Testicular cancer is pretty survivable, especially in the early stages. That's why it's so important for men to do a regular check to see if they have any testicular lumps. If you can catch the cancer early, the treatments are much less invasive and a lot easier on you. So, what are some of the treatments for testicular cancer?
Surgery
If the cancer is in only one testicle, then removing that testicle is an option. As long as you have at least one testicle, you still will be able to produce sperm and the hormones that you need. When you have your testicle removed, your doctor may also remove the lymph nodes around your groin and abdomen, especially if they think that your cancer has begun to metastasize. Getting rid of those lymph nodes will help to keep any cancer cells from further spreading through your body and creating metastases elsewhere. If you are worried about the way that your scrotum will look after having one of your testicles removed, there are prosthetic testicles that your doctor can implant for you. They won't do anything for your body, but they will make it look like you still have two testicles.
Chemotherapy
Another option for treatment is chemotherapy. If your cancer is in a later stage or you are already showing metastases, then chemo is more likely to be something that you have to deal with. WIth chemotherapy, you go to the hospital every so often, and you are given an infusion of some strong medications. The medications are supposed to knock out the cancer. This happens over a period of weeks. How often you go to the hospital and how long each round of chemotherapy lasts depends on what medications your doctor has prescribed for you, what stage your cancer is in, how spread out through your body it is, and how well you seem to be responding to it. You may have to have multiple rounds of chemotherapy in order to beat the cancer. One thing that you need to think about is the fact that chemo can destroy your fertility, so you may want to bank some sperm if you are wanting to have children in the future, just so that you have it ready to go.
If you are worried about testicular cancer, you should make sure to do monthly self-exams and be aware that with the proper treatment, testicular cancer is pretty survivable.
