He Beat Testicular Cancer in Both Testicles

Episode 134

When Carlos Payne felt a dull heaviness in his right testicle in 2019, he was 23, working night shifts, and days away from starting his LPN-to-RN nursing program. A urologist's blunt question — "how old are you?" — set off a whirlwind: an ultrasound and labs that same morning, elevated tumor markers by that afternoon, and surgery to remove the testicle the very next day. In this candid and inspiring episode of It Takes Balls, Carlos — a registered nurse from rural Arizona — shares a story that's as much about self-discovery as it is about survival.

Carlos caught his first cancer early at stage 1A, and after a confusing back-and-forth between oncologists over whether he needed chemo, a second opinion put him on surveillance. For two to three years, his scans and labs stayed clear. Then, at the end of 2021, he felt the same unmistakable dullness in his remaining testicle. He knew instantly it was back — and though his doctors were hesitant, they trusted him to know his own body. He was right. This second, separate primary cancer was more malignant and had spread to a lymph node in his abdomen, requiring a second orchiectomy and four rounds of etoposide and cisplatin (bleomycin was ruled out due to his asthma). His urologist with 40 years of experience told him he'd never before removed both of a man's testicles.

Carlos is honest about how much more than cancer he was carrying. At the time of his first diagnosis, he was still in the closet, and he hid his surgery entirely — recovering alone in a hotel for a week, telling only his father, because he wanted certainty before worrying his mother and the younger siblings he helped raise. But facing his own mortality became a turning point. Realizing he could have died without ever living as his true self, Carlos came out to his family. The people he feared would reject him didn't — and his younger siblings, the most supportive of all, simply told him they loved him either way. He describes the relief as a huge weight lifted.

He doesn't sugarcoat chemo. The first cycle felt manageable, but by round three he was waking up throwing up bile, unable to keep down even water, and by round four sleeping 18 to 20 hours a day — all through the brutal Arizona summer heat. Yet Carlos kept moving forward. He navigated transcript mix-ups and a failed NCLEX attempt during his diagnosis, finally earning his RN in November 2024, his BSN this February, and he's now pursuing an MBA with plans for an MSN and leadership roles ahead.

Now in his fourth year cancer-free with clear scans and one more year until he's discharged from the clinic, Carlos reflects on scanxiety, trusting the science, and the light at the end of the tunnel he couldn't always see. His message to anyone newly diagnosed — and to men who think it can't happen to them — is quietly powerful: check yourself, don't mess around, live your life for you, and know that things have a way of working out how they're meant to.

Whether you're a patient, a survivor, part of the LGBTQ community, or simply need proof that a hard diagnosis doesn't have to stop you, Carlos's story is a moving reminder that you're not alone.

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