Navigating Cancer
Balls got you down?
DON’T PANIC!
We’ll help you get this handled.
Navigating testicular cancer can be a crazy as balls. We’ve worked hard to prepare a wide variety of information throughout the Oneball website, but we realize that sometimes you might need a condensed version of this information while you’re on the go! This is why we’ve prepared our quick and easy, all-in-one Oneball Cancer Guidebook to help with a lot of the questions you may have along the way.
JUST IN CASE, WE’VE ALSO LEFT THE BASICS BELOW, JUST TO GET YOU STARTED.
THE BASICS
Things are happening fast, and it’s totally normal to freak out. To help, we need to first address some of the thoughts and feelings you might be having:
- THIS IS NOT YOUR FAULT! Very smart doctors with many prestigious degrees still don’t know the cause of testicular cancer. Don’t go beating yourself up about it, and don’t waste time trying to come up with various tin-foil hat worthy theories. Many men within the vulnerable age range of 15-35 do not know that they are at risk. Don’t beat yourself up. You took the proper steps once you noticed something on your testicle and sought medical assistance after the fact. There wasn’t much more you could have done.
- AM I GOING TO SURVIVE THIS? There is no doubt that cancer is serious, but thankfully testicular cancer is highly curable. It is the most common primary cancer for men between 15-35 and 1 in 250 men are diagnosed every year with this cancer.
- I’M LOSING A BALL?! You have, will or could have had one ball. You are not alone. In fact, some patients worry about changes to their bodies after surgery. The remaining testicle will pick up the slack and ensure that physiologically nothing changes. If you do not like the idea of having one testicle or are struggling with body image, then many different types of prostheses are also available too! Consult your doctor for more information around prostheses.
- WHAT ABOUT MY SEX LIFE? Survivors live long and happy sex lives after their treatment. The remaining testicle produces enough testosterone to keep you in the game, just like before – so don’t delete your Tinder or Grindr just yet!
- WHAT ABOUT HAVING KIDS? Firstly, you have a backup ball left to produce sperm! This often means business as usual. You’ll likely want to freeze an army of “Winter Soldiers” prior to chemotherapy if that is applicable to you just in case. This will allow you to have kids through things like In-vitro Fertilization and Artificial Insemination.