Live From Testicular Cancer Conference 2026
Live From Testicular Cancer Conference 2026
Episode 136
It Takes Balls goes live from Indianapolis for the 2026 Testicular Cancer Conference. In this special episode, host Steven Crocker catches up with three guests at the conference social on the eve of the big day.
First, TCAF board member and conference MC BJ Lange joins to preview the weekend — including a teaser of the podcast’s landmark interview with Dr. Larry Einhorn (dropping December 15th), who’s being honored at the conference. BJ Lange and Steven talk through why they keep coming back year after year: the science and the front lines of testis cancer care, but above all the community of survivors, caregivers, and families. They also run through TCAF’s growing roster of resources — the podcast, the monthly virtual Ball Room (featuring men’s sexual health expert Dr. Helen Bernie on November 17th), Centers of Excellence, the Facebook group, financial aid (up more than 30% between April 2025-2026, now surpassing $150,000 in lifetime giving), merch, and free awareness materials. The headline announcement is TCAF Connect, a new free app that matches you with someone who shares your story — filterable by stage, pathology, and treatment — plus self-exam reminders you can share with your group chat, Centers of Excellence, past episodes, and more.
Next, conference chair Dr. Nabil Adra shares what he’s most excited for: bringing patients, survivors, caregivers, and experts into one room, and hearing talks on surgical outcomes, medical oncology, new treatments, clinical trials, and survivorship. He reflects on carrying the torch from Dr. Einhorn, reminding listeners the job isn’t done — patients still go uncured and many live with long-term side effects — and shares his hope for a future with ultra-early detection and a 100% cure rate with minimal lasting effects.
Finally, three-time survivor Bill Hermann attends his first conference, sharing what it means to meet other survivors after decades of feeling alone with a “male cancer.” Diagnosed around 2001 and navigating orchiectomy, radiation, and chemo through recurrences, Bill is now a 20-plus-year survivor. He speaks warmly about Dr. Einhorn’s personal care, the emotional toll and depression that follow long-term survivorship, and the wife who stuck with him when a social worker warned that 80% of couples divorce — “we’re not the 80%.”
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