“There will be about 8,090 new cases of testicular cancer in the United States in 2008. About 380 men will die of the disease in 2008. A man’s lifetime chance of having testicular cancer is about 1 in 300. Because treatment is so successful, the risk of dying from this cancer is very low: about 1 in 5,000. Testicular cancer is one of the most curable forms of cancer. There are nearly 140,000 men who have survived testicular cancer in the United States.”

–Source: The American Cancer Society

The “Get a Grip” Campaign at the National Men’s Resource Center promotes the importance of young men and boys doing monthly self exams for early detection.

8 Symptoms of Testicular Cancer:

1. A lump in or on a testicle;
2. Any enlargement of a testicle;
3. Shrinking of a testicle;
4. A feeling of heaviness in the scrotum;
5. A dull ache in the lower abdomen or in the groin;
6. A collection of fluid in the scrotum;
7. Pain or discomfort in a testicle or in the scrotum;
8. Enlargement or tenderness of the breasts.

My kids, Kate, Maggie, and Ethan

Ethan’s Story:

My son, Ethan, is a testicular cancer survivor. Diagnosed Sept. 19, 2008 just three days after passing the exam for his driver’s license. He drove home from the appointment because I couldn’t, also he’s a pretty resilient teenager who happened to be more concerned about making a stop for a burger than digesting all the news we had just received.

10/29/08 Ethan underwent a radical orchidectomy at UCLA to remove his testicle and the large tumor that had developed around it. This was a fairly quick surgery, although the same cannot be said for the recovery which was pretty rough.

We received the news that the tumor was malignant and were referred to a phenomenal urologist at UCLA who had also battled testicular cancer and was now 30 years post surgery. That’s when we were told that Ethan would require another surgery, far more invasive than the last.

12/01/08 Ethan underwent a Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection, a three hour surgery where an incision was made at the top of his abdomen all the way down to just below his belly button. He endured a harrowing 5 day stay in the hospital with an NG tube. This was a tube that ran from his nose down into his stomach. By day 4 the tube filled with blood because it had attached to his stomach wall and began to irritate it. Aside from that the tube was incredibly painful to both his throat and nose bringing tears to his eyes each time he tried to swallow.

I keep this picture on my phone because I never want to forget what we went through, what he went through.

Even with all of that, we are so fortunate because Ethan caught the tumor in time.

12/08/08 We received the news that the pathology report from the last surgery was back and that Ethan was 100% cancer free. No chemo, no radiation.

All of this was directly due to the fact that Ethan caught it in time and knew enough to tell us immediately that something was wrong. I cannot even begin to think what might have happened if he had been too embarrassed or ashamed to tell us.

It’s a sad fact that there is just not a lot of information out there regarding testicular cancer. Thanks to celebrity survivors like Lance Armstrong and Tom Green, awareness has been raised a bit. Still, imagine my disappointment to visit the American Cancer Society’s website and find that while there were loads and loads of links for every other type of cancer there was only ONE for testicular cancer.

This is not some “old man’s disease” folks. My son is a healthy, vibrant, long distance runner who was diagnosed at the age of 16!

Tell your male friends, sons, and family members to “Get A Grip” and conduct a monthly self-exam.

“Many men don’t realize the importance of doing a testicular self- exam each month. Just as women should be examining their breasts to look for possible signs of breast cancer, it’s important for men after they have reached puberty, to perform a testicular cancer self exam each month. Because testicular cancer has a very high cure rate and with a cure rate of almost 100% for the very early stages of this disease, it’s very important to detect and treat the cancer as early as possible. Doctors recommend that men perform a testicular self-exam while standing up, and preferably after a hot shower or bath when the muscles are most relaxed …” – MedicineNet.Com

That quote says “after puberty” I had one of the top pediatric urologists at UCLA tell me that it is NOT unheard of for YOUNG boys to develop testicular cancer. That would be boys under the age of TWELVE. This is NOT something they tell us moms as we are traipsing our babies from well doctor check up to check up. Regardless of their age, start teaching your sons now to know what to look for and to not be embarrassed if they find something – no matter how tiny or silly it may seem.