Any Doctors? I have a serous question about testicular cancer

[Room101]

I have been having dull pain and discomfort in my left testicular for several weeks.. I have just joined the 44 million Americans without health insurance. I’m freaking out if I had insurance I would be in the doctor’s office right now. Is there any physical characteristics to look for similar to breast self examination?

I’m in my mid twenties.
Thanking you in advance.

[pacifictiger]

1. I'm not a doctor

but contact your local chapter of the cancer society. They will be able to point you in the right direction both medically and financially.

[Systematic Chaos]

2. This site may be of benefit

http://tcrc.acor.org/

They give a how-to on testicular self-exams and tell you exactly what the symptoms are. My thoughts and goodwill will be sent your way and I definitely hope there's nothing wrong. You're just too damn young to have anything like that go wrong with you.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

3. Planned Parenthood...

They treat men's health issues as well, and can give you free or low cost care.

In the meantime, hit Google, the info available online is invaluable.

When my Mom reported her doctor had found a swelling in her lower abdomen (along with some other sypmtoms she was having), I knew it was some sort of ovarian tumor in just a few hours of research.

Plug in your all sypmtoms and see what starts coming up.

And then get your ass to a doctor as soon as possible. If you have no PP clinic nearby, do you have any community clinics? City health services?

Good luck!

[liberalhistorian]

13. The problem is finding a doctor's office

that will even accept anyone without insurance, the majority won't anymore. And, even if they do see uninsured patients, those people usually have to pay a lot upfront first which most, frankly, don't have.

My own doctor, where I've gone for ten years now, instituted a policy a couple of years ago where they'd only see you if you had insurance AND if you had the co-pay at the time of the visit, and if you didn't have insurance you had to pay $75 IN CASH upfront and pay any other charges right when they were incurred IN CASH. And that's the case for most doctors nowadays.

When I lost a job of four years suddenly several years ago, I was without insurance, had no money, no child support, dipsquat, NOTHING! I'd been going to this doctor for eight years, so when I got a throat infection I thought it'd be okay to see him and try to pay when they billed me.

Well, before I could even see the doctor, they made me go back to the billing area to make arrangements for payment RIGHT THEN, and they kept demanding money that I didn't have RIGHT THEN. How many times do you have to say to someone that you have NOTHING before it begins to sink in, anyway? There I was, exhausted, feverish, barely able to talk, in so much pain I couldn't think straight, and all they cared about was the fucking money. I had a $5 bill in my pocket which I was going to use to get the kid some lunch, but I gave it to them just to shut them up so they'd leave me alone and let me see the doctor. They didn't believe that was all I had and wanted more. At that point I whispered (I could hardly talk) that they could all go fuck themselves, that I had nothing else, they could see the shape I was in, that it was bad enough being unemployed and unable to find anything else and to have no money, but to have my own doctor's office, where I'd gone for EIGHT FUCKING YEARS, treat me like that was too much. I went home and took some old antibiotics from the year before, as well as some Tylenol, then slept for three days. I

t didn't get any better, so I finally had to borrow money from a friend just for the privilege of spending five minutes with the goddamned doctor. My mom put the prescription on her credit card so I could at least have some relief. The doc had the nerve to say I should have come in sooner, and I almost threw something at him. Fortunately, that was a temporary situation, since I finally managed to get a job several months later, but I keep thinking what if I were one of those millions of unlucky working people who didn't have insurance for a very long time, not even for their kid? How much worse would it have been? I can't imagine having to deal with that for a long time.

Whew, geez, didn't mean to hijack there, I just get so pissed off when I hear of things like this I can hardly see straight! Call the county human services department and see if there are any free or reduced-price clinics in your area, or if there are any other resources. The social workers there will know the system inside and out and what you can do. Good luck and keep us posted!

[dweller]

4. Here pardner, let me google that for ya...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=testicular+cancer+self+exam

what? no, i meant supply you the links.
;)
happy testing.
dp

[carpetbagger]

5. Ditto to Planned Parenthood.

Also, county health clinics should get you at least some free or cheap advice, and a few might (and I say might because of the lovely fiscal shape we're in) still pay for cancer screening and follow-up for complaints diagnosed at their general VD-prevention/birth control/PAP screening clinics.

For what it's worth (although I'm a doctor, I can't exactly reach out and say cough), most but not all of these types of complaints turn out ok, but testicular ca is one of the ones that hits young, and also one of the ones that's most treatable.

[Edge]

6. From what I learned in school...

you have to feel around all sides of a testicle (do that in a warm shower) and you'll feel a hard lump and it's about the size of a BB. If you found one, get into the emergency room pronto. That is a surefire sign of testicular cancer.

I get pain in mine periodically. I don't know what it's from, however. :shrug:

[Overkil]

7. Same thing happened to me in my mid 20s.......

Went to the Dr thinking the same thing. He told me it was epididymitis.....

Epididymitis is inflammation of the long, tightly coiled tube behind each testicle (epididymis) that carries sperm from the testicle to the spermatic duct. Affected individuals usually have painful swelling of the one epididymitis and the associated testicle.

http://my.webmd.com/content/healthwise/118/29324.htm?lastselectedguid={5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348}

He told me it was brought on by stress for a lot of guys. He told my to take some Tylenol to help w/ the swelling. Worked every time. From that point on it served as my stress indicator. I still get it from time to time almost like clock work when things get a little crazy. You should still get a medical opinion, though.

best of luck

[Room101]

8. Thank you, for all the replies and info....

:toast:

[DS1]

9. I had a hell of scare once

it turned out to be a pinched nerve in the area, took the doc all but 30 seconds to check it out, you should do it anyway.

[Dookus]

10. ditto the advice on PP

Go see 'em.

And calm down - there's lots of causes of such discomfort. It's not typically cancer.

But...if you want to check - take a long hot bath, then roll your testicles around and feel for any irregularities.

And also keep in mind that testicular cancer is VERY treatable, and non-fatal. I used to date a guy with a fake nut - and he was all man :)

Best of luck - don't freak out.

[Don_G]

11. Get A Check-Up

Everything goes from there and a good GP will be best able to direct you in the right direction.

[jimbo fett]

12. Get checked out ASAP. I HAD testicular cancer. If caught early it is very

curable. I'm completely cancer free for 6 years.

Lack of money is not worth dying over.

I'd rather be broke and alive than dead and debt free.

[Room101]

15. Thanks, will due

:smoke:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

14. Ramsey (DU'er) is an MD

Might want to PM this thread to her. She'd probably be happy to respond.