A Random Neighbor. A Life-Saving Conversation.

Episode 132

For personal trainer Michael Autore, testicular cancer was never on his radar — until a chance conversation changed everything. In this episode of It Takes Balls, the founder of Slim Thick NYC shares how a neighbor he barely knew planted a seed that may have saved his life, and how he turned one of the hardest experiences of his life into a story of growth, community, and relentless self-advocacy.

Michael, recounts the strange series of events leading to his diagnosis: getting drinks with a guy from his block who turned out to be a testicular cancer survivor (as was his father), then noticing his own testicular pain weeks later. He describes the excruciating night he felt something off at his parents' house, the ultrasound, and how his father-in-law's connections pointed him to Dr. Sheinfeld at Memorial Sloan Kettering — the very same surgeon his neighbor and his neighbor's father had used years earlier.

He walks through his orchiectomy, his original stage, and his choice of surveillance — only to have his tumor markers reverse course and three lymph nodes enlarge right after Thanksgiving. That night, learning he'd need four rounds of EP chemotherapy, was the hardest moment for Michael and his wife. But when offered the chance to wait until after the holidays, his answer was immediate: "I'll start on Monday."

A major theme is how Michael threw everything at his treatment alongside chemo — never in place of it. He hired a nutrition team that helped him cut inflammation and build immunity, learned to cook, used red light therapy for his tinnitus, and worked with a therapist and coach who transformed the language he used about his own healing. He's candid about the side effects that lingered — tinnitus, neuropathy, constipation severe enough to cause a hernia, and the under-discussed challenge of adjusting to life with one testicle — while refusing to let anyone, including himself, frame the experience as pure victimhood.

Michael also shares how he scaled his coaching business remotely through treatment, hosted a men's retreat after finishing chemo, and competed in a HYROX event later. Now six months post-chemo and on close surveillance with Dr. Feldman, he declined a recommended RPLND after his lymph nodes shrank dramatically. His advice for the newly diagnosed is grounded and reassuring: you're going to get through it, protect your energy and mindset, bring someone with you to appointments, and don't be afraid to ask for help.

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