r/testicularcancer

I know that everyone will experience TC differently.

To summarise my wife and I were trying to conceive for over a year unsuccessfully. Started getting checks done which is where we discovered I had TC. So this was around 9/10 months ago.

Orchiectomy was done, pt2b pure Seminoma and I had a single round of carboplatin. Done sperm preservation etc in advance though numbers were in 10's of thousands rather than millions. The testicle that remains was undescended when I was a kid and is what they call atrophied (underdeveloped). Urologist refused at time of orchiectomy to do a bilateral despite my plea's

Surgery was September and I've since also started testosterone treatment back in January but so far it's not settled and it's all over the place using gels. In turn my mood, temperament, motivation has generally also been also been all over as has my interest in any sexual activity... To the point where I'm feeling distant within the context of my relationship. Not sure how much of it might be the trauma of cancer, the loss of fertility/dreams (happening naturally at least) and how much is TRT.

During the immediate period post surgery/Carboplatin I was focused on recovery etc and handled that period well and it's now these months later when I feel stuck and emotional and feeling shit. My worry is not cancer it's the rest of the effects of it that are "life-changing"

Has anyone else found themselves in this situation? What got you through?

I’m a 20 year old guy and ever since going through cancer treatment/chemo months ago, I feel like my brain and nervous system haven’t been the same. Physically I’m in remission, but mentally I feel stuck in survival mode all the time.

I’ve been dealing with constant brain fog, exhaustion, panic attacks, derealization, anxiety, and this overwhelming fear that something is wrong with me again. If I feel tired, dizzy, weak, numb, sick, or off in any way, my brain instantly jumps to worst case scenario. I feel hyper aware of every sensation in my body now.

Some days I feel disconnected from reality, almost like I’m not fully present or like I’m “high” even though I’m completely sober. My concentration feels terrible, I overthink everything, and I constantly feel on edge. It’s exhausting because outwardly I still work and function, but internally I feel like I’m fighting my own mind every day.

Part of me wonders if this is some form of PTSD, health anxiety, or lingering mental effects from everything I went through during cancer treatment. I feel like my body survived it but my nervous system never calmed down afterward.

Has anyone else experienced this after cancer, medical trauma, or prolonged stress? Did it eventually get better?

Hey everyone I just wanted to get some insight about the hair loss part of chemo. I’m 22yo and have opted for 1 cycle of BEP starting in the next 2 weeks. I know unfortunately losing your hair is a part of the healing process but that’s been a hard part for me to accept. I’m young and very active and to be honest my hair is a big part of my personality and character (I have nice blond curly hair). I know it’s not the end of the world, as I’d lose my hair any day if that meant I’m cancer free, but kind of hesitant about how I’m perceived out in public, work etc. Any tips that helped you guys during this part of the treatment would be appreciated. Any encouragement would also be helpful. Also has anyone tried any thing to speed up or help hair growth post treatment? Thanks.

Forgive me if its intruding, as I lost my testicle to a torsion and not cancer, but there's not really a better group of other men to ask.

I lost lefty four months ago and am still really struggling with the change of sensation, I just feel very lopsided at all times and particularly when standing, which isn't aided by me being on my feet all the time at work. I was not at the time offered a prosthesis, but am at this point seriously considering it to try and restore some sense of normalcy to the area.

Does anyone have any particularly strong opinions against an implant? Are they good for life or do they expire at some point.

Thanks.

Hello guys,

I wanted to share my story and some things that helped me during treatment.

For those who don’t know, I was diagnosed 2 years ago with pure seminoma. No LVI, no metastasis. I was stage 1A or 1B — I honestly can’t remember exactly. After surgery, I had 1 round of adjuvant carboplatin.

At my 2-year scan, they found one enlarged lymph node, around 3 cm. My doctor and I discussed the options and decided to go with 3x BEP.

I finished treatment 3 weeks ago, and today I had my PET scan. It came back all clear. Thank God.

Here are my suggestions to all my fellow warriors here:

Drink a LOT of water. I mean a LOT. I drank at least 3 liters per day. They also gave me IV fluids and electrolytes during treatment.

The biggest side effect for me was constipation, especially after the first cycle. But after that, it became more manageable.

Walk EVERY DAY if you can. Try to get at least 5k–6k steps daily, even during EP weeks if your body allows it. Sometimes I pushed myself a little, but walking helped my gut, my energy, and especially my psychology. If you feel too tired, even a 10–15 minute walk is better than nothing. I strongly recommend it.

Do not smoke. I’m an athlete and I don’t smoke, and I think that was a huge plus for me. Bleomycin can affect the lungs, so please take that seriously.

I ate a lot of yogurt, chia seeds, cucumber, soup, and also red meat. I tried to eat fiber-rich foods for my gut. Sometimes I had to force myself to eat, but we need to eat, guys. Your body needs fuel to recover.

For the metallic taste in my mouth, chewing gum and small candies helped me a lot.

Try to stay active if you can. After EP weeks, I tried to get out of the “sick mentality.” I went outside, sat in cafés with my computer, read books in parks, drank tea, talked with people, went to the cinema, and tried to keep living as much as possible.

This process is hard, but it is manageable. Take care of your body, listen to your doctors, and don’t lose hope.

Hey everyone, I'm just not sure what to think.

I lost lefty last September and went through a single round of adjuvant BEP chemo in November. So far all of my surveillance CT scans and tumor marker tests have been good and clear.

Here's the interesting thing that I've been struggling with. During my initial US last year and in the subsequent ultrasounds I've had, there's been a small mass that they've observed on my right testicle as well. It seemed like it grew a little bit in size but then shrank quite a bit after the round of BEP. Since then, I've had two ultrasounds, including one today, and it hasn't really grown at all.

Here's the results from my US today:

The right testicle measures 4.4 x 1.6 x 2.6 cm, with a volume of 9.7 mL. A hypoechoic focus in the inferomedial right testicle measuring 0.5 x 0.4 x 0.4 cm has not significantly changed in size and previously measured 0.5 x 0.4 x 0.2 cm. No obvious internal vascularity. Extensive testicular microlithiasis. Normal arterial and venous flow in the testicle. Normal epididymis. No hydrocele. No varicocele.

I've been feeling a little achey in my groin area the past week, but that has come and gone since my original orchiectomy last year.

I just don't know what to think about this mini-mass in righty. What do you guys think?

I am not sure if I have scrotolith or something worse.

I have very little pearl in left testicle,my testicles dont grow,neither that pearl grows.

But i sometimes feel something like pain in my hip or lower stomach.

Any experience with this?

Hi everyone, I’m hoping to get some advice or hear from people who’ve gone through something similar.
I’m a testicular cancer survivor x3 in Northern California, and I’ve been struggling with whether or not to keep using marijuana to function day-to-day. I recently quit again, and it’s been really difficult. My appetite is almost nonexistent, I’ve been steadily losing weight, and I’m even taking my old chemo nausea meds just to get through the day.
Before quitting, I was using about three fairly strong joints a day. It helped me eat and feel somewhat normal. I’ve quit before—back in October during chemo recovery—because it made me anxious, but I returned after a couple weeks once things stabilized.
I know I don’t technically need it, and I don’t really want to rely on it, but without it I feel almost broken.
I would also like to get back to working at some point, and even though I’m technically disabled, I still wanna have a purpose in life and make some extra money. Passing a drug test though could be a problem but most positions I’m interested in don’t care if i test positive for thc.
-thanks !

I’ve been to the doctors and had a check on a lump and a general ache in one of my testicles. Doctor confirmed the hard painless lump was actually on my testicle to the best of their knowledge so referred me for an ultrasound which is tomorrow. I’m worried and honestly just want a bit of positive support!

As the title states, I am going in for my ultrasound in a few hours. I am a little scared; there is a small lump on the left testicle and a larger one on the right. I'm trying to stay positive, but the worry is setting in. Going to try and relax after the test, but I'm a pretty bad worrier.

In the case of cancer, any idea on what will happen next? I'm Canadian for reference. But I am just curious/worried about what happens next if it is cancer.

I finished my first week long round EP chemo last week, and I’m in my first week of two weeks of rest before my next cycle. So far, I haven’t felt terrible. The biggest pain is that one time my nurse took five tries before they got the IV right so now one of my arms hurts like hell and is bruised, and that has been very slow to recover.

I’m very thankful that this is not Ben a completely terrible experience, and then I’ve been learning how to deal with the after effects of chemo as time passes so that my next cycle will be easier to handle.

I’ve been trying to do a lot of positive thinking, and a new one just came to me as I looked in a mirror realized I looked like shit and decided to do grooming for me and my partner’s sake.

It is much much less difficult to shave my fishbowl when it’s half empty. It’s an enjoyable notion in my trying time.

Tl:dr : 1 ball is easier to shave than 2

I will be castrated in a couple of hours and will be on TRT for the rest of my life, I’ve been told that my life will continue as normal. Is that the truth though?

Due to testicular cancer at the age of 18 (I lost my righty and had to do RNLDP) now 2 years forward I’m writing this from the hospital saying goodbye to my lefty ( and thanking it for carrying everything in the past 2 years 😭😭)

Since I’ll be ball less therefore no testosterone, my body will want it from a different source. Mainly injections in my butt cheeks. I’ll be doing the testortone called Nebido. Injections will be once every 10-14 weeks.

Now I’ve been told by my doctor that things will be normal, is that the case for real tho?

I am a bit “worried” about my physical life, like I am very active in sports. Gym, pingpong, football, badminton, swimming and etc. Will I be able to continue doing sports just the way I always have?

Moreover, physical appearance as well, like my beard, my body structure, my muscles, face. Will anything change? Like I’ve seen the body builders that do TRT their face looks terrible and it feels like they’ve aged 60 years even though they are 20-25

My hair and beard as said before, will I go bald? Will I not grow a beard or will my beard go very fast.

What about acne and such?

Sex is also an aspect I’m curious about, I will be getting a prosthetic ball, assumingly only 1 cuz I’m kinda used to being uniballed and haven’t had any girl mind it at all, however what about my libido my erection and all that other stuff.

The fake ball is also a minor concern, I mean will it look ugly or can’t u tell the difference. And ur there’s a difference how big and noticeable is it?

I can’t lie, the nebido needles hurt like a bitch, I’ve took 1 already in Tuesday and I can barely walk, I’ve also gotten a bit of a fever due to the testosterone (which makes perfect sense it’s something that my body isn’t familiar with)

I would appreciate if someone could help me with their own experiences or their knowledge on this matter. I’m looking forward to reading your comments when I wake up!

And do not worry, I will survive this no matter what 😘

Right now i am after my 2nd 5 day BEP protocoll and waiting for the next infusion of Blymecin, and i got i Problem...

i pooped a bit, 2 days ago, but not the amount you'd guess after 6 days of hospital food, right now i am siting on the toilet and fighting acid reflux, trying to poop.

Give me your best poop starters, i am getting desperate here, cause i think the reflux is from backlog down under

I tried those softeners, last time yesterday, milk in hospital, cheese in hospital...

Maybe i'll make a coffee and walk around with a cigarette, but for one, i reaaally shouldn't smoke and second it's the middle of the night where i am...

So,yeah... this is driving me nut... (haha get it? i ll show myself out...)

thx 4 your input!

Cheers

DK

Welp fellas path report came back post orchi today, exactly 30 days before my wedding 😔, as a mixed germ cell tumor.

Seminoma: 65%, embryonal carcinoma: 10%, yolk sac tumor: 10%, choriocarcinoma: 5%, teratoma: 10%

T1N0S_ doc is still waiting on a confirmation from some additional labs. Clear margins with no lymphatic invasion.

I am meeting with my oncologist next week to discuss further treatment but it sounds like 5 year surveillance. Reoccurrence % is unknown right now.

I consider myself extremely blessed to have caught this early but the mental load is taking a toll on me. Any tips on helping alleviate mental struggle with this diagnosis and future surveillance load?

June 1993. I was sixteen years old. The ACC championship was a few days behind us. I had pitched for a Jesuit high school in Connecticut, gone 9-3 my junior year with 60 strikeouts in 68 innings, and weighed 170 pounds. I threw in the mid-eighties. D1 scouts had been at my games. My coach had written my college recommendation letter that spring. He told the colleges to call him.

I was taking a shower one morning, and I felt an ache that wasn't supposed to be there. I checked. I felt something.

I went to the emergency room with what I thought was a routine problem. A doctor examined me. They drew blood. A nurse came in with the cart, took a few vials, and walked them down to the lab. I did not think about it again. They sent me home with antibiotics and told me to follow up with a urologist in five days.

The urologist examined me briefly. The bloodwork from the ER was on his desk. One number was off the charts. Alpha-fetoprotein. AFP. A protein that healthy adults barely produce. Mine was high enough that he did not need an ultrasound to know what he was looking at.

Stage IIC nonseminoma. Testicular cancer.

I had an orchiectomy at a hospital in Connecticut that week. A bigger surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering a few weeks later, where the surgeon found cancer in seven of the eight lymph nodes he removed. Four cycles of cisplatin and etoposide through September and October. I dropped from 170 pounds to 137. I lost my hair. I could not walk up a flight of stairs without sitting down halfway.

Before the chemo started, my father drove me to a clinic and made me bank sperm. I was sixteen. I told him I just wanted to survive the next month. He told me I might want kids someday. He was right. One of my children, born years later through IVF, came from the vials we stored that summer.

I survived. The chemotherapy cisplatin worked. I went back to school. I went back to baseball.

By senior year, I had gained some of the weight back. But the body that had been throwing in the low eighties was gone. The velocity was gone. The command was different. I went 4-4. The D1 scouts stopped coming. I went to one college for a semester and tried to walk on. I did not make the team. I transferred to another school for three semesters. Then a third for two. I never graduated from any of them. I kept rebuilding.

By twenty, I was at a junior college in Connecticut. Three years older than the typical freshman. My best friend had played there the year before, called the coach, and told him to give me a look. The coach took the call. He took me in. We spent two years rebuilding the body that cisplatin had taken apart. From 175 pounds to 200. From low-eighties to 86 miles an hour.

In 1998, we won the NJCAA Division III national championship. The first Connecticut team to win one. I was the staff ace. I went 9-0 my sophomore year on a 44-5 team. Eight wins on the way to the title. The ninth win is what I have been doing ever since.

I built a career. I got married. I have wonderful children and a great life.

I thought the cancer chapter was closed.

In 2025, more than thirty years after my original diagnosis, I was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. I am also currently being followed for a small kidney tumor that may be malignant, but very curable if cancerous. The drug that saved me in my teens did its job. It also showed up again, decades later, in ways the original protocols did not predict. Cisplatin late effects are documented in the literature, and the AYA cohort is the one that lives long enough for them to matter.

I'm literally freaking out. It's under my right teste and it's sort of firm. It feels smaller than a pea and seems to have edges to it.

Hey everyone! My husband who is 30 years old discovered a lump on the top of his right testicle a few months ago. It’s also l slightly larger than the left one. I told him to make an appointment and he brushed it off and he told me he wasn’t able to feel it anymore.

Well fast forward to a couple weeks ago he says he feels the lump again & I also had felt it too. It feels almost gel like not super hard but not super soft either. I made him make an appointment with his primary who he saw today and confirmed there was a lump. He gets an ultrasound next Tuesday and then will have to wait 1-2 days for a radiologist to confirm whether he needs to go to a urologist or not. I am really worried about him, but don’t want him to know I’m worried and make him more scared. Everything I’m reading online basically says it’s really hard to tell if you have TC or not, that not many symptoms are shown. We are about to have our baby girl next month and we’re both just really worried it could be something more. I guess I’m just looking for reassurance or any advice at all!

Been a month today since I lost my second nut, been a wild ride fellas let me tell you. I still am thankful but it’s every day I battle with emotions and energy and self confidence.

I was taking gel for the month, applied it everyday. Which I found very annoying and hard because of my work schedule and having to make sure I have it on me etc.

Today I did my first 2 week injection and it was a weird hill to climb and a bit nervous but it was actually super easy. To some good news, I have found someone that understands what I’m going through and doesn’t judge me, she’s very accepting and doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable.

My friends and family have been supporting me all the way through. I just wanted to share this because like myself, it’s a big change in our lives and it’s never easy and it feels like no one truly understands.

So my brothers, I’m having a cold one tonight. If any of you feel to share here or ask me a question please don’t hesitate! Love ya boys.

Still waiting on a appointment to get full pathology on my 2nd cancer but out of curiosity I was wondering if there is anyone here who had bi lateral cancer and was stage 1 and surveillance both times?

Im currently stage 1 on first cancer and looks like the second could be stage one also (2cm semimoma)

Any 2x actually ever get away without further treatment? chemo/rplnd..

Cheers

Hi all,

Realized my left nut was bigger than the right over the weekend. I jumped on it straight away and got an ultrasound that day, and had an appointment with a urologist and got bloodwork done yesterday. The stars freaking aligned to allow me to get all that together so fast, but it's fair to say I got TC.

I'm still waiting for the CT scan approval from my insurance, but I just got the bloodwork results back. My AFP is considered normal at 1.9 NG/ml, HCG is above normal at 7 mIU/mL, and LDH at 207 with no unit attached, but the platform I'm reading it off of says that's within a good range.

I'm waiting on the doc to tell me, but can't stop an anxious mind right? The thing I'm nervous about is if this platform I'm getting my results on would tell me what my actual HCG levels are, or just tell me the max of the scale, which is super small. Image below.

Are people familiar with this kind of a scale? Do you guys think that 7 would be higher if it was truly higher and not just the highest number this small scale is showing?

EDIT: Urologist doctor has recommended the nut be removed entirely. Which I'm scheduling to be the soonest date after whenever my CT scan is.

https://preview.redd.it/i9wruqg92e2h1.png?width=735&format=png&auto=webp&s=c74197dee8754a4f31149be40a031745b08be388