Every week, Thomas Cantley—a.k.a. Mr. Ballsy—brings us a profile of a testicular cancer survivor. “Ask Dr. P” is the medical advice side of cancer awareness.
QUESTION for Dr. P:
What should i do to encourage him to go? Amber, Boulder, CO
ANSWER:
Amber, wonderful question. This is one the BIGGEST problems with guys—while we are caring and strong, we are stubborn —especially when it comes to sensitive areas like our genitals.
No guy wants to think he has anything wrong with his testicles or penis and the thought of cancer or surgery can be really scary. For men with testicular cancer, the average time for a man to notice something in his testicles and come to medical attention is approximately 4-5 months in this country!!
Luckily our cure rate is still 95%, but we could probably get closer to 100% (with less chemotherapy and big surgery) if guys would go to the doctor a little sooner. So you can stress to him that if he does have a problem, he would definitely want to address it sooner rather than later.
Hydrocele, varicocele, spermatocele are all benign growths in the scrotum, none of which is dangerous.
So you can also stress to him that it’s likely nothing serious, but wouldn’t he want to know??
The last piece of this is that the evaluation only requires a physical examination by a physician and, only IF there is something abnormal, a scrotal ultrasound (painless, cheap (about $180 US and covered by all insurance), fast without radiation).
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Dr. Phillip M. Pierorazio, M.D. is the Director of the Division of Testicular Cancer and works with a number of testicular cancer advocacy groups around the country. He runs the testicular cancer “Go-Team” and coordinates the department’s research efforts in testicular cancer.
Photo:poppet with a camera/Flickr
This essay originally appeared on Mr. Ballsy.
Read Thomas Cantley/Mr. Ballsy every week here on The Good Men Project!