One testicle removed - please share your experience with me

[Ryby1234 (imported)]

Hello

One of my testicles will be removed soon. Are there any peoples who have a one testicle removed? Before it will happen I would like to know what should expect after my surgery and be prepared for this. Please specify all changes temporal, long lasting or permanent that you noticed after days, weeks and month after removal of your testicles. In interested in all aspects, such pain after removed testicle, sexual function quality, physical and mental state, and all other aspects of your live that you observed. Can you share your experience with me. Many thanks for all of you.

Ryby

[jako9999 (imported)]

Hi well I have none so there is a big difference but my brother lost one to cancer with no change at all he is just the same in every way, apart from a bit more room in his sack dont worry about a thing.

Good luck

[AtomicMush (imported)]

I lost my left one to cancer. All was fine until I developed an abcess and hematoma that would not go away. Another surgery with an open incision, and all is gone but the scar. The right side was untouched, but strangly atrophied. Over about a year it shrunk to the size of an olive, then receeded, and I have not seen it in months. My uro tells me this happens sometimes. I am on replacement T by implant (Testopel) that keeps my T at reasonable levels, and does not turn me into a sex maniac.

I have a nasty scar on the left side that needs to be repaired, and a very empty sack on the right. I cannot wear mens undies because the sack needs to be held up tight or it sticks to everything. I found womens bikini swimsuit bottoms do a great job at making everything stay where I want it. My uro will remove the scar soon, as there is some discomfort associated with it. I would not have had this problem had the hematoma not developed, as the left nut was removed ilingually. See my previous posts on my oddisy.

Anyway, one gone, one shrunk down to nothing and retracted to who knows where. My uro is not concerned about the missing one, so after the scar removal, and hopefully sack reduction, things will be fine. Again, an empty sack is not pretty nor comfortable, so you may need to find a support method like I have done.

[unencumbered (imported)]

Hello

One of my testicles will be removed soon. Before it will happen I would like to know what should expect after my surgery and be prepared for this.

Ryby

It all depends if the remaining one is functional. Once the healing from the surgery is over, there should be no residual pain, especially if it is done inguinally so that all the cord can be removed. Be careful about taking pain killers. They can make you constipated, which can be worse than the pain from the operation. Have ice packs ready and use them. Have some prune juice on hand.

[nutless1 (imported)]

This is great advice suggestions following surgery. In addition, an over-the-counter stool softener (not laxative) works really well as does the prune juice.

It all depends if the remaining one is functional. Once the healing from the surgery is over, there should be no residual pain, especially if it is done inguinally so that all the cord can be removed. Be careful about taking pain killers. They can make you constipated, which can be worse than the pain from the operation. Have ice packs ready and use them. Have some prune juice on hand.

[TopManFL (imported)]

The scrotum drains into one lymphatic system while the testicles and seminal ducts drain into another.

So, the untested hypothesis that urologist go under is that it is best to remove the testicle via an incision in the abdominal wall to avoid the risk of transferring cancer from one lymphatic region to another.

Rather than making an incision into the scrotum, the urologist will make the incision into the abdominal wall (inside the pubic hair). Then, with brute force push a gland the size of a walnut through a tunnel (the inguinal canal) up into the incision then out of the body and remove it.

Some urologist have suggested that this brute force can in itself spread cancer. That squeezing the testicle so violently through the inguinal canal is a bad idea.

However, for decades this has been the “standard of care”. There have been no studies to see if carefully removing the testicle through the scrotum (perhaps with protection over the incision in the scrotum to prevent cancer from moving from one lymphatic system to the other). Therefore, patients undergo a violent procedure that leaves a horrible scar on the abdomen.

Any surgery that goes through the abdominal wall is a difficult one for the patient. I've had four surgeries through the abdominal wall. Compared to the pain, healing time and ability to get back to work, abdominal wall surgeries suck! I have one abdominal wall scar that is six years old and still hurts every single day. Doctors that look at it just say, “it looks good”. I normally tell them that looks can be deceiving – it hurts like hell!

Also, by insisting on removing the testicle via the inguinal canal, doctors can't place the prosthetic testicle in the scrotum at the same time as the removal of the potentially cancerous one. So, if the patient wants to have the “look” of having two testicles, then a 2nd surgery is required to put the prosthetic in place. Women who have an entire breast removed have reconstructive surgery during the same surgery, but men have to go through a 2nd operation.

You can ask, demand, hold your breath until you try and get the urologist to agree to remove the testicle through the scrotum – the urologist won't do it. Despite the fact that no studies have ever been done to see if removing the testicle through the scrotum does in fact spread cancer more than removing the testicle through the abdomen, it is “the way it has always been done”.

5% chance it's not cancer. Although the doctor might have briefly mentioned that the odds that the ultrasound has found cancer are 95%, normally they play down the fact that if 25 men have a testicle violently removed via the abdomen 1 man will get “good news” from their surgeon that it is not cancer! Isn't that wonderful? You still have a horrible scar, it will still take months if not years for the abdominal pain to go away, but it's not cancer.

Biopsy? No!

Even though doctors routinely use fine needle aspiration to biopsy prostate cancer, breast cancer, thyroid cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, skin cancer, brain cancer, bone cancer, and many more; even suggesting that a fine needle aspiration be used to eliminate the 5% of cases where it turns out to not be cancer will get you a stern “no” from your urologist. Ask the urologist if a needle biopsy of the prostate can spread prostate cancer to the anus. You will get a long drawn out answer that basically means “there is some risk, but the benefits of the biopsy out weigh the risk”. So, why not for testicular cancer? The answer will be basically, “it's too risky”.

Seriously, there was a study started back in the 1980's in Canada to see if removing the testicle via the scrotum was better, worse or the same as via the abdomen and it concluded that there was not different. The results have been ignored by urologist.

You can try and convince your doctor to take your testicle out the the easy way, but he'll fight back and will even refuse. Despite there being no evidence of how the only way it has ever been done compares to a different way, your doctor will tell you it is the “best” way.

Good luck, I hope you at least have found a doctor that is going to remove the testicle via the abdomen with the robotic surgery technique. This leaves a smaller scar and healing time is much faster.

[unencumbered (imported)]

Any surgery that goes through the abdominal wall is a difficult one for the patient.

You can ask, demand, hold your breath until you try and get the urologist to agree to remove the testicle through the scrotum

– the urologist won't do it.

You still have a horrible scar, it will still take months if not years for the abdominal pain to go away,

You can try and convince your doctor to take your testicle out the the easy way, but he'll fight back and will even refuse. Despite there being no evidence of how the only way it has ever been done compares to a different way, your doctor will tell you it is the “best” way.

Good luck, I hope you at least have found a doctor that is going to remove the testicle via the abdomen with the robotic surgery technique. This leaves a smaller scar and healing time is much faster.

For what its worth, my testicles were removed through my abdomen. I did not experience the things described by the poster. I had little pain within a day or so. No drainage issues either. My resulting scars are not in the least horrible and they are hidden by my pubic hair anyway. She removed my testicular cords too, which I understand from many posters who had simple scrotal orciectomies, that they often attached themselves to the scrotal walls, causing these patients constant discomfort, requiring additional surgery. My scrotum is not deformed from any scars and still has a natural look to it, albeit small and compact now. IMHO, I would still get a radical orchiectomy done by an experienced surgeon given my personal experience.

[TopManFL (imported)]

Not looking for a flame war here. But there is a big difference in the damage done to the abdominal wall and the size of the scar if the orchiectomy is done to voluntarily castrate or to remove a cancerous tumor. Also, big difference in the scar and damage if done laparoscopic or open.

If done to remove cancer (which I assumed because the OP said “one would be removed”, but never said why), then I stand by my post. If done voluntarily, then a much smaller scar would be there.

Also, when doing an orchiectomy to remove cancer it is more likely that the patient would want a prosthetic put in, and that would require a cut in the scrotum. So, the scar on the scrotum for a guy wishing to appear whole is not avoidable.

Here is a picture of one man's scar from having only one testicle removed for cancer. Not a small scar and from the size of it it won't be hidden in the pubic hair. His blog says that the doctor told him the entire scar would be in the pubic hair, I think the doctor needs to learn how large a pubic patch is.

The link here has been scanned by my virus scanner and shows to be good.

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/53/1688/640/108_0831.jpg

[uuMachine (imported)]

That is a very big scar much bigger than mine. The Dr can insert prosthetic thru the same incision.

[unencumbered (imported)]

Not looking for a flame war here. But there is a big difference in the damage done to the abdominal wall and the size of the scar if the orchiectomy is done to voluntarily castrate or to remove a cancerous tumor.

Thanks for the link. That's some long surgery cut! I wonder how big the tumor was and how the doctor was able to get it through the inquinal canal.

For what its worth, I measured mine. They're both just under 2-inches (50mm) and are in the pubic area. Even shaved, they are not very noticeable. My testicles had tumors. My surgeon told me that she had a difficult time pushing and pulling the larger of the two through its inquinal canal. Her pushing left some bruising on my scrotum, which was the sorest part of my surgery and took some weeks for the relatively minor discomfort to pass totally.

I read how the surgery was performed before I had mine, and it stated that the physician makes a 2-inch cut in the abdomen to access the cords. I assume that this is typical, even for most testicular cancer patients but there are always exceptions to the rule.