Legally Blind Athlete Fights for His Testicular Cancer Care
Legally Blind Athlete Fights for His Testicular Cancer Care
Episode 127
When David Smith woke in the middle of the night with searing lower-back pain, he was two weeks out from the Beep Baseball World Series and in the best shape of his life. A legally blind wellness coach, nurse, and competitive adaptive-sports athlete, David assumed it was a kidney stone. Instead, an ER scan revealed a large mass near his kidney — and with no primary tumor found on ultrasound, doctors diagnosed him with testicular cancer at 41.
In this episode of It Takes Balls, David shares one of the most powerful stories of self-advocacy the podcast has featured. Determined not to miss the World Series, he delayed treatment two weeks, then began BEP chemotherapy that quickly went sideways: a wiped-out immune system, terrifying bone pain from shots no one warned him about, and a blood clot in his lung. When bleomycin proved too dangerous, David — drawing on his own nursing knowledge and relentless research — pushed his oncology team to change his regimen himself.
David doesn't hold back about the gaps in his care, from "factory"-like bedside manner to Googling his way to a nearby cancer center and an experienced surgeon he'd never been told about. His post-chemo RPLND removed 21 lymph nodes (all negative) but left him navigating a brutal recovery that nearly broke him.
But this episode is really about what comes after. David opens up honestly about survivorship — the fear of recurrence, the identity crisis of remission, faith, and the ongoing work of figuring out who he really is. His message to anyone facing a diagnosis: advocate for yourself, do your research without letting it consume you, and hang tight — because far more people survive cancer than don't.
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