Orchidectomy scheduled for end of next week
Hi everyone, I (28M) posted on here a few weeks ago about my story and here’s an update, as well as some questions I have. Essentially I was told that I might have a tumour in my testicle, but that I needed to wait around 4 weeks to allow any swelling/bleeding/etc. to go away. I finally had the ultrasound on Tuesday of last week and they said they still weren’t quite sure what it is. Two days later, on Thursday I met with my urologist and he said that they’re leaning towards it being a tumour but they can only be sure once the testicle is out. With that, he also mentioned that if it does turn out to be a tumour, they would then be able to identify exactly what kind of tumour it is and the treatment route to take. So while it’s not 100% certain that it’s a tumour, I’m quite certain that that’s what it is.
I just wanted to ask you guys a few questions, having passed through it yourselves:
- has anyone had a similar experience? I feel like most people get a for sure diagnosis immediately so I’m finding it weird that they don’t know for sure.
- how was the orchidectomy? Did you experience a lot of pain afterwards?
- do you feel weird having just the one testicle? Not just mentally but physically I mean
- did you opt to get an implant? The urologist said that he doesn’t particularly recommend (or like) doing implants as some people go back to him saying it’s uncomfortable or asking him to remove it afterwards. He said that for the time being they won’t do the implant anyway, in case I need to go through chemo, but wanted to get some opinions on it. How was your experience?
- did anyone experience any hormonal changes? He said there shouldn’t be since it’s just the one and that the left one will compensate.
- how long post-orchidectomy did you go back to work?
- what’s the likelihood that I’ll have to undergo chemo?