Worried over boyfriend's testicular lump?
Hi all,
Before I start I know that he should go to the doctors regardless of my anxiety just to be on the safe side, and I'm trying to convince him to do this. Basically, my bf said he had a small hard to find lump on his right testicle (he seems to have known about it for a while, maybe a few months to a year) and isn't overly concerned as its very hard to find. I myself often rub and massage his balls (in a non sexual way, I do it because it relaxes him) and during all those times I've done that I've never once felt this lump. He got me to try to feel it yesterday by really massaging into them and I did feel a very small hard lump, perhaps the size of a grain of rice I would say.
The thing is, I'm a massive hypochondriac, and this spreads onto my loved ones too (I'd also be interested to know if anyone else experiences this?). Upon looking on Google (I know, bad idea) I did find out cancer was the rarest cause of lumps on the testicle, and even if it is found that it is very treatable and has a high survivor rate. My bf actually knows a couple of people who had it but are doing fine now. My only problem is that I delved deeper into Google.
My bf also has occasional chest pains and cough phlegm since around he quit smoking. He hasn't smoked for over a year and a half but he very occasionally gets this bouts of chest pains. About 3 years ago when he was smoking he got the full works done (scans x-rays, ecg) and nothing was found wrong. He's often attributed the pains to either his body healing after smoking, anxiety or a possibility of a heritary condition (his mum has suffered from chest pains all her life).
But me, delving into Google read that advanced stages of testicular cancer can cause chest pains/phelgm. Now, he rarely gets chest pains, I'd say maybe once every 3 months if that, so it's not a regular thing but last night they seemed bad. He said they seemed more painful than usual but didn't know if it was his anxiety.
Now that's scary enough and sorry for the rant but I've just tried to put the two together and have convinced myself the worst. I haven't really had what I call a 'health anxiety attack' for a while and I feel like I need someone to talk to. He's not too concerned over his chest pain as it's something he's experienced before and been checked and cleared on, but I did say if it persists in being worse than he should go back.
It's this testicle lump I worry deeply about - I wouldn't be as worried if I hadn't convinced myself it's some form of advanced stage - but if it was, surely the lump would have gotten bigger or more painful or easier to feel? Websites did say it was small when detected early.
I'm going to convince him to go to the doctor yes, but any advice or way of calming me would be helpful. I hate having health anxiety and it helps to know people feel the same.
Thank you in advance
Re: Worried over boyfriend's testicular lump?
Chances are it is an epidydimal cyst or hydrocele. Both non cancerous. My husband had lump that was very painful. Turns out it was a cyst
Re: Worried over boyfriend's testicular lump?
I know that you know this, but he should get it checked. The chances are it is nothing, but it's never worth waiting around to see! My lovely colleagues son has just been diagnosed with testicular cancer after his girlfriend found a lump (it was a pretty obvious one though) and he is only 30 years old. The chances are he is fine and it's nothing, but do encourage him to go.
I get what you mean re: health anxiety about loved ones. My son has horrendous migraines that are thankfully becoming controlled with medication - before that I was CONVINCED that he had a brain tumour or similar. It's awful when it's someone else as you feel all the more helpless. xx
Re: Worried over boyfriend's testicular lump?
He should get checked, but i think TC is usually pretty obvious. Doctors don’t feel very hard/deep on exam, just a quick brush on each side.
Re: Worried over boyfriend's testicular lump?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Libra96
I myself often rub and massage his balls (in a non sexual way, I do it because it relaxes him)....
I'm quite sure it's nothing but I am struggling to interpret that as non-sexual. I'm just not quite sure sure how that 'relaxes' him :winks:
Re: Worried over boyfriend's testicular lump?
I had a lump on mine that turned out to be a cyst and had it removed.
Re: Worried over boyfriend's testicular lump?
I used to think I had testicular cancer, it was a big one for me. A dr told me once that around 96% of lumps found in the testicles are non-cancerous and even if it was cancer it has like a 99% cure rate.
Re: Worried over boyfriend's testicular lump?
Hi
This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your issue.
This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.
Please also read this post:
http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=213239