Hi, 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.
Read MoreEditor's Note: Jeremiah Ray was diagnosed with advanced stage testicular cancer in 2016, only to face a recurrence of his cancer six months later. Jeremiah is starting high dose chemotherapy, and is sharing his HDC journey with us.
To me, a stem cell transplant is still a mystery. I understand it on the theoretical level, but it still seems like some sort of sorcery.
Read MoreThe day after each scan, I breathe a sigh of relief, pat myself on the back for dodging the bullet yet again, then put my blinders on and resume living. But, I also flip the hourglass over again and push it to the back of my mind. Knowing that while I can bury all the fears FOR NOW, in a few months time I'll have to stare down that barrel again.
Read MoreI get asked a lot about how to support people going through chemotherapy, so I thought I would share a short story about the best thing my sister did while supporting me through the process of chemotherapy. She was someone I could count on to listen and helped me feel comfortable enough to dump all my complaints on. The act of listening is one of the most compassionate things you can do yet it is often taken for granted.
Read MoreI was diagnosed as Stage 1A, with a Malignant Mixed Germ Cell Tumor, Non- Seminoma that consisted of 30% Teratoma, 30% Yolk Sac Tumor, 20% Seminoma, and 20% Embryonal Carcinoma. My initial AFP level was 1,151 and my HCG level was 4.6. The pathology of my right testicle indicated that there was no vascular invasion outside of the tumor. After repeated blood tests over several weeks, my Oncologist told me that my AFP levels had not decreased to normal levels in the time they should have, and that I needed to undergo 3XBEP for treatment and assurance that no cancer would return. I agreed with his treatment because he’s the doctor and he should know what I need to do to cure my cancer, right? Wrong!
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