope it all goes well for you and your husband.