Waiting for Ultrasound

Hi. My ultrasound technician informed me it was abnormal and that he was going to see if he could get it reviewed by a consultant immediately. That did happen, but that might have been due to it being in lockdown 1 and the hospital was pretty much deserted apart from me.  I think if the technician suspects anything sinister it will be reviewed sooner than two weeks.  I'm sure others will have an idea of timescales in normal times.

Best wishes

G

Just a quick update to my original post. Feeling very depressed at the moment. I'm just finding it hard cope with all the uncertainty of not knowing - and I just keep replaying every possible outcome in my head, from an 'all clear' scan result to the worse-case scenario.

Finding it very difficult to get on with things - as soon as I wake in the mornings, it's all I think about. I'll be completely up front an honest - I'd think I'd find having to have either or both testicles removed impossible to come to terms with. It's silly, I know, but it just happens to be my biggest nightmare. I feel awful having to admit that when there are so many you guys on here who have already had to go through exactly that, yet have had the courage and rational reasoning to accept it and get on with things. Maybe I'm just too stressed to think logically - but I'm in a right state at the moment, and I haven't even been given any indication that it's anything of concern yet. No idea how I'll manage if it is.

The truth is, I've been feeling depressed for some time, now - before all this started. I'm starting to wonder even if there's something down there that's even the cause of it. Generally, I'm just not in a good place.

Hi

Really sorry that you're struggling.  There are many scenarios that are far more likely before you get close to the worst case that's causing your anxiety:

1. It's a cyst, and either doesn't need treatment, or is easily treated.

2. It is cancerous and you need to have your testicle removed, but no chemo. This will hardly impact your life at all apart from a couple weeks healing.

3. It is cancerous and you need it removed and some follow up chemo. This will impact your life for a few months, but then you'll be back to normal.

Your worst case of losing both is really remote. If testicular cancer does return it doesn't usually return in the other testicle, and it is still very treatable.

Please try not to worry. You'll have answers soon, and it almost certainly won't be as bad as you're imagining.

Best wishes

G

Thanks, Teahupo.

Thanks ever so much for really helpful comments - more appreciated than you could imagine.

I think I'm just having a particularly bad day, today - I suffer from aniety disorder at the best of times. 

Sorry for asking so many questions, but how do they usually inform you if it turns out to be TC? Do they call you? Send a letter? Inform your GP? Ask you to come in for a chat?

Hi.

Because mine was in lockdown 1 and the hospital was deserted I saw a urological consultant on the same day about an hour after my ultrasound.  But I think that is unusual, and you might wait a week or so.

He told me he was pretty certain it was cancer and what the next steps would be. They don't do biopsies to verify because that risks spreading it. So the next step is a whole body CT scan to check there isn't anything else suspicious.  I also had that the same day.  I think the whole process normally takes about two weeks, but somebody else might be able to confirm. 

So it will be a discussion with a urological consultant when they have reviewed your ultrasound. Not sure whether that would in person or over the phone now.

Best wishes

G

When I had my Ultrasound, the tech was super chatty when she did the first testicle then she looked all somber, had to go multiple times etc on second one. I knew right there and then but she was not allowed to discuss. Got a call from my doctor the same day. And yes you are right the waiting part is the worse. Truth is, even they find a lump, you are on step 1 to get it out and  towards recovery. It's people who don't get the ultrasound who are at higher risks. I had my surgery 3 years ago, (Pure Seminoma Stage 1A - No chemo) but it has been a week that my survivor testicle hurts and I am getting the US tomorrow. I am nervous but at least I know what comes next... and that the odds are massively in our favor. Hang in there. You are doing everything right. 

Thanks for the info, guys. 

Good luck with the scan tomorrow, Lautreamont. Please keep us posted on how things went. 

Will I need to remove all my clothes for the scan, or just the bottom half? Thought I'd ask because I had surgery a few years ago and I was given a surgical gown and what I thought was a hair net to put on - the nurses couldn't stop laughing long enough to tell me that the hair net I was now wearing on my head was in actual fact a pair of surgical breifs!

You just have to drop your pants. They don't warm up the gel.

G

That's ok - I can cope with cold gel; just as long as there's no hair-net/surgical-briefs trickery involved. LOL.