Weird non-hernia testicle issue -- any ideas?

I went to the doctor two mornings ago after feeling some discomfort and
noticing some swelling. He palpated the affected area but didn't think
I had a hernia. He sent me across the medical suite for an ultrasound.
The initial findings pointed to hernia, but then a CT scan yesterday
revealed some fibrous growths but NO hernia.

Oddly, however, a lump appeared inside the afflicted testicle that was
definitely NOT there the day before. A re-visit to the doctor was
inconclusive except that the doctor is now definitely NOT sure of what
is going on. He's now sending me to a urologist next Tuesday (that's in
4 days). When filling out the referral form for my upcoming
appointment, he described my condition as 'other.'

"Other" is about right. It feels kinda like I'm developing anOTHER
testis, sort of a two-in-one deal. More specically, the growth is
happening inside. What's peculiar is how quickly this growth appeared.


Three more notes:
1. I have to stress that I have no obvious symptoms of anything. No
pain, no fever, nothing wrong with blood pressure, etc. Just a little
soreness around the growth. In general I'm very healthy and have even
lost 25 pounds since Halloween.
2. I haven't ridden my uni since I first saw the doctor, but I did ride
a Razor scooter for a total of 12 miles over two days.
3. The doctor is fairly sure it's not cancer or any other nasty
diagnosis.
4. I had a vasectomy 3 years ago. No one expects the Spanish
Inquisition.

Anyone have a similar experience? At this point, there is some money on
the possibility of it being a varicocelle (I think that's the
spelling), but the rapid growth makes that a little doubtful.


--
David_Stone

Dictator for Life,
NYUC

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Hi David;

Yes, the rapid growth is puzzling. I had a vasectomy 16 years ago, and
about 2 years ago I had a varicocelle that was uncomfortable,
especially when riding. I went to the urologist to have it checked out,
It was not serious, and he told me that these are very common w/
vasectomies and that it might flare up now and then. It went away after
a week or two and hasn't really come back, at least not to that degree.
Hopefully your condition is something similar. Good luck.


--
Jim_Rob

TTFN- JR

The Sage claims nothing, and so cannot be reproached, Lao Tzu
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We always suspected you had more balls than the rest of us!

(sorry for making light of it Dave, but the door was wide open.
Seriously, get a 2nd & 3rd opinion.)


--
unisk8r
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Hopefully the urologist will be able to be more definite; GPs don't know
about the more rare ailments that can affect the testicles - I had a
rather different problem to you, but it similarly baffled my GPs (sent
for ultrasound, etc). The urologist (and on a separate occasion the
surgical registrar at the hospital), however, seemed to be able to put
a name to it, said everything checked out OK and there was nothing
major to bother about. I hope your urologist offers similarly
comforting news.

Hope it all goes well when you see him in a few days. In the meantime,
keep a close eye on things and don't be shy about going back to the GP
if you notice a change or are worried at all by anything (or if the GP
isn't available or it seems urgent the ER may be appropriate).

Try not to stress too much in the meantime - it's sad you can't ride
your uni but hopefully you'll be back in the saddle soon!


--
mark williamson

Dave: Just a question. What use is a unicyle with no seat? And no
pedals!
Mark: To answer a question with a question: What use is a skateboard?
Dave: Skateboards have wheels.
Mark: My wheel has a wheel!
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I had something similar at one point about a year ago, and freaked out.
Told a colleague, who said "get it checked out, but don't
freak...testicular cancer is primarily a young man's disease". Was
glad to be an old fart, and when I saw my doc he said basically the
same thing. I forget what he called the thing, but the analogy I
recall him using was it was an inside-the-testical "zit". In other
words, it was a blockage of small passageway that fluid should normally
flow through, and the lump was an accumulation.

It may be 'this' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrocele_testis) as
well. This isn't what I had, as I did not need surgery. My doc said it
would go away, and it did.

Good luck! Hopefully it's either nothing or minor, but you are smart
to get it aggressively check out.


--
tomblackwood

Tailgate at your own risk...
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I've had a hydrocele all my life, and it isn't what you described,
David. A hydrocele is external to the testicle and feels a bit like a
loose water balloon.

Best to you and keep a close watch.


--
U-Turn

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.
'LiveWire Unicycles' (http://www.livewireunicycles.com)
'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)
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'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)
-- Dave Stockton
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Dave, I hope all goes well with this. I don't want to stress you out
any more than you probably are but my brother who is 47 found a lump on
his testicle about this time last year. Because of the rapid growth of
the lump he immediately went to the doctor. The doc didn't suspect
cancer because as tomblackwood said, testicular cancer is a young man's
disease. The urologist went in to do a biopsy and ended up removing
the testicle because it was the big "C". The last year has been pretty
brutal for him but treatments are over and he's on the road to
recovery.

You're in our thoughts and prayers.


--
unipsychler

Interested in learning to ride the unicycle QUICKLY AND SAFELY? Or how
about getting one of the coolest uni t-shirts around? Check out my
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unisk8r wrote:
We always suspected you had more balls than the rest of us!

(sorry for making light of it Dave, but the door was wide open.
Seriously, get a 2nd & 3rd opinion.)


No hard feelings. Wait, that's a different urological issue!

If I didn't want to put myself up for some ribbing, I wouldn't have
sounded so lighthearted in my original post. No worries. I think humor
is the cure to many diseases (or at least it makes the suffering
easier!).

As for the advice and comments from the rest of you, THANKS! I had
considered some of the other possbilities (including cancer, of
course), and it was nice to see some evidence of one or the other. It
was also nice to know that others have been there, had that.

In the comments about cancer, it was noted that the growth feels rough.
That's a relief. Mine's smooth. In fact, it's like a hard, smooth
lozenge, only its a bit odd in shape, I think. It's squirrely, so I
can't quite get a perfect idea of where or what shape it is. It is
INSIDE the sac somewhere, but it's not inside the testis, which is why
I joked that I feel like I'm growing a 3rd nut.

Anyway, I am not overly concerned. As usual, I'm prolly UNDERLY
concerned. I was telling my wife today that I'd probably go back to
uni'ing on Monday because scootering is such a pain. Maybe I need to
take this thing more seriously. What if it's like Invasion of the Ball
Snatchers, and it erupts from my uni'ing and then guys everywhere start
growing third balls?

Happily, I can take it easy this weekend and see how (and whether) it
progresses. More to follow....


--
David_Stone

Dictator for Life,
NYUC

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David_Stone wrote:
erupts from my uni'ing


ducttape (the user)

sorry madison couldnt help myself


--
JJtheunicycle

Goats_On_Unicycles wrote:
wicked!
omg, three days skating in the same clothes! you must -smell- like a
hippie too!


Goats_On_Unicycles wrote:
hmmm... maybe i can try some really lame tricks to try to get in
justin's sig again...
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JJtheunicycle wrote:
ducttape (the user)

sorry madison couldnt help myself


That was good for a laugh! I'll have to get a roll today!


--
David_Stone

Dictator for Life,
NYUC

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