Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Cancer - The taboo kind

I'm going to talk about something I have not shared with many people, so stick with me here. Rae and I had been married for six weeks in the year 2000 when I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. It was a really bad time in our lives and a terrible start for our marriage. Fortunately, our willpower prevailed and I am alive today to share some insight. I bring this up now because we found out just today that a groom of ours from this year was recently diagnosed with testicular cancer. Ironically, this couple's story is almost identical to ours with the timing and all. This is a medical issue that is not talked about nearly enough as we men are not really into sharing and talking about these sorts of issues with each other. You guys out there need to be doing monthly checks on yourself just like the ladies do for breast cancer. For you ladies reading this, make sure your fellas are checking themselves, and don't let them convince you that they need your help every time! You can google "testicular cancer screening" to find out every thing you need to know. It might just save your life someday.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What a great way to make my blog debut!
Testicular Ca affects approximately 1:500 Americans, and is MOST common in men aged 20-35. It is often painless and without symptoms. The best way for fast detection is through monthly testicular self-exams, i.e. examine the testicles between the thumb and 2nd,3rd finger, checking for lumps, bumps, changes in consistency of the testicle, etc. If ANY of these are noticed, it is important to be examined by your doctor or friendly neighbor Urologist!