Treatment after orchidectomy

Hi Josh

Happy New Year. Pretty sure you've had a rough Christmas, something I can relate to. It's pretty much a year ago since I had an orchidectomy (30th Dec 21). The good thing is you seem to have everything in order (I had my CT scan 2 weeks after the op) and you already know what your options are. It sounds like your doctor thinks it is likely your staging is early ie stage 1. This is about as good as it gets and puts you in a great position to get rid of it for good. I was in exactly the same position but had already made my own mind up that I was going to take adjuvant chemo (after reading experiences on this site). My oncologist gave me the choice but when pressed said I made the right decision. Ultimately for me it came down to odds. I was given a 5 year, 75% chance of all clear with surveillance only or 97% chance with chemo. It wasn't bad at all really, like a hangover. FYI to give you an idea of time lines I had my op on the 30.11.21 and chemo 27.01.22 (with CT, consultant appointments and bloods in between). Also, if you choose chemo there has to be a gap of at least 2 weeks between the OP and starting the treatment (something to do with healing, infections etc).

If you have any questions please reach out, I'm happy to help.

Good luck

Hi mate. Same with goldenball1 it's exactly a year since I had surgery. I found out on the 30/12/22 that I had cancer and had the surgery within a couple weeks. In my situation though I never had and chemo. The type of cancer I had was 100% mature teritoma. Which chemo does not affect. At the time I worried alot about this but having done more research I've found out that mixed germ cell cancer is basically part teritoma and something else. It's the something else that they do chemo for anyway. So technically I was really lucky. My CT scans after surgery showed no trace of spreading and the surgery was quick and easy. So I've been on surveillance. I have my next CT in a few days but I think I'm all good. The doctor seems the think that's me and I'll be good for life. So really it all depends on what type of cancer you get. If you get the option for chemo it's all about the likely hood of it coming back. In my opinion if I was offered it I would have took it. I would want to lessen the chance of it coming back if I could. If they say it's just surveillance though I wouldn't stress. Means the likelihood is very low anyway. Best wishes mate. I will say don't cough, sneeze or laugh after surgery. I did and by God that was extremely sore. No pushing on the toilet either. Eat plenty prunes :)