On the 27th November, less than two weeks after the initial suspected discovery, my left testicle was removed.
The pathology results have since been returned, along with some very cool cross-section photos, and digital copies of the internal scans.
So for all those people who’ve been showing such a significant interest in my well-being, these are the results:
I now have confirmation it was cancer. I had cancer. it still feels a very weird thing to say out loud.
Fortunately, (or so they kept telling me) “it was the best type of cancer to have” – caught early as a ‘Stage 1 Seminoma’. So it is effectively now past tense.
I’m still being referred to the cancer care unit, and I’ll be on the active monitoring list for many more years to come (including regular follow up CT scans and blood tests). But that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned.
I know that as a result of my experience, more guys are now checking themselves more often.
I’m also trying to push for more guys to get more regular screening in the future too (so if you have political or media contacts that could help there, please let me know).
Fortunately for me, because the tumour was discovered and removed so early (at about 9-11mm in diameter, with a clear edge), the results don’t show any significant signs of spreading to the rest of my body. I’ve got close to 100% success to have been sorted from this.
That type of tumour doubles in size every few months. It would have started developing around a year ago. If it had been left much longer, it would have spread to stage 2 where the initial tumour would grow large enough to be felt by hand and cancerous cells could have spread to other parts of my body.
So I was just very lucky to have had apparently unrelated cysts appear, to prompt the diagnostic ultrasound. Otherwise in 6 months’ time this experience would have been a whole lot different.
People have been asking lots of questions about my experience, the details, and the diagnosis. A topic of conversation that I didn’t imagine I’d be having so often.
I’ve been keeping an occasional journal through various stages of my healing, and have been getting some clear ‘after’ photos of the healing process of the surgical scar, the bruising and such. This should be coming online another time.
If you are so inclined and would like to see the results in person sometime (at a suitable private location like Threshold), please feel free to ask me directly. My cock and balls have been on display and handled by so many medical professionals throughout this process, I’m not exactly shy about people taking a look now.
I’ve been told I’ll still be recovering for 6-8 weeks following the surgery (so being very cautious in terms of serious exercise, diet, rest, etc.). However, this recovery continues to progress really well, with noticeable improvements for me daily. And it’s not affecting sex for me either now! 🙂
So yeah, more info will follow. I’m also still happy to answer any questions you may have in person when you see me.