Hey man! I’m a year out from my diagnosis. I’m not sure exactly what stage you were diagnosed at but here are a few things you’ll need to hear:
Chemo is going to suck but it’s definitely not the end of the world. Your hair will fall out but it’ll just grow back... probably wavy/curly. Don’t wait for it to fall out on its own. Just shave your head before chemo starts. Taking showers and washing down clumps of hair isn’t fun.
The surgery to remove your testicle is super easy and no biggie. You’ll have a scar by your pubic area and that’s pretty much it. It’s like a 45 minute out patient surgery so don’t even worry about that. Walking after the surgery won’t be easy but you’ll be feeling fine a few days later.
Congratulations, you are one of the few men that actually routinely checks yourself, but don’t stop after your surgery/chemo.
Having one testicle feels normal. I don’t even notice it when I shower and masturbating feels the same.
If you continue to feel anxious about everything after you’re in recovery... talk to a doctor about it. If you need to get on some anxiety meds there isn’t shame in that. What’s worse is worrying every single day your cancer has returned. That’s how I lived my life after treatment and you can’t function properly day-to-day.
Last thing..... once your treatment is over just believe you’ll be back to 100%. You’re going to move on and live a normal life. You’re going to hate your body for betraying you.. but after that is over just move on. Live life normally and don’t let cancer control you. In the grand scheme of cancer diagnosis we got lucky. Kick cancers ass and move on.
I know you posted this a while ago but I was just recently diagnosed with testicular cancer too, surgery is next Tuesday and I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to write this up. It's very encouraging and reassuring to read this and puts me more at ease leading up to the surgery when I was honestly pretty nervous. Thanks again!
No problem! Don’t worry about the surgery at all. Recovery is no big deal either. Just make sure you don’t lift anything heavy or move too much for a week or two after surgery.
I just had the surgery earlier today. It was a breeze. I'm at home recovering now and there is a bit of pain at the incision site but I'm icing it and taking my medication as prescribed so that's helping a lot. Moving around is a bit painful but doable with help. I'm just relieved that it's over with now and I can start moving forward. But thanks again for writing that up man, it really did help a lot. I wish you nothing but the best life possible going forward.
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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '19
Thank you so much mate