RVP
25-03-14, 18:08
Hi guys, I am 22 years old, I thought I'd share my little story with you all as I have gone through testicular cancer, so if there's any concerns you may have I hope to answer them.
I was first aware that something was wrong when my testicles would ache daily, this went on for about 2-3 weeks and eventually my testicle got bigger and bigger. At this time I was in year 10, around 15 years old.
I didn't know how to tell anyone I had this condition, but I would read up on it and diagnosed myself with testicular cancer (now, I don't want you guys diagnosing yourselfs, the only reason why I most likely knew it was cancer, was by testicle had grown to the size of a tennis ball at this stage.)
I would go to the Dr's for other things related to my cancer, I was feeling sick, I couldn't keep my food in, extremely painful back pain, to the point I was walking like a 90 year old with a walking stick. But yet, I hadn't told anyone! (Just like to point out at this stage in my life I never had health anxiety)
So basically, I was ready to die..there was no way I could bring myself to tell anyone about my problem and I went on my daily life as any other normal child trying to forget about it.
First day of year 11 I went into school and my friends knew there was something seriously wrong with me, my colour was different and I was throwing up in the classroom bin, I went home at 12 and that walk home..well I'm surprised I never collapsed in the road to be honest.
I went to the Hospital for a scan which was due to my "illness" but I knew I had cancer, and during that scan the Dr found something in my stomach, yes the cancer had spread to my liver.
So I was booked into the childrens hospital for an autopsy on my stomach within 4 days.
The day of the operation I still never told anyone I had a massive size 1 football sized testicle until the surgeon came over to examine me and checked down my pants! and let me tell you, that was a massive sigh of relief, knowing that I will now get treated properly.
Moral of the story? well, I don't think there is one apart from check yourself every month and look for any sizing changes, not all testicular cancers will cause pain.
Caught early, this type of cancer has a 99% cure rate, I had left mine for well over 6 months, in fact it felt like nearly a year, so rather than having the testicle removed which would of happened, I had to go through chemotherapy and 2 surgery's in order to fix everything.
I would have posted this sooner, however, I've never seen 'male health issues' on this forum until yesterday.
I was first aware that something was wrong when my testicles would ache daily, this went on for about 2-3 weeks and eventually my testicle got bigger and bigger. At this time I was in year 10, around 15 years old.
I didn't know how to tell anyone I had this condition, but I would read up on it and diagnosed myself with testicular cancer (now, I don't want you guys diagnosing yourselfs, the only reason why I most likely knew it was cancer, was by testicle had grown to the size of a tennis ball at this stage.)
I would go to the Dr's for other things related to my cancer, I was feeling sick, I couldn't keep my food in, extremely painful back pain, to the point I was walking like a 90 year old with a walking stick. But yet, I hadn't told anyone! (Just like to point out at this stage in my life I never had health anxiety)
So basically, I was ready to die..there was no way I could bring myself to tell anyone about my problem and I went on my daily life as any other normal child trying to forget about it.
First day of year 11 I went into school and my friends knew there was something seriously wrong with me, my colour was different and I was throwing up in the classroom bin, I went home at 12 and that walk home..well I'm surprised I never collapsed in the road to be honest.
I went to the Hospital for a scan which was due to my "illness" but I knew I had cancer, and during that scan the Dr found something in my stomach, yes the cancer had spread to my liver.
So I was booked into the childrens hospital for an autopsy on my stomach within 4 days.
The day of the operation I still never told anyone I had a massive size 1 football sized testicle until the surgeon came over to examine me and checked down my pants! and let me tell you, that was a massive sigh of relief, knowing that I will now get treated properly.
Moral of the story? well, I don't think there is one apart from check yourself every month and look for any sizing changes, not all testicular cancers will cause pain.
Caught early, this type of cancer has a 99% cure rate, I had left mine for well over 6 months, in fact it felt like nearly a year, so rather than having the testicle removed which would of happened, I had to go through chemotherapy and 2 surgery's in order to fix everything.
I would have posted this sooner, however, I've never seen 'male health issues' on this forum until yesterday.