It has been a year since my first blog for TCAF, and I finally feel ready to openly talk about why it took so long to write this. This time last year was extremely hard for me. Four months out from Nate’s RPLND, life had slowly begun returning back to normal and the realities of what that meant were hitting hard. Not only were we recovering from everything we had been through during our cancer journey, but we were suddenly facing a new challenge... infertility.
Read MoreHello! I’m Chris Osborn a two-time late stage testicular cancer survivor, I’ve been through 4xEP, 1xBEP, 1xVIP, and 2xHDC with stem cell transplant, and RPLND. I am also a type 1 diabetic. I joined TCAF Ambassadors to help others going through testicular cancer, I have some unique medical conditions and I hope I can pass the knowledge I have acquired over the past few years to anyone who needs it! Here is a brief history of my experience with testicular cancer.
Read MoreIn November of 2016, myself and a representative with the Emerald Coast Beard and Mustache Alliance (ECBMA) put on a few events to raise money for Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation, and the "Go Nuts for No Shave November" campaign.
Read MoreIt was a beautiful and emotional day for the Jordan Jones Memorial Golf Tournament back on May 20th, 2017, at the at Adobe Creek National Golf Course. It was the 7th annual golf tournament benefiting the Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation.
Read MoreHi, I am Carl Russell. I am 48 years old and a lifelong resident of the Great State of Texas. I am a son, brother, spouse and father to my family. I am a military veteran with 8 years active duty in the U.S. Army, of which 9 months was spent in Southwest Asia to support Operation Desert Shield, Storm and Provide Comfort. I have lived a great life, but nothing prepared me for the day I was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer.
Read MoreIt was in the fall of 2012 that my life that cancer would turn my life upside down. At the age of 29, with two kids just five and three at the time, I would come face to face with my mortality, fight for my life, and watch the world around me evolve at a time when my life was at a standstill. 5 years later, I am a college graduate, and on to another new journey in life.
Read More"Hey guys! My name is Josh Cooper, I am a stage 2a Pure Seminoma Testicular cancer survivor. I was diagnosed in October of 2012, originally stage 1b. At the time, I was a healthy and happy 24 year old, and thought nothing could go wrong. One day, I noticed my left testicle just felt off. It felt hard, but I didn't find a lump. As the days went on, I searched webmd, and started to worry. With no health insurance, I went to my local urgent care. They originally thought it was an infection, but a few weeks later we did an ultrasound. That day, I got the call the changed my life. I remember sitting in my car, my world crashing around me, when I heard the words "Mr. Cooper, there is a very good chance that you have testicular cancer."
Read MoreNothing matters more to all of us at the Testicular Cancer Awareness Foundation than getting out into the public, and helping to raise awareness about testicular cancer. It's the number one form of cancer in men ages 15-44, yet almost no one talks about the disease! The rate of testicular cancer in young men is nearly the same as the rate of breast cancer in young women, yet all you ever see are pink ribbons and breast cancer awareness campaigns. There's nothing wrong with that, but we need to be talking about men's cancers and testicular cancer, too! We need to see more BLUE out there, and so it was great to see so much awareness activity this past week by TCAF Ambassadors in both schools and at health fairs.
Read MoreWhen I was finishing chemo, I was given Ambien to help me sleep. It didn't work, but the side effects of 'violent and suicidal thoughts' sure did.I don't think I've ever really talked about this publicly, but reading about Chris Cornell's death and what his wife is saying about his taking Ativan, which is some powerful stuff made me see the connection.
Read MoreTCAF Ambassador John Armijo shares his perspective of getting his life back after testicular cancer through his movie work, and on recovering from the extreme fatigue, neuropathy, and PTSD that followed chemotherapy. "In my quickly-going-insane mind, I had already died and was in Hell. I couldn't leave the house due to low immunities and had lost everything in my mind, from the ability to sleep and eat, and now my sanity was next on the checklist before I ultimately lost my life. A bit exaggerated in retrospect, but very real to me at the time."
Read MoreWhat follows was the agreed upon and, finally accepted, treatment plan following my one round of 2nd line/salvage chemo. After growth was detected in a nodule in my right lung, i was again in a place of facing cancer and, perhaps even more-so than when initially diagnosed, denial of this fact. A lot of questions arose; questions that gave way to fear, anger, despair… I would be stuck in these places of either serene acceptance and willingness to meet it (cancer) head-on, or I would find myself wrapped up in my bed, midday crying such great amounts of tears. It was between these great emotional outpourings that I would feel calm and (an) acceptance.
Read Morethe following day, yesterday morning, while driving back from an appointment, i lost complete mobility in my left arm. unsure if this was a seizure, a stroke... a clotting issue, my sister took me to the ER. as most of my ER stories go, they did a number of tests, the first of which, after vitals, was a CT scan of the head. what they discovered explained the loss of mobility/motor function in my left arm -- a 3.2cm lesion located on the back rear (right) lobe in and around parietal and occipital lobe.
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