Technically it’s Schrödinger’s cancer
This entry is from Friday 30th of January 2009. See Introducing Cancer Blogging for context.
I finally went to see the doctor today. The reason I went was because while I was showering one day last summer I noticed one testicle was harder than the other. This didn’t seem to be going away. I didn’t do anyhting about it. I was a bit busy with relatives dying or falling ill. In early January I went to see the doctor about something else and picked up a leaflet on testicular cancer. The symptoms were pretty vague. Firmness was one of them. A dull ache was another, but I get aches in any part of my body if I think long enough about it. Heavy scrotum was another, which just goes to illustrate the disadvantages of being well-endowed. By this time my parents were floored by ‘flu, so I was visiting my grandmother on a daily basis in hospital. This morning was the earliest I could get in. My doctor is a nice middle-aged man. At least as far as I can tell. We haven’t really seem much of each other till now. He asked me to lie on the couch and remove my trousers. To be honest I think that was a mistake. Removing trousers first is easier. Anyway I lay back while he poked, prodded and generally made himself familiar with my scrotum.
After a couple of minutes of this he asked what the problem was, which was a bit unnerving. I was already feeling foolish and this suggested the problem wasn’t even noticeable. After a little more time he agreed there was a difference and I should have it checked out. He made an appointment for me for the genito-urinary clinic on Tuesday and printed out the form with a password to identify myself at the clinic. I have to admit this amuses me. I can see why people might want passwords. No-one wants to broadcast they have the clap, but I can’t feel much shame about cancer. Also I know what the password is.
It was a good visit. I feel a lot happier than I did last night. I don’t know what is wrong, if anything, but the doctor’s told me there’s plenty of other things it could be apart from cancer. That’s handy as this afternoon another close relative was rushed into hospital. My family is competitive like that at the moment. To be on the safe side I’m not going to blog this or tweet the all clear yet. There’s the possibility it could be more serious.
Useful links:
And another one from Cancer Research UK, in case you want a third opinion.
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