OT: 6 weeks before I get married, a doctor tells me I have cancer...a health warning.

Hang in there. Cancer sucks and soon you will be a survivor like many of us on this board.

 

my wife (an RN) used to work in a cancer unit, this is usually a young mans cancer striking mostly 18-35 year olds though it can strike much later in life. usually detectable by self exam. any tenderness or lumps should be checked out, so don't be shy and when you're scratching away do a self exam. it could save your life.

 

Rohan, doctors can be terrific, but your BEST SHOT at staying cancer-free is to read EVERYTHING you can get your eyes on regarding your disease. Be pro-active with your physician, and if another surgery comes up, get a SECOND opinion. It never hurts. I have been able to help many people by showing them articles on their disease right off the internet. There might be support groups for various cancers in your area, too. Your Dr.'s office should have info on that. God bless and best wishes for an extended and very ahppy pmarried life !!

 

My best friends Dad' who has been like a father to me was diagnosed with it @ 69, went through Chemotherapy and came out on the other side and has been cancer free for the last 8 years. For a man who served 4 tours in Vietnam, shot twice in the leg and once in the head, in the Army, Marines and AirForce over his 14 years of service I doubt there is much that can take this man down. But it was different story for my best friend who nearly died from worry.

 

Squamous cell carcinoma, here. Caught early. Removed. All clear, for now.

Feel better, man. Cancer sucks. Stay strong.

 

Congartulations on your upcoming nuptuals......Thank You for giving us all a whack on the head to remind us that ignoring the warning signs our bodies give us is not a "cool" course of action. Godspeed, sir.

 

Thanks for all the support and encouragement guys, it's very much appreciated, especially the positive stories from survivors of various types of cancer.

Sorry it took me a while to post in this thread again, but with the wedding coming up next Saturday, things have been a little hectic.

My wound hasn't healed too well, I posted this on the main car forum I'm a part of last Sunday.

****Just a warning, there will be some photos of the incision site below, so don't look if you're sensitive about gore.****














So unfortunately the healing of the wound isn't going as well as I'd hoped. After the first lot of fluid came out, the swelling went down for a day or so, then started to bulge out again as more fluid built up over the Easter long weekend. It looked nasty, but actually wasn't particularly painful apart from my shorts resting where the incision site is.



It got progressively worse to the point where I was going to visit a doctor again to get it lanced/drained, but on Monday night I rolled over in my sleep and squashed it enough to force the fluid out. So I thought it was ok again, but on Wednesday I noticed what looked like a black dot in the middle of the scar. Woke up the next morning, it was actually a hole that had gotten bigger, and on Thursday was bigger again, with another couple of holes starting to appear.



Friday morning I could have pretty much fit a pencil in the biggest hole, and the other two were looking worse as well. Looking at it outside in the sun, it was fairly clear that there was a cavity below the scar, maybe 5-8mm deep, which looked a bit disturbing.



So it was off to the doctor again to get it checked out. As I was in the waiting area, the weird looking red messy hole had started bleeding, which was a good fast-track to getting seen almost immediately by a nurse.

She must deal with normal cuts and scrapes most of the time. She asked 'So what have you done to yourself?', and when I showed her the odd looking scar, the reaction was 'Oh my God!'



A few minutes later a doctor came in to have a look. He recommended that I start a course of antibiotics to prevent infection, and told the nurse to pack some gauze inside the wound cavity, to give it a chance to heal.

So she prepared a few tools, and started cleaning the wound, before jamming some gauze inside with tweezers.



There were actually two seperate cavities, both larger than we thought. The main one took up about 3/4 of the RHS of the incision. It was deep and long enough that she ended up pulling out the first chunk of gauze, as it needed a bigger piece to be completely filled up.



So with a handful of gauze inside the cavity and a bandage to hold it all in, I headed back home, with a strong recommendation to move as little as possible over the next week or two. Which strongly conflicts with a schedule 2 weeks before our wedding...my calendar has at least one thing to do pretty much every day until the wedding on April 28th.

I'll be heading back to the doctor in a couple of hours to have the wound emptied, re-packed with gauze and bandaged back up, which may need to be repeated every few days for a while, depending on how it heals up. The timing unfortunately coincides with a friend's wedding this afternoon, but not much can be done about that really.

Tomorrow I'll be going back to the urology specialist to find out the biopsy results, so we'll finally know what was going on in the offending testicle, and will get more of an idea about whether any further treatment is necessary.

Thanks again for the support guys, it means a lot. Will update tomorrow when I found out what's happening.

 

Couple of my friends were exactly in the same circumstances as you and both are enjoying many years after the surgery and one has fathered three children and refers to himself as "oddball"... good to see that there is high success rate when it is caught early.

p.s.... My Dad attended my wedding with his chest packed with gauze... he had open heart surgery a few days before the wedding and his diabetes wouldn't allow his incision to heal. I helped him change the dressing during the reception.

Hang in there... and keep it clean!

 

Sorry for you having to go through the not so fun post surgery stuff. All of my incisions (and I had some very sizable ones) all healed nicely with no fluid drainage at all like yours. Did the doctor or a physcians assistant stitch you up? I'm surprised the wound is not healing after all this time...... Please keep up posted on your prognosis and hang in there dude!

 

Man, thats no bueno! I got layed up in the hospital for a week because a regular sore throat ended up with me not being able to eat or drink or even swallow my own spit. I now know not to man it out anymore and take better care of myself and health. Good Luck on the wedding and those pictures of the scar, wow....

 

Thanks for sharing with us and best of luck to you and your future wife. May God watch over both of you. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger....

 

Thanks guys. I did think the scar with the holes looked pretty bad, until I visited the surgeons again on Monday to get the biopsy results. I wrote this Monday afternoon.

Be warned the wound looks much more gruesome than in the photos above...think flesh-eating disease lol.








So I got the tumour biopsy results back from the doctor a few hours ago. As expected, the whole right testicle consisted only of cancer cells, with no normal tissue at all left inside. The vast majority of the tumour consisted of a common kind of testicular cancer, a seminoma, although the average age of diagnosis is 40yo, with a tiny bit of a rarer form as well. I've been referred to a medical oncologist, who I'll probably see in the next few weeks, to discuss whether I should have some chemotherapy, or just frequent testing. Staring down the barrel of coming back from the honeymoon for some chemo is a rather daunting prospect to say the least.

And just to keep things interesting, my surgery incision wound has unfortunately opened up into a fairly large cavity, roughly 10cm across x 2cm wide and 1.5cm deep, following a build-up and release of swelling and fluids early last week. It looks very gruesome, but doesn't actually hurt much which is good. It will need to be re-packed with gauze and have the bandage and dressing changed every couple of days for at least a few weeks until it heals. It's a fairly high risk for infection given the size and location, so I'm having antibiotics every 6 hours to try and prevent anything happening. Which also means turning off my Ensure Plus liquid nutrition feed for half an hour before and after each of the four daily doses, which will give it a chance to work better. However, that will reduce the nutrition I get by about 300ml a day, out of the required 1400ml.


*Wound pictures below, don't look if you're the squeamish type*







This was yesterday after going back to have the dressing and gauze changed, which at the time I thought didn't look great.




And this was today, after the surgeon had a good poke around and cut up the rest of the scar with scissors, which tickled just a little bit.








My free gift bag from the hospital.





Only 6 days to go now until the wedding, hoping the wound at least heals up a bit more before the honeymoon...

 

Wow...Good luck dude with that.....congrats on the wedding...

 

I have to chuckle at your sense of humor about your "gift bag from the hospital". That's the spirit. Sure it's serious business, but being able to make light of it too, really helps.

I sometimes wish in hind site I had, had a camera with me too when I went in. With the scar on my neck after they took that tumor out, I wish I would have had one of those red and black battery caps, that I could have glued to my temples. I'd have looked like Frankenstein..

Anyway, next, hope you send us some photos of your wedding, they don't have to be of your honeymoon night though.

Best wishes again,


HellRaiser

 

I hope you heal from your surgery without further complications, and have a great wedding. Also be thankful you have people in your life like your fiance that will stick by you.


Im going in to get a melanoma removed in a week or so, and also hoping it wont spread...

 

Congrats on the upcoming wedding ,fingers crossed this is the end of the bad and the start of the rest of a long happy life.

 

thanks for sharing! i have lost / known people with cancer...who either reacted soon enough...or not soon enough and it was too late. if your story even helps 1 person here (or they help another person b/c of your story) you have done a great service to them!
I hope that would heals!! good luck with that....and Congrats on your wedding!

 

Different situation,.. But still important. When my brother and I were teens, I smoked and he didn't, In his mid 20's I offer him one and he takes it, Within a few years I quit and he didn't.

Fast forward to 6 years ago,.. My Brother notices what seems to be a small cold sore on the inside of his cheek, so for a week he self medicates it,... well hey ! it just seemed like a cold sore. After it didn't go away he went to the Doctor, after a bunch of tests they find out its "Buccel Carcinoma" (head & neck cancer) usually caused by smoking.

After a couple very disfiguring surgery's, Radiation and Chemo (It was growing back at a fever pitch as he was receiving the radiation & Chemo), just under a very rough and terribly uncomfortable year, we lost him. Be safe, watch for any kind of warning signs. Like a buddy once told me,.. "I would rather be a live hypochondriac, than a dead tough guy".

Very best to you and your lady,.... I'll have you on my prayer list.

 

I just had a Sonogram at the VA Hospital last week and I am awaiting results, seems I have a lump in my Nut-sack.
Being a Vietnam Vet, I'm worried about Agent Orange.
Looks like I'm not alone, seems that most of my friends have had a bout' with Cancer. My Brother died at 51, from the big "C".

Hang in there..... good luck with your treatments,
"DO NOT" miss any Follow-up appointments!

 

Rohan, hang in there its amazing what medicine can do these days. Several years ago I was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor in the vicinity of my optic nerve. After several follow up MRI's, I started to lose the vision in my right eye last fall. An MRI revealed the tumor was now impinging on the optic nerve. On January 12, 2012 the tumor was removed by drilling holes through my nose and sinus cavity. The tumor was removed through my nose. Fortunately it was confirmed benign. My doctor said if nothing was done I eventually would have gone blind. Its been a though recuperation and I'm still not feeling like my old self. Ditto on getting something checked out when an abnormality is noted. You are in my prayers for a full recovery.

 

The scar/wound resembles staph. Antibiotics should do the trick. Positive vibes and energy sent your way. You're a strong guy to deal with all this the way you have, and your fiance, family and friends are awesome. Here's to a quick recovery

 

My cousin was diagnosed with testi cancer at age 14. Had one removed a few weeks later, told he had less than 20% chance of having kids. He is 27 now and his wife is 14 weeks along on their 2nd. So dont fret what drs say about that. Prayers sent for 100% recovery with no later probs!


-LUKEY-

 

Had my go with that same thing when I was 23.
Surgury,watched counts,spread to lymph nodes,
aggresive cheemo for 4 months.
Been all clear for 25 years.
The trick to beating cancer is catching it early.
That is one of the best places to detect it early.
Keep a positive attitude.
I can honestly say,in the rearview mirror,
having and beating cancer is one of the best things that happened to me,
next to my 15 year old daughter!
It gives you real perspective on what is really important in life.
Stay strong,Look at Lance Armstrong.

 

A buddy of mine had a bout of nut cancer at age 21, his advise "if you put icy-hot on your sack and it actually feels better, go see a doctor....."

 

Any update?

 

Prayer that God will give you strength as you continue through your ordeal with cancer. Your positive attitude will take you a long way. May God bless your marriage.

 

A friend had it about 4 years ago and is doing good! I wish you all the best.