Cancer Free for 1 Year
For anyone who has been newly diagnosed or is currently going through treatment, I want you to know that it does get better.
I was diagnosed in September 2023, and today I can officially say I’ve been cancer-free for one full year.
The biggest piece of advice I can give is this: if there’s any chance you may want children someday, bank as much sperm as you possibly can before your orchiectomy. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that and had to bank afterward, which significantly affected my sperm count.
No matter what stage you’re at, I would also push for monthly tumor marker bloodwork during that first year after treatment. I’d also strongly recommend getting a port before chemotherapy. Repeated IVs can become a bitch on your veins over time.
My treatment ended up being:
• 4x EP
• RPLND
• 2x EP
• 2x TIP
• 2x HDCT
This journey taught me that there’s no such thing as perfect timing. Life doesn’t always go according to plan, and sometimes the biggest detours lead to the greatest blessings.
Since finishing high-dose chemotherapy last year, my wife and I decided to bet on ourselves. We bought our first home, went through IUI, conceived our first child on the very first attempt, and this month we welcomed our son into the world.
When you’re in the middle of a diagnosis or treatment, it can feel like your life is on pause while everyone else’s keeps moving forward. But that feeling doesn’t last forever. There is life after cancer, and there is hope beyond the hardest days.
Keep your head up, trust the process, and keep fighting. You’ve got this. 💪🏼