This group is fantastic and I wish I had known about it when I was diagnosed. I just thought I would share my story in the hope that maybe others can see it gets better.
I was diagnosed with stage 2b mixed germ cell in my left teste. I can still remember getting the news. I had just moved to oxford for my first job out of uni. I had climbed a mountain in North Africa raising money for childline and back down at base camp I had a stabbing pain in my stomach. My balls were fine. I was born with an undescended testicle so I was aware I was a risk for cancer. Back in the uk I went to the doctors and was prescribed antibiotics for an abscess! Fast forward 2 weeks and I still have pain. I go back and see a different doctor and get referred for a scan.
The scan showed I had raised nodes and an ultrasound showed my one good testicle had a tumor. After surgery it showed it was a mixed cell and told I was stage 2 b.
I had a partial orchidectomy and 3 rounds of bep.
It was tough but you get through it. Everything tasted of metal, hair fell out, finger nails turned black and I turned grey! I had bad scarring on my back but this has since faded.
Ok so fast forward 13 years. I have two little girls. Both healthy. I have a few black lines in my finger nails, bit of tinitus, and occasionally raynauds. I do iron man races now and despite bep and some lung scaring I smashed my last one in under 13 hours.
Dont give up the fight, stay positive, surround yourself with positive people, speak to others if you are struggling.
We go way past that 5 year mark and keep going.
Hi and welcome to the online community
I'm not a member of this group but just wanted to thank you for sharing your story here. As you say, hopefully it will help other men who are just beginning this journey or are currently on treatment.
When you have a minute it would be really useful if could pop something about your journey into your profile as it helps others when answering or looking for someone with a similar diagnosis. You could, in fact, copy and paste your post from here into it. To do this click on your username and then select 'Edit Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
Wishing you all the best
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi Jozzef
Unfortunately the former member you've replied to is no longer a member of this site so won't see your post.
You could start a new post in the group asking for people's experiences of a partial orchidectomy and how long they were in pain for.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
