I am sorry for your condition and hope for a complete
recovery for you. I too have testicular cancer with a
non-seminoma tumor spread into my lymph nodes. I am
in the 3rd week of the 1st cycle of chemotherapy that
will last 9 weeks.

I too have found it help to post on support groups and
to talk to others about my condition and listen to
others too.

Hopefully you will find good support andinformation
from the group.

Best of health...


--- corwyn333 <corwyn333@...> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I wasn't sure if I was going to join a group such as
> this, but after
> reading some of the posts here I decided to. At 40
> years old, I was
> recently diagnosed with testicular cancer.
>
> About 2 1/2 months ago I discovered what I thought
> at first was just a
> minor swelling of one of my testicles, over time it
> grew larger. Due
> to financial and insurance considerations, or lack
> of them, I had to
> let it go longer than I had wanted to. Once I had
> insurance I went to
> see the doctor, suffice it to say, my suspicions
> were confirmed, it
> was cancer of the left testicle. From the start,
> except for the GP who
> didn't think it was cancer, every doctor I've dealt
> with on this has
> been informed, confident, and informative about the
> condition and
> treatment.
>
> The doctors moved quickly, Tuesday was the first
> visit, Wednesday I
> was having and ultrasound done, which gave the
> confirmation, Thursday
> I was in the urologist's office and Friday morning I
> was in surgery to
> have it removed. This was the first week of
> September. I am now
> preparing to undergo Radiotherapy, they've
> prescribed 3 1/2 weeks (17
> days) worth.
>
> The urologist/surgeon explained to me exactly what
> it was, what the
> ultrasound and physical exam showed, and exactly how
> the surgery would
> be performed, and why. He also listed the statistics
> of cure/survival
> of this form of cancer. It was diagnosed as seminoma
> of the left
> testical. The HCG count prior to sugery was 171, 1
> week after surgery
> it was 1, the CT scan after the surgery showed no
> further spread, but
> the biopsy report showed cancer growth within the
> lymphatic channels,
> which indicated, as per the radiologist/oncologist,
> that there was a
> 20% to 30% chance of spread or recurrance. I have
> opted to accept the
> radiotherapy due to the information I've been
> presented with. The
> radiologist reports that it was a T1 N0 tumor (I'm
> still unclear as to
> what this means). According to the radiologist, with
> the radiation
> treatments, there'll be a 1% chance of recurrance,
> as opposed to a 20%
> to 30% chance without treatment.
>
> One thing I've discovered from all of this, talking
> about it has
> helped me deal with it alot better than keeping it
> all to myself and
> bottling it up. Many people, family and friends
> alike have been very
> supportive, some have tried to give me uplifting
> speaches, which
> haven't helped, but others have just listened,
> allowed me to get my
> thoughts straight, helping me more by letting me
> talk than offering
> advice or uplifting sermons.
>
> I must admit, this whole thing has been very
> frightening for me. I
> haven't had surgery since I had my tonsils out when
> I was very young.
> Moreover, radiation treatments scare the hell out of
> me. I've already
> been through the simulation for them to align
> everything and get it
> all setup. Again, I'm not sure why I decided to post
> here, perhaps
> it's just to find another place to talk about this,
> with others that
> have been through what I have, rather than people
> that haven't. I've
> been told by family that I seem to be dealing with
> this very well, at
> least that's what they can see, but I have my
> doubts.
>
> If nothing else, thanks for listening, writing this
> has helped,
> Steve
>
>
>


=====

Left I/O: August 2002

Tumor: non-seminoma embryonal

3xBEP: SEP '02-NOV '02

http://members.cox.net/jagosae/


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