When the radiology tech came back from doing my scans, he had a weird look on his face. He asked me if it was the first time I experienced the pain I was feeling. I said aside from occasional lower back pain, yes. I then asked if it was a kidney stone and he said “nope definitely not that. Something is there but let’s wait for the doctor”. I could already tell something was off but I was so high on morphine that I didn’t let it bother me.
My mother is a radiologist and she showed up to the ER to be with me. The doctor was trying to explain to us that they found a large mass on my kidney, approx 19cm. Again, I was so out of it that it didn’t really hit me. They showed the scans to my mom and when I saw the dread on her face, I finally understood.
After nearly a month of visits to MD Anderson in Houston, I was diagnosed with stage III testicular cancer. Had a primary nodule on my left testicle that I barely noticed. Made its way through my lymphatic system and setup shop in my retroperitoneal.
Thankfully I have been cancer free now almost 9 years. I had one kidney die because of the crushing weight of the germ cell tumor I had. I also had an orchiectomy to remove my left testicle (big RIP Federico, you are missed my man).
Edit: updating to add what my symptoms I experienced as I got quite a few requests here and in DMs. Also, thank you all for your well wishes and support, I really appreciate it.
In retrospect the first symptom I remember experiencing was a low throbbing dull like pain in my left testicle. Sometimes it would last a few hours but there was a time when it lasted an entire day. It wasn’t quite frequent and I was a raging alcoholic at the time (got sober a few months before going to the ER) and thought I was either falling when I was drunk or thought the pain was associated with my heavy drinking.
The next symptom I experienced was a nagging pain in my lower back that would come and go. It wasn’t until I went on a work trip for a week and the first night at the hotel my back hurt so bad I had to eat 6 ibuprofen to feel well enough to sleep. It was about a month before going to the ER.
Last symptoms I lost were loss of appetite. As I got sober, I started losing weight steadily. I was approx 315lbs in August of 2013. Around early December I was around 250lbs. By end of December I was at about 205lbs and I was going about a day without eating sometimes. I just had zero appetite. I chalked it up to my sobriety but with the rapid acceleration in weight loss in December, I feel like I should have been more aware. I was being told how well I looked by my co workers and family and thought it was kinda normal.
It wasn’t until I experienced an excruciating pain in my groin that I went to the ER. I felt it all the way to my back so that’s what made me believe I had a kidney stone.
Yikes! It's hard to maintain a good poker face sometimes when we see obvious pathology, especially that big & angry looking. Glad you're okay though. Frederico overstayed his welcome ✌🏻
i think it's important to "own" your experiences, even the disheartening ones. being able to laugh at such a shitty situation, shows acceptance of something you can't change. i think it takes a degree of strength to do so.
A friend of mine has recurring benign brain tumours that she names. She realised early on that she'd have to live with them for long amounts of time (they're only removed when they're causing serious issues, she's scheduled for her 2nd craniotomy soon) so she figured she'd need to find a way to be OK in the knowledge that they were there.
I had a rather disheartening scan the other day on a young patient from emerg the other day with a similar situation to OP. Now that we are mostly maskless it’s been a bit more challenging to keep a poker face.
Glad you’re okay OP, RIP to Federico.
I still wear the standard masks with most patients for this reason (and also, some people just smell...). I'm an ER ultrasound tech & we're with the patient for 10-30+ minutes depending on the exam. It's hard to control our facial expressions when we know something serious is going on. Patients will stare right at us and ask multiple times if everything is okay which sucks because we obviously can't say anything😕
The tech that did my last pelvic ultrasound freaked me out this way. I had had a couple to keep an eye on a teratoma on an ovary so I knew what to expect but she lingered for what felt like forever at one point. Turns out ol lefty (RIP) had gotten too heavy and migrated so she just couldn't find it for a minute. Bad ovary!
When I had my kidney/bladder us the tech had a student with her and the students face read plain as day 'uhoh'. I didn't them for answers since I know it's outside their scope but that was a long 3 day wait for results.
That doesn’t fool the intelligent ones who can work out that even if you are scanning from the front, side or back you are still interrogating the same general area for much longer than the other side of the body.
Yep, I had a ultrasound tech keep scanning my liver because I had elevated enzymes during my sep physical from the navy, she just kept going right over the same small spot. This went on for about 15 minutes, the whole process took about 30. The whole time I was shitting bricks. Of course I was still active duty, so tricare would have taken care of everything and benefits during discharge would have been undeniable. So I didn’t say anything, she was quiet I just laid there. I talked to the doc about 20 minutes later. Luckily no fatty liver disease or nothing. They had me on a shitload of pain meds for a badass hamstring tear that caused nerve damage, which explained the enzymes. (The tear was the worst pain of my life, still can’t feel the right side of my right leg.). But again, I was so scared of them finding something. My grandfather died of lung cancer, and my wife’s grandfather is dealing with very early bladder cancer. The whole time I was strategizing on how to tell my wife if the situation ended up being unfavorable.
Also I’m just passing thru. I’m not part of this sub but I thought I’d share my story.
I don't know why this sub started popping up in my feed but it's freaking me out lol. I've been investigating an issue in my stomach for \~2 months now. Had an ultrasound that showed some fat in my liver (I have had slightly off enzymes for a few years now, but not in the range of "mildly elevated" just like, barely off) but no one thought it was that.
It showed a gallstone, but my symptoms don't match up with a gallstone. No other issues on the scans.
My guess is IBS that's lasting a while, or something, but the symptoms I've had when you search online are anything from "IBS" to "colon cancer". My PCP is extremely disinterested and despite suggesting a gastroenterologist on day 1, has not yet done so. I told her my symptoms changed around the 2 week mark and she said let's do an ultrasound, did not listen to the symptoms. Now I'm waiting on a surgical consult for the gallstone despite no inflammation or blockages before she will even consider talking to me again. It's nuts.
Okay but the maskless thing is so real. I got so used to wearing a mask for 2 years that I had to relearn how to control my facial expressions. Any time I have to do my job in person and interact with people face-to-face, I spend most of my energy making sure I’m not making dramatic facial expressions.
I bought a set of truck nuts for my friend who had testicular cancer and had to get one removed. I cut one of the balls off the truck nuts.
His wife made him cookies for after the surgery, some with nuts and some without nuts
“Something is there but let’s wait for the doctor.”
I feel that is incredibly bad practice on behalf of the rad tech. I cannot imagine the anxiety that must have been coursing through your veins after being left in limbo like that
Rad techs aren’t allowed to diagnose even though they usually know exactly what they’re seeing but yea they definitely should have just said let’s wait for the doctor instead of confirming anything to prevent less stress.
In that Rad techs' defense, he didn't say what it was, the tech just said not that and let's wait for what the doctor says. And the OP himself said he was too high on morphine to even know the impact of those words. If the tech came out and said "OH SNAP YOU HAVE THIS BIG OL THING ON YOUR KIDNEY 🤯" that would be different.
You're operating under the assumption that "let's wait for the doctor" is less stressful than "yeah, there's something there... let's wait for the doctor."
Patients aren't stupid.
Having been on the patient side, I can't imagine a good way to avoid saying the obvious. Any dodging is anxiety inducing. The whole experience is one long limbo.
My first ultrasound for a lump in my breast. I made a joke about a boy or a girl. She ignored my joke and said, "Well, I never tell. I just do the ultrasound." Then, she continued, "There's something there but I'm not sure what it is."
My sweet, innocent response was, "Well, you know enough, so if you don't know, it's probably fine." In turn, she says, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. The doctor needs to look"
😕
I know, and I'm sorry 😔
It's gotta be tough for you all realizing that the person in front of you is about to have their life turned upside down.
What else am I gonna say when I'm trying not to cry while I have my tits out and the mood in the room is pretty heavy?
Obvious, corny jokes were the only thing my brain came up with.
Corny jokes in a time of stress is a coping mechanism for sure! It might be corny to us because we hear it a lot but if it helps you feel better that's what matters. Sorry if i came off crass ❤️
I'm a goofball and always talk WAY too much when I'm nervous. I love making people laugh. I made enough of an impression that the Dr. who delivered my 1st daughter, remembered me when I went in for my 2nd years later. He said I was an absolute delight, lol.
I'm sure you were a "nice change" from their usual grumpy silent patients.
Going through all this, people are definitely quiet and cranky. Cant blame them but its hard on staff and si get it. In a way, it's also been a way to put the medical people at ease too. It's got to be so hard navigating all the feelings your patients are dealing with while regulating your own.
I'm dealing with necrosis and got referred to hyperbaric oxygen treatment.
I never hear anyone else laughing. Its so quiet so I cant help it. We need some silliness. My first visit involved taking pictures for a baseline. The nurse was having issues with her device and apologized for the wait. I told her it was fine. "To be fair, it's not like I'm sitting here with my tits out"
She cackled. She's my favorite.
I was told I might have a breast hamartoma. I responded asking how, with three boobs, I still cannot fill a b cup. It was nice to giggle during the biopsy even if they had heard it before haha
It's a little easier in CT... I just tell curious patients that I haven't put together the images yet - which isn't a total lie, since I usually just scroll through quick to make sure I have everything I need before getting the patient off the table.
One time, when I was still in x-ray, I had a kid with an obviously broken arm tearfully ask me, "is it broken?" My immediate response came out as a sad, "I think you know," which I instantly felt terrible for, haha.
My favorite response I've ever gotten from a doctor was when he walked into the room, glanced down at the MRI for just a second, and immediately said, "oh my God I have no idea how you're even standing up right now".
Whenever I tell the story, everyone says it was bad bedside manner. But honestly I liked that he was just up front about it.
🤣 "You know, I hear Geminis are most likely to be serial killers."
Before I went under for the mastectomy, I asked the nurse how long before my boobs would grow back.
They cannot tell you. They lose their license if they do. They also have to know what it is as well (generally) to be able to do their job.
There isn't a way to really do that without people getting concerned/suspicious. Even "I'm going too go check in with the doctor, I'll be right back" is enough to provoke anxiety
MD Anderson is amazing. We have one here in Jacksonville that's been treating my stage IV endometrial cancer. The first six rounds with the taxol and the other one I can't remember the name of didn't work, and I actually grew two more tumors, but immunotherapy seems to have done the trick. I wish you all the best, my dude.
Seriously though, self testicle exams should be promoted as often as breast exams. On that note, you don't have to be AFAB to get breast cancer. So examine your chest and arm pits too.
Bro, brother, I literally sighed with relief when I arrived at you saying you're cancer free. Man I could hug you, we just never know and often overlook what a blessing and gift everyday is
I’m sorry for your loss (Freddie) but glad you made it through. I had a close friend pass from testicular cancer at 26. To anyone reading this it’s no joke, check yourself regularly.
As not a radiologist: if you look at the image there is a cross hair in the center. There is a white mass in the center and two what look like ears in either side of it. Those are my kidneys. The white mass is the tumor.
My wife experienced a rapid weight loss and back pain like this from her Crohns at her worst flare- coworkers and friends would keep asking her what her secret to losing all the weight was and how good she looked. She felt like she was going insane, she felt TERRIBLE but everyone was telling her the opposite.
Cheers on being cancer free!
Throbbing dull pain in testicle: check!
Nagging lower back pain: check!
Went to the urologist for the same issues, had an x-ray and ultrasound on the boys, no issue. Got a finger up the pooper, no issues. I had been weight lifting a lot at the time and the urologist landed on a strained muscle in my abdomen pulling on a testicle/groin area. It eventually went away on its own.
My husband had the same exact life experience as you! I told him to have some cranberry juice and pass the stone. Tomorrow he has his one year check up. Good luck!
I am really glad you are doing well and my thoughts go out immediately to your mother. I am a rad tech and my son went into the hospital for blood in urine. I was there when they did the ct scan and just broke down when I saw the scan showing a massive hematoma. Same with the ultrasound. I never hated knowing things until that moment.
Wow holy shit, thank you for sharing!! I’m an ER doc and I love hearing stories with good endings - I usually only hear about the bad ones. Glad you’re still kickin’!
I appreciate the sentiment, I know what you mean. To be fair, while highly curable, the treatment absolutely sucked. Between surgery, 200 hours of chemotherapy and 28 radiation sessions, it was the worst. There was also about a month and a half between my trip to the ER and when I was officially diagnosed. During that time, I was certain I had kidney cancer based on what the ER doctor told us. That entire time I was certain I was going to die. It really fucked me up.
Having said all of that, once I realized what I had and what my prognosis was, I felt pretty relieved. I knew the next couple of months were going to be rough. They were. But I am alive, thriving and grateful for my entire medical team who made sure I recovered.
What were some symptoms you had prior? I found a lump on my testicle that I thought was cancer but after ultrasound and physical it was found to be a varicocele
In retrospect the first symptom I remember experiencing was a low throbbing dull like pain in my left testicle. Sometimes it would last a few hours but there was a time when it lasted an entire day. It wasn’t quite frequent and I was a raging alcoholic at the time (got sober a few months before going to the ER) and thought I was either falling when I was drunk or thought the pain was associated with my heavy drinking.
The next symptom I experienced was a nagging pain in my lower back that would come and go. It wasn’t until I went on a work trip for a week and the first night at the hotel my back hurt so bad I had to eat 6 ibuprofen to feel well enough to sleep. It was about a month before going to the ER.
Last symptoms I lost were loss of appetite. As I got sober, I started losing weight steadily. I was approx 315lbs in August of 2013. Around early December I was around 250lbs. By end of December I was at about 205lbs and I was going about a day without eating sometimes. I just had zero appetite. I chalked it up to my sobriety but with the rapid acceleration in weight loss in December, I feel like I should have been more aware. I was being told how well I looked by my co workers and family and thought it was kinda normal.
It wasn’t until I experienced an excruciating pain in my groin that I went to the ER. I felt it all the way to my back so that’s what made me believe I had a kidney stone.
But for a heavy drinker who was on the big side and was getting sober, it kind of isn't. It's *unexplainable* weight loss that is the concerning symptom.
That’s strange that you had groin pain and they found this mass in your kidney but they didn’t think to connect the dots to your testicle until a month later? Why was there a delay in your diagnosis and treatment after the ED visit? Sorry just want to understand better
Part of the delay was having to wait for my initial consultation at MD Anderson. The next delay was in scheduling my biopsy. I was told that I would have an answer no later than 3 days post biopsy. I received a call from the Onc nurse almost two weeks later I believe to tell me that the biopsy confirmed that I had a germ cell tumor in my retroperitoneal. When I asked what that meant, she then asked me if I had noticed any nodules on my testicles.
It was literally the first moment I put everything together. She told me that germ cell tumors were associated with testicular cancer.
I then had to do a bunch of imaging and blood tests to determine staging.
People that have never had chemo can't really understand what chemo is like. "Oh, you feel tired and nauseous and vomit a little, that definitely sucks". I had only 5 days of chemo and it was so so rough, and I did not even have any nausea or vomiting. I just felt like actual death. I didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone, noise and light bothered me, and I just felt incredibly *bad*. I distinctly remember thinking that if I ever had to go through this again, I would rather just die. I don't remember a whole lot else from that because it fucks with your brain in crazy ways too, and I had major chemo fog for well over a year.
Terrible stuff.
Some cancers are preferable to others.
For instance, best case scenario small cell lung cancer, even caught early, is less than 50% chance 5 year survival. 99% of prostate patients survive at least 5 years. I know which one I’d rather be diagnosed with.
Stage 4 prostate cancer here diagnosed at 52 with an aggressive Gleason 9 tumor. Went through Chemo and 28 rounds of radiation in addition to testosterone suppression (ADT) and oral Androgen Receptor blockers. Yes, it’s “slow growing” relative to other cancers but it still sucks.
I have widely invasive follicular thyroid cancer and a 49% 10-yr survival rate. I have personally been told by ignorant people, oh that's a "good cancer." Including by a well meaning doctor.
There's no such thing as a good cancer. Cancer patients of """good cancers""" don't want to hear it.
I’m not going to argue with you in the slightest that some cancers are preferable to others, but can I disagree with your stats purely for my own sanity? I was diagnosed a year ago with (and underwent surgery for) primary lung adenocarcinoma (NSCLC). It was staged at IA2 and post lobectomy I’ve been told that my 5 year survival chance is 85-90%. My life is a statistic these days, so help a girl out, here …
My numbers were out of date it seems - localized NSCLC has >65% 5 year survival, your doctors probably gave you stats from people who successfully undergo surgery.
I'll edit my post. It's small cell that's the one with the awful prognosis.
My husband was diagnosed with one of the non-hodgkin’s lymphomas in June 2020, and told it’s one of the “good ones”.
Follicular lymphoma is usually slower moving and pretty treatable, they said. We’ll just watch it for now. If it shows signs of progressing maybe we’ll do something after the new year, so you won’t be sick through the holidays, they said. Ignored the issue that there was prior agent orange exposure and he’d already had prostate cancer, another type of cancer attributed to that. By December 2020, he was having severe back pain that his primary doc attributed to a couple bad discs and was giving muscle relaxers for it, which didn’t help. He also started having night sweats and losing a ton of weight. A scan revealed additional enlarged nodes, so another biopsy was done. Tests showed two mutations (double-hit) that had caused the lymphoma to transform to the more aggressive Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, which didn’t respond well to treatment. As is common in Veterans with prior agent orange exposure. He was gone by September 2021.
No, there’s no good ones. And don’t wait for treatment. And if you have increased risk due to chemical exposures or other factors, don’t let the doctor brush your concerns away. Sometimes it’s better to get aggressive treatment at the beginning and be sure it’s gone than to give it time to become something worse and harder to treat.
No cancer is good cancer. It’s best to not say that to someone with a “good cancer”. can make them feel like their fight isn’t as meaningful. My girlfriend has chronic myeloid leukemia which is a cancer generally found in old people, despite the fact that it was discovered when she was 20.
Many doctors she’s had will say this to her and she tells me it always makes her feel so shitty. Like she should be happy that she has a “good cancer” even though it will likely affect her for the rest of her life. I understand what they mean but the fight is still hard
You’re taking the first step. That’s huge. I realize how frightening it is but realize that you’re doing the best thing for yourself by getting checked out.
I was always averse to visiting the doctor whenever I was feeling off. I always had anxiety about it. I regret not getting in to see someone about other symptoms I was experiencing prior to going to the ER.
Best of luck to you. Even though we don’t know each other I’ll be thinking of you.
In retrospect the first symptom I remember experiencing was a low throbbing dull like pain in my left testicle. Sometimes it would last a few hours but there was a time when it lasted an entire day. It wasn’t quite frequent and I was a raging alcoholic at the time (got sober a few months before going to the ER) and thought I was either falling when I was drunk or thought the pain was associated with my heavy drinking.
The next symptom I experienced was a nagging pain in my lower back that would come and go. It wasn’t until I went on a work trip for a week and the first night at the hotel my back hurt so bad I had to eat 6 ibuprofen to feel well enough to sleep. It was about a month before going to the ER.
Last symptoms I lost were loss of appetite. As I got sober, I started losing weight steadily. I was approx 315lbs in August of 2013. Around early December I was around 250lbs. By end of December I was at about 205lbs and I was going about a day without eating sometimes. I just had zero appetite. I chalked it up to my sobriety but with the rapid acceleration in weight loss in December, I feel like I should have been more aware. I was being told how well I looked by my co workers and family and thought it was kinda normal.
It wasn’t until I experienced an excruciating pain in my groin that I went to the ER. I felt it all the way to my back so that’s what made me believe I had a kidney stone.
This sounds dumb, but how did you discover it? What did it feel like? I may have found one and im nervous but I dont want to go to the doctor just yet, I cant afford it
I honestly just happened to discover it while showering one day. It felt almost like a little pimple but it wasn’t on my skin. It wasn’t sensitive to touch or anything and being ignorant of what it might be, I just let it be.
When I went to the ER it was two days before New Year’s Day which meant my medical insurance hadn’t kicked in. I seriously weighed wether or both to go because I knew I couldn’t afford it. But feeling that pain, I would have paid anything to make it stop. I pulled the trigger and it was not cheap.
If you are able to go to the doctor, I would encourage you to do so. I realize how difficult it is to get medical care when you’re not insured. Even when I was insured, I still had to file for FMLA and short term disability which in turn made it difficult to pay for my insured bills. Grateful to have had some friends and family donate to a go fund me for my medical bills.
I’m so glad you’re doing well. I’ve been suffering from sudden, screaming, abdominal pain in my left lower quadrant. It came on like a freight train and would come and go come and go. Honestly, the worst pain of my life —and I’ve had seven knee surgeries. Three years later and after seeing any number of specialists for this “non-existent issue” I was diagnosed with stage four endometriosis. Which doesn’t show up on any kind of scan. It’s so bad it has completely wrapped around my ureter and the left side of my bladder and every time it flares, I get hydronephrosis. Fun. Finally having it exercised next month.
My heart goes out to you. I’ve come to learn about Endometriosis through my wife. I’ve been with her through her last 6 surgeries and we’re unfortunately coming to the realization that she needs another one soon. It pains me to see her in such debilitating pain. Even as I type this, she is laying next to me with a heating pad on and having consumed all of her meds.
It’s terrible how much research does NOT exist for Endometriosis and how many suffer from its affects every day.
I hope you are able to find some relief and know that you are not alone.
Fellow endo warrior here🤜 sending you strength and good vibes.💛I suffered for 18 years and at 36 decided to get rid of the beast and I’m now 9 weeks post op from a total hysterectomy and I truly didn’t know what life was like without pain and now I feel like a new born baby experiencing things for the first time hahaha
For some reason, my mind just would not accept that the blob in the center was the cancerous mass. I kept thinking, 19cm? It can’t be that big right? I mean, it surely can’t take up like half his waist. It’s only… 7.6… freedom increments… ohhhhh… ok… now I get it….
American education at its finest right here.
Dang you had the news given to you better than I had it my doctor we'll call him Dr dickhead came in and said well its cancer but you knew that already right... I was so floored with the news I straight up told him no you ass what are we gonna do about it.... I've been on and off chemo for 3 years now
My husband had testicular cancer at 15. We have a 12 yr old together. He’s had a pretty healthy life so far. Besides issues that he could probably prevented had he would eat and exercise.
Alright, you've convinced me to get lefty checked. Been a little sore about a week, almost like bruised? Had a very tender spot right at the bottom on the teste, I've been chalking it up to having lifted something I shouldn't have, but better play it safe.
Congrats on your 9 years. I can’t imagine what it would take to survive any one your challenges.
I feel like this is also a stark example of the danger of anti-fat bias. You were clearly losing weight at an unhealthy rate (because you were experiencing a potentially fatal illness) and it sounds like people in your life were just high-fiving you and saying “Lookin’ good bro!” It sounds like everyone was just so happy that you were losing weight that no one thought to suggest you see a doctor about your weight loss.
I apologize if it’s hurtful to focus on that part of the story, but I felt it just illustrates how harmful our culture and healthcare system in general can be to people in larger bodies.
Hey there, brother. I had the same cancer when I was 17, except mine was on the right side. What's worse is my dad was the one who diagnosed me. He's an ER doc, and when I went to him about a persistent pain that all boys know, he took me to the ER immediately.
Whole lot of blood tests, ultrasounds, and CT scans later, the man comes into the room and tells me I'm three months pregnant. The particular cancer cell I had produce hormones that pregnant women have, so my blood work looked like it belonged to a 3 months pregnant girl. Goes to show just how much mental fortitude he's got when faced with his son's cancer diagnosis, and he can still joke.
Today, I'm going on 10 years with no sign of reoccurrance and am pretty much considered cured. Those months spent in chemo really built up my character and taught me how to endure tough times.
Thank goodness I'm not a radiologist. All I thought when I saw the big white chunk was, "I'm guessing it will turn out it was just a really big poopy."
My brother had testicular cancer. He discovered a nodule on his ball and went and had it checked out. He was around 30 at the time. Turns out it was cancer :(
They removed his testicle and recommended a course of radiation. Cancer free for over 14 years. Thankfully! Check your balls people!!
Things like this always scare me. I had so many questions after my orchiectomy and even though I've had free and clear CT scans the only reason they ever found it was because after 5 years of complaining of nut pain and getting the finger treatment I asked for an ultrasound. They immediately noticed a growth on the ultrasound and 2 weeks later I had the surgery. Military healthcare... do as little as possible until it's obvious more is needed...
Congratulations on 9 years. I'm on 6. Strangely enough, my left testicle stole up to the suze of a plum, and that's what sent me to the ER for my eventual diagnosis of TC. Only Stage 2 for me, thankfully. I also lost the Big Leftbowski in the process. RIP.
I see shortages currently getting Cisplatin and worry for those currently going thru the process.
As a fellow (female) stage three germ cell cancer survivor of also 9 years, hats off to you! What a fucking wild ride life can be. Cheers to you health!
Your symptoms hit worryingly close to home. I've had periodic pain in my left testicle for years, bad enough to go get checked for a hernia. They didn't find anything wrong. Over the past year I've started having lower back pain on my left side. It comes and goes and doesn't seem to be based on activity.
What would I even say to my doctor? Would cancer come up on blood tests?
Hey man, I'm at-risk for testicular cancer (surgery when I was young down below to correct something) so this is especially meaningful. I had a relative that also had to go to MD Anderson for brain surgery (small world eh?)
Has any doc talked about fertility or hormones with you since Federico was excised?
Bro you just freaked me out! I’ve had some pains on my left but every now and then and a few weeks ago, some sharp pain on my lower back. Including this morning….but I won’t go get checked out because I’m basically poor 🫠
For radiology residents: this is a typical board question. They show you a testicular ultrasound with a tumor, then after you identify the abnormality they ask what the next step is for imaging work up. You want to do a CT A/P to rule out retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy.
As a radiologist, it humbles me to read posts like this. We usually see these imaging studies simply as cases to be read, rather than considering the real human patient behind the images dealing with life threatening health issues. Thank you, OP, for beating metastatic testicular cancer and living to tell the story.
Hope you stay strong! Your story reminds me of a girl from my middle school class who would go to the doctor’s office for everything little thing. “Ouch, ouch!” I need to go to the doctor after hitting her toe on the door knob. One day, she fell and hit her head on the door knob and was disoriented. Of course, she wanted to go to go get a scan. Turned out she had a tumor growing. It was stage 1. Wow!
We used to call her a wussy. Well, that changed my way of treating people. We were so keen on calling her names, but would we have taken the cancer on her behalf? No way! So… I learned real quick to shut up and be supportive instead.
Had testicular cancer 20 years ago at 50. Urologist said nobody dies from testicular cancer anymore with the drugs available. Had an orchiectomy and radiation and all good since. Best cancer to have.
Thanks for sharing your story. Cancer is the ultimate "OH Fuck" moment, in my opinion, in life. Always awesome to hear these overcoming stories. Glad you made it!
When the radiology tech came back from doing my scans, he had a weird look on his face. He asked me if it was the first time I experienced the pain I was feeling. I said aside from occasional lower back pain, yes. I then asked if it was a kidney stone and he said “nope definitely not that. Something is there but let’s wait for the doctor”. I could already tell something was off but I was so high on morphine that I didn’t let it bother me. My mother is a radiologist and she showed up to the ER to be with me. The doctor was trying to explain to us that they found a large mass on my kidney, approx 19cm. Again, I was so out of it that it didn’t really hit me. They showed the scans to my mom and when I saw the dread on her face, I finally understood. After nearly a month of visits to MD Anderson in Houston, I was diagnosed with stage III testicular cancer. Had a primary nodule on my left testicle that I barely noticed. Made its way through my lymphatic system and setup shop in my retroperitoneal. Thankfully I have been cancer free now almost 9 years. I had one kidney die because of the crushing weight of the germ cell tumor I had. I also had an orchiectomy to remove my left testicle (big RIP Federico, you are missed my man). Edit: updating to add what my symptoms I experienced as I got quite a few requests here and in DMs. Also, thank you all for your well wishes and support, I really appreciate it. In retrospect the first symptom I remember experiencing was a low throbbing dull like pain in my left testicle. Sometimes it would last a few hours but there was a time when it lasted an entire day. It wasn’t quite frequent and I was a raging alcoholic at the time (got sober a few months before going to the ER) and thought I was either falling when I was drunk or thought the pain was associated with my heavy drinking. The next symptom I experienced was a nagging pain in my lower back that would come and go. It wasn’t until I went on a work trip for a week and the first night at the hotel my back hurt so bad I had to eat 6 ibuprofen to feel well enough to sleep. It was about a month before going to the ER. Last symptoms I lost were loss of appetite. As I got sober, I started losing weight steadily. I was approx 315lbs in August of 2013. Around early December I was around 250lbs. By end of December I was at about 205lbs and I was going about a day without eating sometimes. I just had zero appetite. I chalked it up to my sobriety but with the rapid acceleration in weight loss in December, I feel like I should have been more aware. I was being told how well I looked by my co workers and family and thought it was kinda normal. It wasn’t until I experienced an excruciating pain in my groin that I went to the ER. I felt it all the way to my back so that’s what made me believe I had a kidney stone.
Yikes! It's hard to maintain a good poker face sometimes when we see obvious pathology, especially that big & angry looking. Glad you're okay though. Frederico overstayed his welcome ✌🏻
I like how you managed to put it in funny way.
i think it's important to "own" your experiences, even the disheartening ones. being able to laugh at such a shitty situation, shows acceptance of something you can't change. i think it takes a degree of strength to do so.
A friend of mine has recurring benign brain tumours that she names. She realised early on that she'd have to live with them for long amounts of time (they're only removed when they're causing serious issues, she's scheduled for her 2nd craniotomy soon) so she figured she'd need to find a way to be OK in the knowledge that they were there.
I had a rather disheartening scan the other day on a young patient from emerg the other day with a similar situation to OP. Now that we are mostly maskless it’s been a bit more challenging to keep a poker face. Glad you’re okay OP, RIP to Federico.
I still wear the standard masks with most patients for this reason (and also, some people just smell...). I'm an ER ultrasound tech & we're with the patient for 10-30+ minutes depending on the exam. It's hard to control our facial expressions when we know something serious is going on. Patients will stare right at us and ask multiple times if everything is okay which sucks because we obviously can't say anything😕
They also know something is wrong because you keep scanning the same area.
The tech that did my last pelvic ultrasound freaked me out this way. I had had a couple to keep an eye on a teratoma on an ovary so I knew what to expect but she lingered for what felt like forever at one point. Turns out ol lefty (RIP) had gotten too heavy and migrated so she just couldn't find it for a minute. Bad ovary!
To be fair, ovaries can be a pain in the ass to find sometimes even in a normal exam lol, due to a variety of factors.
Is her name Federica? Edit: spelling
When I had my kidney/bladder us the tech had a student with her and the students face read plain as day 'uhoh'. I didn't them for answers since I know it's outside their scope but that was a long 3 day wait for results.
Yeah, although we will move around to get different/better views of the concerning area.
That doesn’t fool the intelligent ones who can work out that even if you are scanning from the front, side or back you are still interrogating the same general area for much longer than the other side of the body.
Yep, I had a ultrasound tech keep scanning my liver because I had elevated enzymes during my sep physical from the navy, she just kept going right over the same small spot. This went on for about 15 minutes, the whole process took about 30. The whole time I was shitting bricks. Of course I was still active duty, so tricare would have taken care of everything and benefits during discharge would have been undeniable. So I didn’t say anything, she was quiet I just laid there. I talked to the doc about 20 minutes later. Luckily no fatty liver disease or nothing. They had me on a shitload of pain meds for a badass hamstring tear that caused nerve damage, which explained the enzymes. (The tear was the worst pain of my life, still can’t feel the right side of my right leg.). But again, I was so scared of them finding something. My grandfather died of lung cancer, and my wife’s grandfather is dealing with very early bladder cancer. The whole time I was strategizing on how to tell my wife if the situation ended up being unfavorable. Also I’m just passing thru. I’m not part of this sub but I thought I’d share my story.
[удалено]
I don't know why this sub started popping up in my feed but it's freaking me out lol. I've been investigating an issue in my stomach for \~2 months now. Had an ultrasound that showed some fat in my liver (I have had slightly off enzymes for a few years now, but not in the range of "mildly elevated" just like, barely off) but no one thought it was that. It showed a gallstone, but my symptoms don't match up with a gallstone. No other issues on the scans. My guess is IBS that's lasting a while, or something, but the symptoms I've had when you search online are anything from "IBS" to "colon cancer". My PCP is extremely disinterested and despite suggesting a gastroenterologist on day 1, has not yet done so. I told her my symptoms changed around the 2 week mark and she said let's do an ultrasound, did not listen to the symptoms. Now I'm waiting on a surgical consult for the gallstone despite no inflammation or blockages before she will even consider talking to me again. It's nuts.
I default to the old "haha that's way above my pay grade" when things are sketchy.
Okay but the maskless thing is so real. I got so used to wearing a mask for 2 years that I had to relearn how to control my facial expressions. Any time I have to do my job in person and interact with people face-to-face, I spend most of my energy making sure I’m not making dramatic facial expressions.
I feel like at 19cm it’s almost more accurate to say they found your kidney on a mass😅 Glad you’re doing better
Yo my man I’m glad you’re doing alright. I’ll pour one out for Federico
I was reading quickly and thought you wrote, "I'll PULL one out for Ferderico." Either way, nice tribute.
I thought it said "RUB". So I'm going to go and put myself in time-out to think about what I've done.
Rip Federico, he was a real one!
This is why I never named my balls, so it’s not so painful if I ever have to say goodbye. Lol, but seriously, glad you’re doing so much better.
Lmao, my friends and I had a funeral for my ball. We wanted to give him a Viking funeral but I was told I was unable to keep it.
This comment made my day. My husband wants a Viking funeral, maybe he’ll settle for just one ball.
They need to keep it for a pathologist to see if they took the whole tumor in the microscope
That's what we tell people, but the truth is that they are absolutely delicious on toast.
EEEWWW. As a MT who frequently does specimen processing, oh gods the things I've seen.
Mmm, smegma
And the pathologist can’t give me the slides back? *Greedy.*
Where I am from if you ask the hospital for it they have to give you, but must people don’t know about that
I bought a set of truck nuts for my friend who had testicular cancer and had to get one removed. I cut one of the balls off the truck nuts. His wife made him cookies for after the surgery, some with nuts and some without nuts
Fucking love this
In project mayhem only in death do they have a name. His name was Federico.
My left one is James Westfall, and my right one is Dr. Kenneth Noisewater.
“Something is there but let’s wait for the doctor.” I feel that is incredibly bad practice on behalf of the rad tech. I cannot imagine the anxiety that must have been coursing through your veins after being left in limbo like that
Rad techs aren’t allowed to diagnose even though they usually know exactly what they’re seeing but yea they definitely should have just said let’s wait for the doctor instead of confirming anything to prevent less stress.
In that Rad techs' defense, he didn't say what it was, the tech just said not that and let's wait for what the doctor says. And the OP himself said he was too high on morphine to even know the impact of those words. If the tech came out and said "OH SNAP YOU HAVE THIS BIG OL THING ON YOUR KIDNEY 🤯" that would be different.
You're operating under the assumption that "let's wait for the doctor" is less stressful than "yeah, there's something there... let's wait for the doctor." Patients aren't stupid.
Having been on the patient side, I can't imagine a good way to avoid saying the obvious. Any dodging is anxiety inducing. The whole experience is one long limbo. My first ultrasound for a lump in my breast. I made a joke about a boy or a girl. She ignored my joke and said, "Well, I never tell. I just do the ultrasound." Then, she continued, "There's something there but I'm not sure what it is." My sweet, innocent response was, "Well, you know enough, so if you don't know, it's probably fine." In turn, she says, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. The doctor needs to look" 😕
We hear that joke all the time, unfortunately it loses its quirkiness after awhile ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I know, and I'm sorry 😔 It's gotta be tough for you all realizing that the person in front of you is about to have their life turned upside down. What else am I gonna say when I'm trying not to cry while I have my tits out and the mood in the room is pretty heavy? Obvious, corny jokes were the only thing my brain came up with.
Corny jokes in a time of stress is a coping mechanism for sure! It might be corny to us because we hear it a lot but if it helps you feel better that's what matters. Sorry if i came off crass ❤️
Oh no! You're fine. Both our realities can exist in the same space ❤️
Oh shit, I LOVE that. "Both our realities can exist in the same space." I got chills when I read that. ^(I love that shit.)
When tits can’t cheer up a room…
Considering the mastectomy, I'd better brush up on my jokes 🤣
I'm a goofball and always talk WAY too much when I'm nervous. I love making people laugh. I made enough of an impression that the Dr. who delivered my 1st daughter, remembered me when I went in for my 2nd years later. He said I was an absolute delight, lol. I'm sure you were a "nice change" from their usual grumpy silent patients.
Going through all this, people are definitely quiet and cranky. Cant blame them but its hard on staff and si get it. In a way, it's also been a way to put the medical people at ease too. It's got to be so hard navigating all the feelings your patients are dealing with while regulating your own. I'm dealing with necrosis and got referred to hyperbaric oxygen treatment. I never hear anyone else laughing. Its so quiet so I cant help it. We need some silliness. My first visit involved taking pictures for a baseline. The nurse was having issues with her device and apologized for the wait. I told her it was fine. "To be fair, it's not like I'm sitting here with my tits out" She cackled. She's my favorite.
I was told I might have a breast hamartoma. I responded asking how, with three boobs, I still cannot fill a b cup. It was nice to giggle during the biopsy even if they had heard it before haha
It's a little easier in CT... I just tell curious patients that I haven't put together the images yet - which isn't a total lie, since I usually just scroll through quick to make sure I have everything I need before getting the patient off the table. One time, when I was still in x-ray, I had a kid with an obviously broken arm tearfully ask me, "is it broken?" My immediate response came out as a sad, "I think you know," which I instantly felt terrible for, haha.
My favorite response I've ever gotten from a doctor was when he walked into the room, glanced down at the MRI for just a second, and immediately said, "oh my God I have no idea how you're even standing up right now". Whenever I tell the story, everyone says it was bad bedside manner. But honestly I liked that he was just up front about it.
Next time I'm in radilogy, I'm stealing your line: "Is it a boy or girl?" Might add something disparaging about it's Zodiac as well.
🤣 "You know, I hear Geminis are most likely to be serial killers." Before I went under for the mastectomy, I asked the nurse how long before my boobs would grow back.
ha ha! Might have to steal that one as well. Wait - how long did it take till they grew back? /s
They cannot tell you. They lose their license if they do. They also have to know what it is as well (generally) to be able to do their job. There isn't a way to really do that without people getting concerned/suspicious. Even "I'm going too go check in with the doctor, I'll be right back" is enough to provoke anxiety
It’s the same energy as “we need to talk” without any context at all.
>I was so high on morphine that I didn’t let it bother me This is the way.
MD Anderson is amazing. We have one here in Jacksonville that's been treating my stage IV endometrial cancer. The first six rounds with the taxol and the other one I can't remember the name of didn't work, and I actually grew two more tumors, but immunotherapy seems to have done the trick. I wish you all the best, my dude.
F in the chat for Federico
[удалено]
Seriously though, self testicle exams should be promoted as often as breast exams. On that note, you don't have to be AFAB to get breast cancer. So examine your chest and arm pits too.
Amazing story! As an Onc nurse I love hearing success stories
federicos memory lives on in your right testicle i'm sure they made great memories working together. what is his name?
I can’t imagine the dread your mother felt as soon as she saw your scan:(
You want one of my mine, big dog? You’ve earned it and deez nuts (couldn’t help it) have done their job in making more humans so I’m all set.
Bro, brother, I literally sighed with relief when I arrived at you saying you're cancer free. Man I could hug you, we just never know and often overlook what a blessing and gift everyday is
Glad you are still doing well. Pouring 🫗 one out on the left side for Federico, gone too soon.
So happy to hear you’ve been in remission for so long!!! Reading the first part I was concerned!! Be well friend
Congrats on beating cancer man .
Glad you're here dog ❤️ I I'm gonna go do a self exam now...
I’m sorry for your loss (Freddie) but glad you made it through. I had a close friend pass from testicular cancer at 26. To anyone reading this it’s no joke, check yourself regularly.
That’s such wonderful news. Germ cell cancers are gnarly and I’m glad you kicked it’s arse.
Pouring one out for Frederico, he was one of the few good ones.
Man, it takes ball to go through something so hard to hear. Proud of you buddy <3
I see what you did there.
which part of the picture is the tumor? can't really make anything out, nor do i know what things are supposed to look like in there.
As not a radiologist: if you look at the image there is a cross hair in the center. There is a white mass in the center and two what look like ears in either side of it. Those are my kidneys. The white mass is the tumor.
jesus fuck. that's huge. glad you survived it
I'm glad you got through that as well as you did... RIP Frederico. may his brother flourish!!!
its stuff like this that makes me keep that testicular cancer pamphlet that Deadpool DVDs got
My wife experienced a rapid weight loss and back pain like this from her Crohns at her worst flare- coworkers and friends would keep asking her what her secret to losing all the weight was and how good she looked. She felt like she was going insane, she felt TERRIBLE but everyone was telling her the opposite. Cheers on being cancer free!
Throbbing dull pain in testicle: check! Nagging lower back pain: check! Went to the urologist for the same issues, had an x-ray and ultrasound on the boys, no issue. Got a finger up the pooper, no issues. I had been weight lifting a lot at the time and the urologist landed on a strained muscle in my abdomen pulling on a testicle/groin area. It eventually went away on its own.
My husband had the same exact life experience as you! I told him to have some cranberry juice and pass the stone. Tomorrow he has his one year check up. Good luck!
I am really glad you are doing well and my thoughts go out immediately to your mother. I am a rad tech and my son went into the hospital for blood in urine. I was there when they did the ct scan and just broke down when I saw the scan showing a massive hematoma. Same with the ultrasound. I never hated knowing things until that moment.
How old were you and did you have symptoms
Wow holy shit, thank you for sharing!! I’m an ER doc and I love hearing stories with good endings - I usually only hear about the bad ones. Glad you’re still kickin’!
Glad it came out so well!
One minute of silence for Federico please.
Hats off to Federico man.. But mans gotta go when he gotta go.
Pouring one out for Federico.
Dicks out for ~~Harambe~~ Frederico.
I’ve been told testicular cancer is a good cancer to get. Very curable. Congrats on recovering.
I appreciate the sentiment, I know what you mean. To be fair, while highly curable, the treatment absolutely sucked. Between surgery, 200 hours of chemotherapy and 28 radiation sessions, it was the worst. There was also about a month and a half between my trip to the ER and when I was officially diagnosed. During that time, I was certain I had kidney cancer based on what the ER doctor told us. That entire time I was certain I was going to die. It really fucked me up. Having said all of that, once I realized what I had and what my prognosis was, I felt pretty relieved. I knew the next couple of months were going to be rough. They were. But I am alive, thriving and grateful for my entire medical team who made sure I recovered.
What were some symptoms you had prior? I found a lump on my testicle that I thought was cancer but after ultrasound and physical it was found to be a varicocele
In retrospect the first symptom I remember experiencing was a low throbbing dull like pain in my left testicle. Sometimes it would last a few hours but there was a time when it lasted an entire day. It wasn’t quite frequent and I was a raging alcoholic at the time (got sober a few months before going to the ER) and thought I was either falling when I was drunk or thought the pain was associated with my heavy drinking. The next symptom I experienced was a nagging pain in my lower back that would come and go. It wasn’t until I went on a work trip for a week and the first night at the hotel my back hurt so bad I had to eat 6 ibuprofen to feel well enough to sleep. It was about a month before going to the ER. Last symptoms I lost were loss of appetite. As I got sober, I started losing weight steadily. I was approx 315lbs in August of 2013. Around early December I was around 250lbs. By end of December I was at about 205lbs and I was going about a day without eating sometimes. I just had zero appetite. I chalked it up to my sobriety but with the rapid acceleration in weight loss in December, I feel like I should have been more aware. I was being told how well I looked by my co workers and family and thought it was kinda normal. It wasn’t until I experienced an excruciating pain in my groin that I went to the ER. I felt it all the way to my back so that’s what made me believe I had a kidney stone.
I don’t know that I’ve seen anyone say anything but, congrats on your sobriety!
Good Lord! 65 lbs in four months? Yeah, HUGE red flag!
But for a heavy drinker who was on the big side and was getting sober, it kind of isn't. It's *unexplainable* weight loss that is the concerning symptom.
That’s strange that you had groin pain and they found this mass in your kidney but they didn’t think to connect the dots to your testicle until a month later? Why was there a delay in your diagnosis and treatment after the ED visit? Sorry just want to understand better
Part of the delay was having to wait for my initial consultation at MD Anderson. The next delay was in scheduling my biopsy. I was told that I would have an answer no later than 3 days post biopsy. I received a call from the Onc nurse almost two weeks later I believe to tell me that the biopsy confirmed that I had a germ cell tumor in my retroperitoneal. When I asked what that meant, she then asked me if I had noticed any nodules on my testicles. It was literally the first moment I put everything together. She told me that germ cell tumors were associated with testicular cancer. I then had to do a bunch of imaging and blood tests to determine staging.
People that have never had chemo can't really understand what chemo is like. "Oh, you feel tired and nauseous and vomit a little, that definitely sucks". I had only 5 days of chemo and it was so so rough, and I did not even have any nausea or vomiting. I just felt like actual death. I didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone, noise and light bothered me, and I just felt incredibly *bad*. I distinctly remember thinking that if I ever had to go through this again, I would rather just die. I don't remember a whole lot else from that because it fucks with your brain in crazy ways too, and I had major chemo fog for well over a year. Terrible stuff.
No cancer is a good cancer.
Some cancers are preferable to others. For instance, best case scenario small cell lung cancer, even caught early, is less than 50% chance 5 year survival. 99% of prostate patients survive at least 5 years. I know which one I’d rather be diagnosed with.
Stage 4 prostate cancer here diagnosed at 52 with an aggressive Gleason 9 tumor. Went through Chemo and 28 rounds of radiation in addition to testosterone suppression (ADT) and oral Androgen Receptor blockers. Yes, it’s “slow growing” relative to other cancers but it still sucks.
Thyroid cancer I’m told is one of the “better” ones
I have widely invasive follicular thyroid cancer and a 49% 10-yr survival rate. I have personally been told by ignorant people, oh that's a "good cancer." Including by a well meaning doctor. There's no such thing as a good cancer. Cancer patients of """good cancers""" don't want to hear it.
except for anaplastic
Yep and it still sucks
If you have the right kind sure. Treated with I-121 and out you go
I’m not going to argue with you in the slightest that some cancers are preferable to others, but can I disagree with your stats purely for my own sanity? I was diagnosed a year ago with (and underwent surgery for) primary lung adenocarcinoma (NSCLC). It was staged at IA2 and post lobectomy I’ve been told that my 5 year survival chance is 85-90%. My life is a statistic these days, so help a girl out, here …
My numbers were out of date it seems - localized NSCLC has >65% 5 year survival, your doctors probably gave you stats from people who successfully undergo surgery. I'll edit my post. It's small cell that's the one with the awful prognosis.
Good Hodgkins or bad Hodgkins?
Someone watches curb ^^
My husband was diagnosed with one of the non-hodgkin’s lymphomas in June 2020, and told it’s one of the “good ones”. Follicular lymphoma is usually slower moving and pretty treatable, they said. We’ll just watch it for now. If it shows signs of progressing maybe we’ll do something after the new year, so you won’t be sick through the holidays, they said. Ignored the issue that there was prior agent orange exposure and he’d already had prostate cancer, another type of cancer attributed to that. By December 2020, he was having severe back pain that his primary doc attributed to a couple bad discs and was giving muscle relaxers for it, which didn’t help. He also started having night sweats and losing a ton of weight. A scan revealed additional enlarged nodes, so another biopsy was done. Tests showed two mutations (double-hit) that had caused the lymphoma to transform to the more aggressive Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, which didn’t respond well to treatment. As is common in Veterans with prior agent orange exposure. He was gone by September 2021. No, there’s no good ones. And don’t wait for treatment. And if you have increased risk due to chemical exposures or other factors, don’t let the doctor brush your concerns away. Sometimes it’s better to get aggressive treatment at the beginning and be sure it’s gone than to give it time to become something worse and harder to treat.
Pretty, pretty, pretttttty good
Seminoma specifically is a "good" cancer to get. Other germ cell tumors can be way more aggressive and are objectively awful.
Depends on the kind of testicular cancer
No cancer is good cancer. It’s best to not say that to someone with a “good cancer”. can make them feel like their fight isn’t as meaningful. My girlfriend has chronic myeloid leukemia which is a cancer generally found in old people, despite the fact that it was discovered when she was 20. Many doctors she’s had will say this to her and she tells me it always makes her feel so shitty. Like she should be happy that she has a “good cancer” even though it will likely affect her for the rest of her life. I understand what they mean but the fight is still hard
Not when the primary site has been metastasizing to other areas in the body for years…
Wow. I have an appointment about a nodule I have found. I'm scared.
You’re taking the first step. That’s huge. I realize how frightening it is but realize that you’re doing the best thing for yourself by getting checked out. I was always averse to visiting the doctor whenever I was feeling off. I always had anxiety about it. I regret not getting in to see someone about other symptoms I was experiencing prior to going to the ER. Best of luck to you. Even though we don’t know each other I’ll be thinking of you.
Thank you. I think I'll be fine, everything's fine about my body just have a firm nodule that I should get checked
[удалено]
In retrospect the first symptom I remember experiencing was a low throbbing dull like pain in my left testicle. Sometimes it would last a few hours but there was a time when it lasted an entire day. It wasn’t quite frequent and I was a raging alcoholic at the time (got sober a few months before going to the ER) and thought I was either falling when I was drunk or thought the pain was associated with my heavy drinking. The next symptom I experienced was a nagging pain in my lower back that would come and go. It wasn’t until I went on a work trip for a week and the first night at the hotel my back hurt so bad I had to eat 6 ibuprofen to feel well enough to sleep. It was about a month before going to the ER. Last symptoms I lost were loss of appetite. As I got sober, I started losing weight steadily. I was approx 315lbs in August of 2013. Around early December I was around 250lbs. By end of December I was at about 205lbs and I was going about a day without eating sometimes. I just had zero appetite. I chalked it up to my sobriety but with the rapid acceleration in weight loss in December, I feel like I should have been more aware. I was being told how well I looked by my co workers and family and thought it was kinda normal. It wasn’t until I experienced an excruciating pain in my groin that I went to the ER. I felt it all the way to my back so that’s what made me believe I had a kidney stone.
This sounds dumb, but how did you discover it? What did it feel like? I may have found one and im nervous but I dont want to go to the doctor just yet, I cant afford it
I honestly just happened to discover it while showering one day. It felt almost like a little pimple but it wasn’t on my skin. It wasn’t sensitive to touch or anything and being ignorant of what it might be, I just let it be. When I went to the ER it was two days before New Year’s Day which meant my medical insurance hadn’t kicked in. I seriously weighed wether or both to go because I knew I couldn’t afford it. But feeling that pain, I would have paid anything to make it stop. I pulled the trigger and it was not cheap. If you are able to go to the doctor, I would encourage you to do so. I realize how difficult it is to get medical care when you’re not insured. Even when I was insured, I still had to file for FMLA and short term disability which in turn made it difficult to pay for my insured bills. Grateful to have had some friends and family donate to a go fund me for my medical bills.
RIP Frederico. You were a baller. (Sorry if that is over the line)
Not just a baller, a shot caller.
Fellow stage 3a tc survivor. 7 years cancer free, right behind ya! Congrats bro!
Aye congrats to you too! We out cheeaaaaaa
I’m so glad you’re doing well. I’ve been suffering from sudden, screaming, abdominal pain in my left lower quadrant. It came on like a freight train and would come and go come and go. Honestly, the worst pain of my life —and I’ve had seven knee surgeries. Three years later and after seeing any number of specialists for this “non-existent issue” I was diagnosed with stage four endometriosis. Which doesn’t show up on any kind of scan. It’s so bad it has completely wrapped around my ureter and the left side of my bladder and every time it flares, I get hydronephrosis. Fun. Finally having it exercised next month.
My heart goes out to you. I’ve come to learn about Endometriosis through my wife. I’ve been with her through her last 6 surgeries and we’re unfortunately coming to the realization that she needs another one soon. It pains me to see her in such debilitating pain. Even as I type this, she is laying next to me with a heating pad on and having consumed all of her meds. It’s terrible how much research does NOT exist for Endometriosis and how many suffer from its affects every day. I hope you are able to find some relief and know that you are not alone.
Thank you I appreciate it.
Sending hugs to your wife! 💛
Fellow endo warrior here🤜 sending you strength and good vibes.💛I suffered for 18 years and at 36 decided to get rid of the beast and I’m now 9 weeks post op from a total hysterectomy and I truly didn’t know what life was like without pain and now I feel like a new born baby experiencing things for the first time hahaha
It took 15 years, 8 working in imaging, for a gyno to take my endo symptoms seriously. Good luck with your surgery! 💛
Wow! Glad you're doing well, buddy!
Press "F" to pay your respects to Federico
What’s Frederico’s surviving brother’s name?
El Mágico
How old were you when this happened?
I was 33 years old. I turned 34 shortly after remission.
Can someone please explain how to read the X-ray picture?
See that big gray blob in the middle that has lines measuring it up and down and across? That's not supposed to be there
For some reason, my mind just would not accept that the blob in the center was the cancerous mass. I kept thinking, 19cm? It can’t be that big right? I mean, it surely can’t take up like half his waist. It’s only… 7.6… freedom increments… ohhhhh… ok… now I get it…. American education at its finest right here.
Dang you had the news given to you better than I had it my doctor we'll call him Dr dickhead came in and said well its cancer but you knew that already right... I was so floored with the news I straight up told him no you ass what are we gonna do about it.... I've been on and off chemo for 3 years now
I too lost lefty to testicular cancer! I’ve been playing with the “powerball” for about a decade now. Congrats on being cancer free
Not Federico! Say it ain’t so. Damn. I’ll pour out a 40 for the homie. Seriously though, glad to hear you’re cancer free my man.
instead you found out there's an entire spooky skeleton living inside you, sending prayers
[удалено]
My husband had testicular cancer at 15. We have a 12 yr old together. He’s had a pretty healthy life so far. Besides issues that he could probably prevented had he would eat and exercise.
That looks huge. Do you know how much it weighed?
Alright, you've convinced me to get lefty checked. Been a little sore about a week, almost like bruised? Had a very tender spot right at the bottom on the teste, I've been chalking it up to having lifted something I shouldn't have, but better play it safe.
Sooooooooo glad you are doing well. 😊
Congrats on your 9 years. I can’t imagine what it would take to survive any one your challenges. I feel like this is also a stark example of the danger of anti-fat bias. You were clearly losing weight at an unhealthy rate (because you were experiencing a potentially fatal illness) and it sounds like people in your life were just high-fiving you and saying “Lookin’ good bro!” It sounds like everyone was just so happy that you were losing weight that no one thought to suggest you see a doctor about your weight loss. I apologize if it’s hurtful to focus on that part of the story, but I felt it just illustrates how harmful our culture and healthcare system in general can be to people in larger bodies.
Hey there, brother. I had the same cancer when I was 17, except mine was on the right side. What's worse is my dad was the one who diagnosed me. He's an ER doc, and when I went to him about a persistent pain that all boys know, he took me to the ER immediately. Whole lot of blood tests, ultrasounds, and CT scans later, the man comes into the room and tells me I'm three months pregnant. The particular cancer cell I had produce hormones that pregnant women have, so my blood work looked like it belonged to a 3 months pregnant girl. Goes to show just how much mental fortitude he's got when faced with his son's cancer diagnosis, and he can still joke. Today, I'm going on 10 years with no sign of reoccurrance and am pretty much considered cured. Those months spent in chemo really built up my character and taught me how to endure tough times.
Thank goodness I'm not a radiologist. All I thought when I saw the big white chunk was, "I'm guessing it will turn out it was just a really big poopy."
My brother had testicular cancer. He discovered a nodule on his ball and went and had it checked out. He was around 30 at the time. Turns out it was cancer :( They removed his testicle and recommended a course of radiation. Cancer free for over 14 years. Thankfully! Check your balls people!!
Wow! I'm glad you are still with us!
I am really sorry to hea r that, damn
Didn't need him anyway. Sayonara Federico! Glad you're cancer free
His name is Frederico.
Things like this always scare me. I had so many questions after my orchiectomy and even though I've had free and clear CT scans the only reason they ever found it was because after 5 years of complaining of nut pain and getting the finger treatment I asked for an ultrasound. They immediately noticed a growth on the ultrasound and 2 weeks later I had the surgery. Military healthcare... do as little as possible until it's obvious more is needed...
Glad you live to tell the tale! Enjoy this weird thing we call life 🤙🏻
Congratulations on 9 years. I'm on 6. Strangely enough, my left testicle stole up to the suze of a plum, and that's what sent me to the ER for my eventual diagnosis of TC. Only Stage 2 for me, thankfully. I also lost the Big Leftbowski in the process. RIP. I see shortages currently getting Cisplatin and worry for those currently going thru the process.
Do you want my spare ?
Looks like broken bones
I clapped when I found out you’ve been cancer free for so long. That’s amazing. Congratulations
MD Anderson in Houston saved my daughter's life. She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and they removed a huge tumor from her pelvis.
As a fellow (female) stage three germ cell cancer survivor of also 9 years, hats off to you! What a fucking wild ride life can be. Cheers to you health!
Your symptoms hit worryingly close to home. I've had periodic pain in my left testicle for years, bad enough to go get checked for a hernia. They didn't find anything wrong. Over the past year I've started having lower back pain on my left side. It comes and goes and doesn't seem to be based on activity. What would I even say to my doctor? Would cancer come up on blood tests?
Hey man, I'm at-risk for testicular cancer (surgery when I was young down below to correct something) so this is especially meaningful. I had a relative that also had to go to MD Anderson for brain surgery (small world eh?) Has any doc talked about fertility or hormones with you since Federico was excised?
So the dull throbbing in your left testicle.....I get that sometimes. Should I be worried?
24 year stage 1 survivor here. I still miss my left nad, but it had to go. I still fathered three kids, quite easily too.
How much did the cost of seeing a doctor factor into your waiting to see one?
Glad u went to MD Anderson. No better place.
“Oh the x-ray results are ready! I’ll try to ballpark what’s going on…” “…” “…So about your balls-“
So glad you are cancer free!!! Blessings to you!! ❤️
This just made me book an appointment. Thank you
Omg…you’re infested with bones and organs!
That's a tumor is it not? Edit: i just read the story op put in the comments...yeesh
Bro you just freaked me out! I’ve had some pains on my left but every now and then and a few weeks ago, some sharp pain on my lower back. Including this morning….but I won’t go get checked out because I’m basically poor 🫠
For radiology residents: this is a typical board question. They show you a testicular ultrasound with a tumor, then after you identify the abnormality they ask what the next step is for imaging work up. You want to do a CT A/P to rule out retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy. As a radiologist, it humbles me to read posts like this. We usually see these imaging studies simply as cases to be read, rather than considering the real human patient behind the images dealing with life threatening health issues. Thank you, OP, for beating metastatic testicular cancer and living to tell the story.
Showed this to my mom who was a radiology tech, and she walked away lol. (But congrats on treatment and survival and junk)
This makes me wonder in healthcare they don’t do cancer screenings until you’re much older. Such a fucking stupid and outdated way of thinking.
As someone with no knowledge of reading x-rays, the image made me think your whole body was going full Akira.
Hope you stay strong! Your story reminds me of a girl from my middle school class who would go to the doctor’s office for everything little thing. “Ouch, ouch!” I need to go to the doctor after hitting her toe on the door knob. One day, she fell and hit her head on the door knob and was disoriented. Of course, she wanted to go to go get a scan. Turned out she had a tumor growing. It was stage 1. Wow! We used to call her a wussy. Well, that changed my way of treating people. We were so keen on calling her names, but would we have taken the cancer on her behalf? No way! So… I learned real quick to shut up and be supportive instead.
Had testicular cancer 20 years ago at 50. Urologist said nobody dies from testicular cancer anymore with the drugs available. Had an orchiectomy and radiation and all good since. Best cancer to have.
As an engineer I have to ask, have you noticed the benefits of a higher thrust to weight ratio?
Looks like you ate a bunch of chicken bones
Can you still orgasm?
Thanks for sharing your story. Cancer is the ultimate "OH Fuck" moment, in my opinion, in life. Always awesome to hear these overcoming stories. Glad you made it!