Could I see the future?

Hi,

I love your post, if any post has encapsulated the discovery process plus an understanding of what it means, then its yours.

My story was somewhat similar, lopsided since puberty, at 42 fit, cycling to work, going to the gym, running the Cambridge Chariots of Fire race, then backache stopped me sleeping at night. When it started to affect me during the day I went to the Drs.

Fingers crossed you're a Stage 1 (or even zero!) or an early Stage 2. I was Stage 2C, and the chemo was magic. I knew, and still know stage 4s I met 6 years ago.

Keep us informed, we worry about all our brothers going through this,

G.

Great post - I'm very similar to you (and suspect lots of others) , i had lots of aches and pains , groin, back, under the ribs of my left hand side - lefty was small and hard (and had been for a long time) - i also was really run down and lots of other issues associated with that - waiting to hear i was stage 3, spread everywhere, read up about treatments and % rates, waited and waited etc etc 

turned out after the Op and CT i was stage 1 - surveillance only .

fingers crossed that your similar to me in that way too!

all the best/

Ever phoned the dentist telling them you  need a filling, receptionist makes you an appointment, you arrive at the dentist, open your mouth and the dentist says "you need a filling, speak to the receptionist she will make you an appointment".  Simply a waste of my and his time.

lol, in previous post, see where it says testicular rumour - that should say tumour.  

Hi OB,

In 6 years I can only remember one removal that turned out not to be TC.  I can't see how the phrases "probably not camcer, but we'll do the orchidectomy anyway" can go together. Likewise going for a CT (but good to get that given your tummy bloat).

Taking nurofen regularly pushes up blood pressure a bit.

Private is quicker for non-urgent cases, but no quicker for urgent cancer cases - I would not have been seen any quicker. Yes, nicer room and meals.

I don't think you've had reasonable review and feedback on your results to be able to give informed consent for the operation. Do you need the op or not? if they think its not cancer, then why not surveillance? My suggestion, phone the PALS line of your hospital tomorrow morning (they're on your side so be nice to them!) tell them you're not happy with the lack of care given by the urologist, and ask if they can help - e.g. a meeting with another urologist.

.. and good luck with the Scan!

Greg

My GP wanted to refer me to the NHS.  I had paid private medical premiums for 19 years and not got a single benefit from it.  I asked why his preference for the NHS.  It was because he knew the local NHS  specialist for TC.  I got him to give me his top recommendations plus any to avoid and went private with the top choice.  I kind of justified it as saving the NHS a few quid but to be honest I just wanted a return for my £000s of premiums over the previous two decades.

The benefits to me of doing so were a nice private room for the op when I felt sorry for myself, same for the chemo sessions (private room, wife able to stay with me all day, decent food ), follow appointments at a time of my choosing (important for me as there are plenty of follow ups that I fit around my work rather than fitting my work around them and upsetting the boss), walk up no appointment, no wait sessions for bloods to be taken, and just as much time as you actually need for appointments.  If you need 15 mins more support occasionally, it is absolutely not a problem.

The NHS is brilliant and I fully support and am happy to pay my taxes to fund it but as work give me private medical, I am glad that I went private and even better I have saved the NHS a five figure sum over the last 4 years. 

Hi,

I would go private if I were you and I would get a 2nd opinion. This is from experience as I was misdiagnosed 3 years ago and had my ball removed which turned out to be nothing. Oh and they give you no support if this happens, no counselling for the trauma or treatment for my low T. So far I’ve spent £20k on private treatments trying to fix their mess and I would definitely go private or atleast have another ultrasound to double check their opinion.

Cheers,

Paul

Thanks for the responses guys and girls.

I'm going to invoke the private healthcare - nicer room (on  my own, we'd all take taxi's rather then the bus if we could afford it!), nicer food, all day visiting etc etc.

In terms of the Urologist - he simply trotted out all the lines my doctor did when he gave me the first examination - very rare so unlikely to be cancer, all very treatable etc etc.  But in honesty the meeting yesterday was jumping through a hoop, get bloods done and the process of being fixed has commenced, i'm in the system.  Like many others as soon as you start on this journey you research what the diagnosis means, so i'm fully aware that getting past the ultrasound to have a CT scan, and bloods done makes it very likely i have testicular cancer.  But my wife hasn't done all that research, shes happy (as circumstances allow) that i have 95% chance of survival -and she heard "probably not cancer", and "unlikely to have spread".   He's managing expectation very badly!

Just off to ring health insurance people.

Ok, spoke to health insurance people, very helpful. 

Only outlined how badly the Urologist manged my expectations.  In the the health insurance experiences it takes at least 2 weeks to get CT results (which is in line with what i have read on this forum).  So how was the urologist going to see me next week and give me my results?  He would need the results first (2 weeks) then book me an appointment, might be within the week.

Private - "we get the results within 3 to 5 days sir, and so we can book an appointment now for 5 days after CT scan date".
I asked if they could give arrange a scan for tomorrow privately but i need to see a consultant first, and even privately the first available consultant is next Friday.

So i've an appointment booked for Friday 22nd of December, where the new private consultant has said he will be able to give me CT results as he has access to the system and he can interpret the results.  Not perfect but i have a date i can aim towards and will have news, good or bad, before Xmas.

So my advice to anyone who has the choice - USE YOUR PRIVATE HEALTHCARE IMMEDIATELY.  YOU WILL GET RESULTS QUICKER.  Obvs this is only my experience.

The NHS Urologist has an opportunity to prove me wrong as if he does get me an appointment through for next week earlier than Friday i can still take that as well.

I've simply gone into work mode - what if we did this, what if we do that, can we do this, why won't that work - I'm not sure the Public Sector likes having Private Sector expectations placed on it.

"And I was rummaging around the attic I found the original copy of the Bible, which was nice"

The private urologists secretary just rang me, she has managed to fit me in this Friday, the day after the ct scan,

The report won't be ready but he will verbalise it......

Ok, 2 days to wait instead of 9, which is nice.

I feel a genuine bit of ......I'm not sure what...it's not happiness per se, but certainly better.  2 days not 9, yes!