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Libertine said:
May I ask how you discovered the cancer @stf4ever? Was it a lump, a pain or something else? Was it obvious.
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Weirdly, it was a pain in my arse cheek. I'd driven to my parents house and when I got out the car, I couldn't walk up the driveway. I was crippled with pain for about a couple of hours and after applying copious amounts of voltarol, I managed to get up and go home.

The following morning the pain had moved into my hip and groin but wasn't as crippling. The day after that, I decided to trace the pain with my fingers, found my way to my testicle, and as soon as I touched it there was a searing pain that brought on instant sweating.

That night I had a bath and decided to test myself and noticed that the testicle was rock hard and close to twice the size of usual. Booked myself in with the GP the following morning who initially thought it was an infection but booked me for an urgent ultrasound to play it safe. Glad that he did.
 
stf4ever said:
Weirdly, it was a pain in my arse cheek. I'd driven to my parents house and when I got out the car, I couldn't walk up the driveway. I was crippled with pain for about a couple of hours and after applying copious amounts of voltarol, I managed to get up and go home.

The following morning the pain had moved into my hip and groin but wasn't as crippling. The day after that, I decided to trace the pain with my fingers, found my way to my testicle, and as soon as I touched it there was a searing pain that brought on instant sweating.

That night I had a bath and decided to test myself and noticed that the testicle was rock hard and close to twice the size of usual. Booked myself in with the GP the following morning who initially thought it was an infection but booked me for an urgent ultrasound to play it safe. Glad that he did.
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Thanks for that reply mate. That information could be priceless to many members of the forum.
Best of luck to you and please keep us posted about your journey.
 
stf4ever said:
Weirdly, it was a pain in my arse cheek. I'd driven to my parents house and when I got out the car, I couldn't walk up the driveway. I was crippled with pain for about a couple of hours and after applying copious amounts of voltarol, I managed to get up and go home.

The following morning the pain had moved into my hip and groin but wasn't as crippling. The day after that, I decided to trace the pain with my fingers, found my way to my testicle, and as soon as I touched it there was a searing pain that brought on instant sweating.

That night I had a bath and decided to test myself and noticed that the testicle was rock hard and close to twice the size of usual. Booked myself in with the GP the following morning who initially thought it was an infection but booked me for an urgent ultrasound to play it safe. Glad that he did.
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All the best mate. I'm sure everything will work out fine for you.
 
stf4ever said:
That night I had a bath and decided to test myself and noticed that the testicle was rock hard and close to twice the size of usual. Booked myself in with the GP the following morning who initially thought it was an infection but booked me for an urgent ultrasound to play it safe. Glad that he did.
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The thing is, having pains and noticing it twice the size as usual may not even be enough for someone to get it seen either.
When I think of testicular cancer, I think of an abnormal lump on the side of the testicle or something, not half of the things you described.

Maybe the health organisations need to better educate men on the signs, or maybe they do but we don't know them enough off hand?
 
daddyman16 said:
The thing is, having pains and noticing it twice the size as usual may not even be enough for someone to get it seen either.
When I think of testicular cancer, I think of an abnormal lump on the side of the testicle or something, not half of the things you described.

Maybe the health organisations need to better educate men on the signs, or maybe they do but we don't know them enough off hand?
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You are right, there are few recognised symptoms. They are usually a small painless lump, a testicle swelling, back pain, fluid in your scrotum or a dull pain in your testicle, with the most common being the one you described.

The statistic that shocked me most is that men will take, on average, 5 months to report any issue they may have detected with their testicle. This has led me to the theory that most people who get diagnosed with testicular cancer have forgotten the symptoms they suffered when they first noticed the cancer and remember the ones that they took more seriously.
 
stf4ever said:
You are right, there are few recognised symptoms. They are usually a small painless lump, a testicle swelling, back pain, fluid in your scrotum or a dull pain in your testicle, with the most common being the one you described.

The statistic that shocked me most is that men will take, on average, 5 months to report any issue they may have detected with their testicle. This has led me to the theory that most people who get diagnosed with testicular cancer have forgotten the symptoms they suffered when they first noticed the cancer and remember the ones that they took more seriously.
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I think you're probably right.

Like with me I do check mine quite often, but wouldn't ever be alerted by dull pain or back ache.

Are there any useful websites you're aware of for us chaps with information? I seem to remember a campaign encouraging men to check, but I can't remember the name.
 
More importantly are you compiling a list of favourite material for your…ahem….appointment

(Sorry)

On a serious medical note, do they advise you to do anything “different”, I.e. is there a way to provide “optimum samples” for lack of a more appropriate phrase. Or do they test and decide if you should make another before the operation? (Or are all donations equal so to speak)

You can tell my internet on the train isn’t working well that I’m asking this sort of shit in the breaks
 
jakehake said:
More importantly are you compiling a list of favourite material for your…ahem….appointment

(Sorry)

On a serious medical note, do they advise you to do anything “different”, I.e. is there a way to provide “optimum samples” for lack of a more appropriate phrase. Or do they test and decide if you should make another before the operation? (Or are all donations equal so to speak)

You can tell my internet on the train isn’t working well that I’m asking this sort of shit in the breaks
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They've advised, today, no sexual contact until my appointment which is on Thursday. They say on their website its best to abstain for a week beforehand, having checked today.

They will test whilst I'm there, and inform if another appointment needs to be made.
 
stf4ever said:
They've advised, today, no sexual contact until my appointment which is on Thursday. They say on their website its best to abstain for a week beforehand, having checked today.

They will test whilst I'm there, and inform if another appointment needs to be made.
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That’s interesting, so my curiosity did have some merit.

Sorry for being intrusive. Best wishes as ever, hope everything continues to go to plan. Still shocked at the speed the thread has gone. Amazed at the system in some ways and glad they are supporting you
 
jakehake said:
That’s interesting, so my curiosity did have some merit.

Sorry for being intrusive. Best wishes as ever, hope everything continues to go to plan. Still shocked at the speed the thread has gone. Amazed at the system in some ways and glad they are supporting you
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Yeah, they've been fantastic with nearly daily contact since the non surgery. I'm re-booked in for next Tuesday at 7.30am. And I should find out results if the cancer has spread at some point tomorrow.

And any question is welcome, don't apologise for being intrusive.
 
Arrived at Chorley Hospital at 7.15am yesterday (Tuesday). Sat and waited until 2.45pm for my surgery. Came back round about 5pm. Apparently I flipped over and told the doctor to shut up when she shouted no at me. I have no recollection of this. I have, however, made the pain a lot worse than it should have been. I was given the maximum dosage of morphine, which didn't touch the sides but caused me to be sick for the last few hours. Nurse let me go home at 8.30pm after begging her not to keep me in overnight.

CT scan results are back. The cancer looks to have spread to one lymph node in my stomach, so not as bad or as good as it could have been. I will more than likely require chemo now, hopefully just one course. I will be meeting with an oncologist in the next few weeks.
 
stf4ever said:
Arrived at Chorley Hospital at 7.15am yesterday (Tuesday). Sat and waited until 2.45pm for my surgery. Came back round about 5pm. Apparently I flipped over and told the doctor to shut up when she shouted no at me. I have no recollection of this. I have, however, made the pain a lot worse than it should have been. I was given the maximum dosage of morphine, which didn't touch the sides but caused me to be sick for the last few hours. Nurse let me go home at 8.30pm after begging her not to keep me in overnight.

CT scan results are back. The cancer looks to have spread to one lymph node in my stomach, so not as bad or as good as it could have been. I will more than likely require chemo now, hopefully just one course. I will be meeting with an oncologist in the next few weeks.
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Sending positive thoughts, stf - hang in there.
 
stf4ever said:
Arrived at Chorley Hospital at 7.15am yesterday (Tuesday). Sat and waited until 2.45pm for my surgery. Came back round about 5pm. Apparently I flipped over and told the doctor to shut up when she shouted no at me. I have no recollection of this. I have, however, made the pain a lot worse than it should have been. I was given the maximum dosage of morphine, which didn't touch the sides but caused me to be sick for the last few hours. Nurse let me go home at 8.30pm after begging her not to keep me in overnight.

CT scan results are back. The cancer looks to have spread to one lymph node in my stomach, so not as bad or as good as it could have been. I will more than likely require chemo now, hopefully just one course. I will be meeting with an oncologist in the next few weeks.
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GA really is a bastard of a drug. If anything else caused the personality change it does, we’d ban it from being used

First step done ✅
 
stf4ever said:
Arrived at Chorley Hospital at 7.15am yesterday (Tuesday). Sat and waited until 2.45pm for my surgery. Came back round about 5pm. Apparently I flipped over and told the doctor to shut up when she shouted no at me. I have no recollection of this. I have, however, made the pain a lot worse than it should have been. I was given the maximum dosage of morphine, which didn't touch the sides but caused me to be sick for the last few hours. Nurse let me go home at 8.30pm after begging her not to keep me in overnight.

CT scan results are back. The cancer looks to have spread to one lymph node in my stomach, so not as bad or as good as it could have been. I will more than likely require chemo now, hopefully just one course. I will be meeting with an oncologist in the next few weeks.
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Absolute best wishes for a speedy recovery.
 
Whoa there!!!!!

I've only just seen this thread. Wtf man, sending all our love. If you ever need any help, a chat etc please feel free to message me anytime day or night. No time is inconvenient.

You'll smash this into the middle of next week mate 👍💪


P. S - Is it OK if I ring the spermbank and say you've given me the 'go ahead' to go and grab myself one of your special deposits?....... Please?
 
Met the oncologist today. After being told the cancer has spread, I've received decent enough news today. The 2 swollen lymph nodes are 2cm in size. Anything under 1cm is considered safe and only over 5cm is it considered worrying. The tumour on the testicle was 3cm in size and anything under 4cm is considered a good prognosis. However, the analysis on the tumour has suggested it is quite an aggressive cancer and my cancer markers are still rising, so they want to start chemo asap.

I will be starting as an inpatient, which isn't what I wanted but does mean I can start treatment next week. I will be receiving 3 x 8 hour doses of BEP chemotherapy on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week, and this will reoccur every 3 weeks for 9 weeks, which should hopefully mean I'm in recovery for Christmas. Booked in at the barbers on Friday, might cancel that now!

The bad news is that our child is due 2 weeks today, and so if it is born between Tuesday and Thursday next week I won't be able to be present. I've got everything crossed that that isn't the case.
 
Bittersweet news. All I can say is I hope everything continues on a positive path on all fronts. Fingers crossed your new little one can hang on in there (metaphorically)
 
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