Never mind the bollocks – here’s the cancer instead.  The 2010 version

At the beginning of 2010 (remembering my diagnosis was July that year), I did what all men should regularly do – I checked my ‘chaps’ for lumps.  Sometime in January, I got the feeling my left ‘chap’ was bigger than the right and I monitored that for a few days.  Eventually, it was patently obvious there was an abnormality. I immediately went to my GP, and he diagnosed a hydrocele.  Apparently, these are quite common with men.  He was able to quickly work this out by shining a torch through the offending gonad area and as the light came out the other side, this was confirmation it was excess fluid, crude but effective apparently.  He said it might go away on its own but explained there were medical procedures to correct it including fine needle aspiration (not normally a permanent fix) or surgical repair (the most permanent fix).   I left it for a few weeks and as time passed, the size of my left ‘chap’ increased.  It became really uncomfortable and started to feel painful, so I asked to be referred to a specialist.  (Bear in mind at this point, I still didn’t know I had Stage IV NET that had been burrowing away inside me for years.)

Fast forward 1 month, the hydrocele is not yet sorted and I’m speaking to a specialist having been referred for a low hemoglobin score (the trigger for my NET diagnosis).  At this point, I’m convinced there is a connection and amongst the plethora of tests and checks, the specialist also carried out a fine needle aspiration of my left ‘chap’ (I can hear the male audience wincing). The fluid was sent off for testing and subsequently returned negative.  My left ‘chap’ was now back to normal (every cloud…..). By the way, the hydrocele returned around 2 months later.  I eventually got the date for my hydrocele surgical procedure (hydrocelectomy) but decided to postpone it to sort out another little matter …… Cancer!  Although the specialist found nothing wrong with my enlarged chap, he did find my cancer.

I eventually got it repaired in Sep 2011 after 14 months of NET treatment and had no issues since.   Now…… I can almost hear the cogs turning …… the testes are an endocrine organ etc.  I’ve been through this cog turning exercise too, it was checked by the specialist diagnosing me for NET and concluded it was incidental and a benign issue.

I was still suspicious for a year after diagnosis. However, I’ve been categorically told by more than one specialist that there was no connection, nothing cancerous showing on ultrasound, CT scan or Octreoscan.  That said, something was observed in my ‘chaps’ in the 2018 Ga68 PET scan and “likely inflammatory” would seem to back up what I’ve been told.

However, I did my duty, I checked my chaps, found an issue and fortunately it was nothing too serious. The timing just before my NET diagnosis was crap though!

Check em’ lads!