Instead of concentrating on what you cannot directly change, concentrate on the things you can change – maintaining your health. Once you have had cancer, there is always that fear it will come back but at least you can take control of the things you can manipulate.

Treatment Follow-ups

Part of life after testicular cancer are the medical follow-ups that you will need to have periodically and will include blood tests to check for levels of those particular proteins that can signal a cancer recurrence. These blood tests are crucial in detecting returning cancer. X-rays, MRIs, CT scans and other diagnostic tests will also be a common occurrence in your life post-testicular cancer treatment.

It is very important to keep each follow-up appointment even if you feel fine. There is a very small percentage of men who do end up with cancer recurrences and the follow-up visits and diagnostic tests are the only way to detect cancer early enough for successful treatment.

Make Healthier Lifestyle Choices

Triumphing over testicular cancer is the perfect invitation to overhauling your existing lifestyle. It is a great time to make healthier choices in your life from changing your job to quit drinking. Something potentially life-threatening tends to wake you up to the fact that there are more important things in life.

Some men actually go to counseling after recovering from testicular cancer to help them come to terms with a few issues such as feelings of inadequacy in their sex life and even feelings of guilt. Ridding your life of unnecessary stress is important to your long term recovery and overall health.

Proper Diet and Exercise

During treatment for cancer, you may have noticed that some foods tasted differently or you were unable to enjoy food period due to nausea. For some, it is a constant struggle to find things that are palatable and healthy while waiting to regain your old taste buds. A few people’s tastes change entirely.

It takes diligence to try new foods and force yourself to eat the ones you need to in order to stay healthy. In this situation, perhaps the advice of a nutritionist, someone with knowledge of cancer patients, can help you devise an eating plan you can live and stay health with in the long run. Making the right food choices after your appetite is back to normal is also important.

Exercise should be a daily part of your routine whether it is walking, jogging or taking some exercise class. Treatment for testicular cancer can be draining on your body and even when you are in remission or declared cured, it can be quite a while before energy levels come back. Even during this rough time, simple physical activity is important to build and maintain stamina. In fact, exercise can reduce tiredness and fatigue. Again, it takes incorporating exercise into your daily routine before it becomes a habit.

There is nothing you can do to change the fact that you had testicular cancer. What you can change is how you live your life afterward. Clean living and diligent medical follow-ups are key to living a long, healthy life.

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First of all, what is testicular cancer? Abnormal cell growth occurs in the testes. This cell growth can sometimes be detected by feel or by ultrasound.

Who can get testicular cancer? Any male at any age can discover the first signs of cancer in the testes. It is most prevalent in males ages 15 through 35. Statistics support that white males are diagnosed more often than any other men.

What caused testicular cancer in me? Medical experts and researchers do not yet know the exact cause of testicular cancer, but they do know that there are some issues with the testicles that seem to make some men prone to getting the cancer such as having had testicles that did not descend from the abdomen to the scrotum before birth or by the time he is 3 months of age. Those males with Klinefelter syndrome (a genetic disorder) seem to have a higher chance of getting testicular cancer. Males who have previously had testicular cancer in one testicle and those who have brothers, fathers or a male twin who had testicular cancer also tend to have a higher risk of getting it themselves. There are men however; who have been diagnosed with testicular cancer and did not have any of the above risk factors for it so not having these factors does not necessarily mean that you won’t get this cancer.

What should I look for to see if I have the early signs of testicular cancer? Males from age 15 on should do self-examinations in order to have a better chance of catching the cancer in the early stage. Catching testicular cancer early gives the male his best chance of being successfully treated. Males should examine their testicles and scrotums for anything out of the ordinary such as a change in size or shape or feel. If you notice a heaviness or ache in your scrotum, a dull pressure or pain in the lower back, belly, or in the groin, or if you feel the pain in all three places, you should notify your doctor immediately.

How is testicular cancer diagnosed? Blood tests, x-rays and ultrasound images can detect the presence of testicular cancer in males that present with signs or symptoms or are having these tests for other reasons such as a routine exam or fertility testing. These tests can also be used to determine if the cancer has spread from the testes to other parts of the body.

What does the treatment for testicular cancer consist of? The usual protocol for testicular cancer treatment is to surgically remove the testicle with the cancer and then to use chemotherapy to destroy any cancer cells that may have remained after surgery. Radiation therapy is also used to destroy cancer cells. Radiation is a high dose of x-rays. If found early testicular cancer has a high cure rate.

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If you are not familiar with stem cells, these are the living cells in bone marrow which work to produce your blood cells all over the body. Having healthy bone marrow is critical in defending your body against many illnesses and therefore, necessary for a proper immune system. However, chemotherapy can destroy these healthy cells leaving you vulnerable to illness without the proper defense to combat them.

Stem cell therapy involves the collection of these healthy stem cells and preserving them by freezing them until they can be used. A special piece of medical equipment is used to collect these stem cells in your blood stream. There are also procedures to harvest some bone marrow which produces these stem cells or even using umbilical cord blood which is ripe with healthy “virgin” stem cells.

If you have an advanced form of testicular cancer, stem cell therapy may be used right away after chemotherapy. This therapy is also quite popular for testicular cancer patients who have had a recurrence of the disease after chemotherapy.

In the chemotherapy process, the drug cocktail travels through the blood stream to combat the cancerous cells and in the process, destroys some healthy ones as well, particularly those in the bone marrow. The result is the incapability to produce the necessary white blood cells necessary for fighting infections. In addition, red blood cells which carry life giving oxygen throughout the body are affected too. Platelets are affected as well and are an important part of the blood as well and help with proper blood clotting.

Stem cell therapy involves harvesting these important stem cells and preserving them before chemotherapy begins. Then, after chemotherapy is conducted, doctors re-introduce the carefully preserved stem cells back into the body to help kick start the healing process and to boost your immunity in the event of any illness.

Having your own stem cells harvested is called an autologous stem cell transplant and is actually the best method over an allogeniec stem cell transplant which uses a donor’s stem cells. There is less chance of your body rejecting your own stem cells than those from a stranger. However, there is a slight chance of some cancer cells slipping into those harvested stem cells collected from you so doctors will sometimes treat them with anti-cancer drugs first. By the same token, there is a chance your body could reject the allogeneic stem cell transplant as well.

Right now, stem cell therapy is a promising way to help your body fight back normal, everyday illnesses like cold and flu after chemotherapy treatment for testicular as well as other types of cancer. Talk with your doctor about your options. Each person’s medical history is different and you may best benefit from an alternative treatment.

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Defining the Testicular Implant

The typical testicular implant is a realistic looking ball made from silicone. It is made to closely matching the patient’s remaining testicle in shape, texture and weight. These implants come in a number of sizes. Looking at the implant more in depth, the shell of this fake testicle is made from silicone material and the inside is filled with a silicone-type gel which provides an approximate consistency.

Quite a few sources published have gone through the effects of what losing a testicle does to a man, in psychological terms. Those men who choose to have a testicular implant for cosmetic reasons have reported a higher confidence and self esteem as well as a more positive outlook on life.

Beneficiary of the Testicular Implant

Who really benefits from a testicular implant anyway? There is no particular age range or cut-off but rather each case is different. In fact, it is not just testicular cancer survivors who had a testicle removed that can benefit. Any man with testicular issues could benefit from the implant. Here are just a few of the many reasons why a testicular implant might be considered:

* Men who may have undescended testicles that never dropped during childhood.

* Men who may have experienced an accident with a testicle such as trauma or even some type of strangulation.

* Men who have small testicles that feels self-conscious about them or those whose testicles are not evenly matched.

* And of course, men who have had surgery to remove a testicle due to cancer.

Performing the Procedure of Implantation

The testicular implant surgery is not very complicated and typical takes under an hour, barring any complications. General anesthetic is common but just as often, a local anesthetic is used so you are still awake during the surgery. Inserting the implant requires that a surgeon make a small incision near the scrotal area, typically on the underside so as to try and hide any scarring.

Recovery from Implant Surgery

Testicular implant surgery usually does not involve an overnight hospital stay. In fact, as soon as the anesthetic wears off, doctors and nurses encourage patients to start walking and moving as this will prompt better healing.

While the patient may enjoy a pain-free status for hours, soon the anesthetic wears off and the surgical area will be quite sore. In fact, the patient can count on sensitivity to the area as well as soreness and swelling for at least a week. Doctors will often prescribe a pain reliever to help with the pain.

Men who undergo this implant surgery are encouraged to keep moving while convalescing at home. In addition, wearing some type of light athletic support works wonders in alleviating the pain and supporting the tender groin area at the same time. Of course, it is equally important to make all follow-up visits so that doctors can check the surgical site for any infection or complications.

While the testicular implant surgery is not necessary, it does do quite a bit in making a man feel more comfortable about his appearance. If his feelings of inadequacy or embarrassment affect his personal life, then surgery is the best option in clearing that up.

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Research and clinical trials are often conducted by medical centers, major university hospitals as well as a variety of public and private institutions. Every year brings new hope as more and more information is discovered by these medical researchers and doctors about how the disease is caused, ways to improvement the quality of life and prevention of it as well as better treatment options.

What Researchers Are Currently Working On

One of the most important avenues that medical researchers and doctors are pursuing in the fight against testicular cancer is how the DNA of the cancerous cells changes. They believe that by understanding what makes them turn into cancer and what causes them to migrate could lead to the actual prevention of the disease.

In addition, learning the “personality” of the testicular cancerous cells can help doctors predict possible upcoming changes and plan for them with a new and improved treatment plan to head those changes off before they happen. Comprehending the true nature of the genetics of these testicular cancerous cells will also help doctors decide whether surgery alone can help a patient or whether there will be a need for additional treatment.

Clinical Trials Important

There is no exact science when it comes to treating testicular cancer and each doctor who specializes in its treatment may have slightly different approaches. For this reason, clinical trials for different types of surgeries, drugs and other treatments are necessary in order to find the best options all around.

There are clinical trials to examine the reasons why some patients do well with one type of treatment over another. Similarities and differences in the patients themselves are studied to see why some would need an intensified treatment plan over another with similar cancer appearances who may only need surgery or chemotherapy.

New medications and drug cocktails are developed all the time for testicular cancer and these often need to be tested in order to determine its trustworthiness. The only way to do this is through clinical trials. These trials help determine why one drug work on only certain stages of cancer while another drug works for only mild cases. Without this constant testing, you will not benefit from everything they have learned in your own treatment plan.

Perhaps one of the most studied areas of testicular cancer is the area of fertility as many patients are men young enough to want children with their mates. Studies and many advances have been made into procedures that help aid in reproductive efforts like in vitro fertilization. With the technology these days, sperm can be garnered from testicular cancer patients, even those with low sperm counts. All in all, there is much being done in the medical community to learn more about testicular cancer and how to fight it.

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Living Life Healthier means making lifestyle choices that protects and nourishes your body so that it can function safely and efficiently.

Lifestyle choices for good health:

Ask yourself what were the lifestyle choices you made before your cancer diagnosis that were not healthy ones? Perhaps they involved drinking alcohol, smoking, eating too much food that did not nourish your body or that was of an overindulged amount. Did you exercise as often as your body needed to? How were your emotions before your diagnosis? Did you bottle up your feelings? Were you stressed over little and big things equally as much at home, work, school?

Taking a lifestyle assessment is not meant to make you feel quilt or stressed out; it is simply a way to support a healthier and long life for you. Lifestyle changes can have a positive affect not only on your life but also on the lives of those you love. Cancer, no matter what kind, is a life-changing event for anyone who has survived it. Use your survival to spur on a renewal of a life that is healthier and happier than before the cancer.

Diet and nutritional changes that spell a healthier you:

Eating for a healthier body is tough on anyone who has had unhealthy eating habits and enjoyed them! Someone who has survived cancer treatment will experience a possible change in your taste of food, you may still encounter nausea from time to time. You may have lost your appetite or have lost weight, even when you did not need to. You may even have gained weight, despite not eating any more food. These can all be frustrating issues to deal with and can affect your ability to enjoy food. Most of the issues mentioned would improve with time; speak with your doctor about particulars in your case. Your doctor or nutritionist can answer all of your diet and nutrition questions including how many servings of what food groups you should have each day. Basically, you should have at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. You should chose whole grains and limit or avoid sugars and white flour. It is wise to limit your meat intake when items are high in fat content such as processed meats (hot dogs, bologna, bacon). Limit alcoholic beverages to 1 or 2 a day if at all.

A good diet and regular daily exercise will help to get your weight to a normal level for your age and body build. You will also feel more energized and emotionally well balanced when you add exercise to your daily routine and follow your doctor’s advice regarding emotional good health.

Fatigue is a common symptom for those who have just recovered from cancer treatment, so take your doctor’s advice and get plenty of rest and don’t let it discourage you from getting regular physical activity. Exercise can actually reduce fatigue.

Make sure that you talk to your doctor about any exercise program before you start it. An exercise buddy is an excellent way to stay safe while exercising and enjoy the time you spend getting to good physical shape. An exercise buddy can encourage and support you in your exercise efforts as well as to make the time spent in exercise an enjoyable experience.

Exercise can improve cardiovascular fitness, strengthen your muscles, reduce any fatigue you may be feeling, lower your levels of anxiety and depression, and help you to feel better about yourself and put you into a generally happier mood.

Long-term goal of exercising and diet and nutrition is to prevent certain cancers, they are an important way of keeping everyone healthy and our bodies working the way they are designed to. When we are healthier we just feel better and are happier.

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The truth about testicular cancer is that it is a young man’s cancer. The median age of a man first diagnosed with testicular cancer is 34 years of age with 5.5% of men being diagnosed under age 20 and 46.2% being diagnosed between the age of 20 and 34, 30.3% between 35 and 44, and than the percentages start to drop drastically to 13.1% of men being diagnosed between age 45 and age 54, and then only 3.1% being diagnosed between ages 55 and 64, 1.1% between 65 and 74, and finally only 0.7% of men being diagnosed with testicular cancer between the age of 75 and 84 and only 0.2% of men are diagnosed with testicular cancer at age 85 years or older. These grim statistics are based on NCI’s Seer Cancer Statistics Review and other statistics from NCI’s analysis of SEER incidence data.

Most young males being unaware of the danger they are in, do not take a simple step that they can do that may detect the cancer in the early stages; which would give them the best chance for a full recovery. This simple step is to do self-examination on a regular basis.

Testicular self-examination (TSE) can save the life of many young men if done on a regular basis. Males should know what is considered to be “normal” concerning the shape, size and feel of a teste when doing self-examination. Testicles do differ in size, one is typically, slightly larger than the other one. When feeling a testicle there should be smoothness, and an oval shape with a uniform firmness to the touch. The back of the testicle should feel like a coiled telephone cord (this is the epididymus).

TSE:

The best time for the male to perform a TSE is right after or during a bath or shower because his scrotum skin will be relaxed and the testicles can be more easily felt. The exam should only take about 3 minutes at most to perform.

The index and middle fingers are placed alongside the underneath part of the testicle. Put your thumb on top of the testicle. Gently roll the testicle between the fingers and thumb as you feel for anything out of the ordinary including lumps. Examine the back for any lumps and then do the same for the other testicle. Examine the inguinal crease for the inguinal lymph nodes using the pads of two fingers. Gently press your two fingers along this crease feeling for anything unusual. The nodes will feel small, rubbery and oval in shape.

Changes in the testicle that may signal cancer are:

The presence of a lump

Changes in the consistency of the testicle

A testicle that has become enlarged

A heavy feeling in the testicle

Pain in the testicle that does not go away

Swelling or tenderness of your breast area

Your inguinal lymph nodes are painful, swollen or hard feeling.

Even if you do find a lump, the lump may not be cancerous, so do not panic if you find anything during the exam. Report any findings to your doctor immediately and the doctor will do an exam to determine if what you have found warrants further investigation.

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Your management plan:

This plan has a purpose that includes giving you confidence to believe in your recovery, and to face any fears that may still rob you of your enjoyment of life. Your management plan will have several parts to it such as an outline of your follow-up care, how to make a switch of doctors should you move, your doctor retire etc., how to initiate and maintain lifestyle changes, dietary and exercise options, and caring for your emotions. Your management plan may include what to do if the cancer does return.

Your doctor will stress the importance of adhering to your follow-up care plan. This plan will involve tests such as alpha-fetoprotein (AFP, human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), and a lactate dehydrogenase (LDH0 these tests will help to detect any relapse of the testicular cancer at the earliest stage possible. Other tests will be x-rays, CT scans, and other imaging studies. The frequency of these tests will decrease as the years pass without a reoccurrence of your cancer. Another part of your follow-up will center on detecting any possible complications from the type of cancer treatment you had received. It will be to your benefit to keep all of your appointments and to follow any instructions given to you by your medical care team members.

It is essential that you report any new symptoms to your doctor immediately so that the management plan can include diagnosis of the new symptoms. The typical statistic quoted is a 3% chance for testicular cancer to occur in your other testicle and so it is important to follow your management plan, sometimes for as long as 30 years after your initial cancer treatment if finished. Don’t worry about that time frame; your life is not going to be put on hold while you work your management plan, because the plan is what gives you a fuller, healthier life.

You may need to find a new doctor if you move or if your doctor retires so it is important to know what to do in this situation.

Your lifestyle changes will include diet and nutritional choices, exercise to improve strength and to maintain proper weight as well as to sustain a balanced emotional state.

Your physical well-being is not the only concern of your management plan, your emotional health is also important when caring for someone who has successfully been treated for testicular cancer.

You are not alone in your need for support and there is plenty of opportunity for this for you so explore peer-support groups, educational groups, informal support group settings, and even one-on-one support from a trusted friend or family member. Make sure that you have a place to go for comfort and support as you move into and through this stage of celebration and recovery.

You will want your new doctor to have access to what treatment you received after your testicular cancer diagnosis. Your treatment details will be important information for the new doctor to have so that the management plan can be continued in the same high value manner in which you will have become accustomed to.

Make sure that the previous doctor and the medical team gives the new doctor the following important information:

* Your pathology report from any biopsy done or from your surgery (if you had these)

* A copy of your operative report from your testicular surgery (if you had one)

* Discharge summaries from any hospitalizations

* A list of any drugs you have been taking ever since your testicular cancer diagnosis, especially any chemotherapy drugs, the does and dates you took them

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If you are one of the men whose testicular cancer can be treated through surgery, you may see the least impact in regards to fertility. The physical removal of a testicle (called an orchiectomy) can be traumatic but the fact remains, you have one working testicle left that should still be able to produce sperm.

Of course, if the reason for your testicular cancer was the fact that you once had an undescended testicle, then your fertility issues just got more complicated. Doctors suggest that men should use a sperm bank to preserve what mobile sperm they do have in case surgery or some other type of treatment greatly lowers the count, particularly in men who still wish to have families..

In more extreme versions of testicular cancer, a retro peritoneum lymph node dissection is often performed. If you have a certain type of testicular cancer that spreads, this type of surgical procedure is necessary to track and catch any other cancerous sites in your body. This surgery involved the removal of lymph nodes located in back of the abdominal area. The drawback to this surgery is that it tends to traumatize the sympathetic nerves in the area which in turn prevents the release of semen during ejaculation.

Luckily, there are been great advances in the retro peritoneum procedure and doctors can successfully treat the cancerous cells and even remove some of the lymph nodes without disturbing the delicate nerve system. While not 100% successful, over 70% of patients breeze through the surgery with no ill effects. Still, if you are concerned about fertility, you might consider banking sperm just in case.

Chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer can be quite successful. This drug cocktail treatment hunts down those germ cells that cause the disease. Of course, the healthy germ cells are the ones that help produce sperm but chemotherapy does not always distinguish between the healthy and cancerous germ cells. This means you may find yourself with a low sperm count.

It may take a few years but approximately half the men who have chemotherapy for testicular cancer do end up with normal sperm count. Unfortunately for the other 50%, it’s a crap shoot. A lot of it all depends on how mobile and healthy your sperm were to begin with before the cancer. Again, doctors will likely advise banking your sperm before undergoing chemotherapy on the chance you want kids.

Unless both testicles are affected, radiation therapy will not totally diminish your chances of fertility. Yes, radiation aimed at one particular testicle in particular will render it sterile. However, doctors place a protective shield on the remaining one during radiation treatment so that you still have a chance of children and protecting the mobile sperm there.

Yes, it will be tougher to conceive children with a significant other if you have or have had testicular cancer. However, with a little forethought and planning (i.e. a sperm bank) you can still be optimistic about hearing the pitter patter of little feet sometime in your future.

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The worry of these men is that after surgery to remove a testicle or even other forms of treatment their ability to have sex will be compromised, even becoming impotent or sterile. The fact is, men who have lost a testicle due to cancer or some other means still has a health one left and that means being able to have an erection and the ability to produce sperm. The removal of a testicle does mean an enforced down time and men should wait a few weeks for recuperation time to be effective.

There is a more involved surgical procedure for testicular cancer called RPLND or retro peritoneal lymph node dissection and while it normally does not affect sexual function like orgasms or erection, it can have some repercussions on ejaculation and fertility. In the not too distant past, the surgery involved incisions near the nerve center that controls ejaculation. This meant that sometimes the ejaculate did not end up where it needed to be but rather in the bladder. Luckily, the surgical procedure has been refined and for the most part, those nerves are spared.

A small chance still exists however for the ejaculation process to be affected. For some men, the action still feels the same, only there is no ejaculate. For other men though, they notice a difference in their sex life. Of course, fertility is always at the forefront too. Men who get the RPLND procedure need to ensure their surgeon handling it is well versed and experienced.

With radiation therapy for testicular cancer, most men do not see any changes whatsoever in their sexual ability. What this therapy does change though is sperm count. Men who still wish to father children may find their sperm counts plummeting. Most patients do recover from this sperm count drop with no ill effects but others do have problems. For this reason, some doctors may advise men to bank their sperm just in case.

In terms of chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer, sexual ability is not normally affected. However, the side effects of chemo can hinder the desire to have sex. Each man is different and doctors can help in the treatment of the side effects. The drug cocktails in chemotherapy do hamper sperm count and production. There is a greater chance that men could become sterile with this treatment plan and again, sperm banking is suggested should men still wish to father children.

Doctors do advise men to use condoms during sex, even when with a monogamous partner. The reason for this is because the chemotherapy drugs can pass through the ejaculate to a sexual partner. Not much is known on how much the partner is affected by these drugs so it is best to avoid the possibility all together with condoms.

The bottom line is each man who has testicular cancer and has been treated or is going through treatment will act differently in their sex life. One man may have no ill effects and have a good sex drive while another may need to have some type of hormonal therapy in order to reestablish that desire for sex. The key is to communicate effectively with the doctor as they are the best resource for suggesting various methods to maintain a healthy sex life after testicular cancer treatment.

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