2020 was the year of optimism. Along with a close friend we had decided 2020 was going to be the year we make things happen after several years of procrastination. I am a self employed contractor and had spent 18 months on a contract which whilst a lot of fun and involved meeting many great people, living life on the road along with the time commitments left no time for personal development and the financial benefits did not outweigh this downside.
With a fantastic new opportunity on the horizon it was decided along with my friend we would take a couple of months off to strengthen the body and mind before engaging in the new opportunity. Personally feeling in the best shape of my life at 37 and the strongest I have felt in my life I decided step one was to hit the gym and make this a permanent fixture in my life moving forward. Having the opportunity to go with my brother who has arms the size of tree trunks and a lifetime of experience been a gym loving person inspired in his teens by the mighty oak Arnold and his pumping iron documentary I figured I couldn’t ask for a better teacher.
Gym was going well I was settling in nicely and looking forward to seeing the benefits. I have been overweight all my life and my teenage years and early adulthood I would describe my physical abilities as non existent. At the age of 29 I made adjustments to remedy this. I was living well until around 4 years Ago when I had a major blowup of my back conditions and gout which is caused by a rare blood disorder I have. After battling through 12 months of pure hell I pulled through and can attest to the saying what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger as I have not looked back since and have moved from strength to strength physically and mentally.
So back to gym, feeling great, loving and embracing the soreness. Chest night working with dumbbells on the bench, my bro likes to have the seated part angled up. I use them flat but on this day all the other benches were in use. To avoid faffing around I left the bench as bro likes it. On one of the dismounts I caught my right vegetable. Only slightly but I remember having a joke with my brother how he must have iron ones not to bang them each time. The trauma was minor causing no real immediate pain and just a cause for little chuckle.
Several days passed then I noticed when my veggies clanged together I would feel some tenderness and a small amount of pain. Assuming this to be caused by the above incident I opted to take daily hot baths assuming these would reduce any swelling and resolve the issue. The fella itself did not grow in size. I went to the gym after a couple of days before deciding bed rest would be best. After two weeks with no improvement I checked the culprit again which had now turned planet sized and was hard as rock. Now I could no longer convince myself this was a minor issue and called the GP for an appointment. This was at the start of the Corona issues and nothing was locked down yet. GP called me back within an hour and rushed me in same day for an examination. Took a look and he decided I needed an urgent referral which is a hospital appointment which must be fulfilled within 2 weeks. Credit to the St Luke’s hospital for making the appointment only 5 days later.
i had seen the GP on Thursday and the possibility of the bad news did a number on my head. I now began with quite bad anxiety which was already heightened due to the upcoming corona situation and began with very hot flushes. Feeling worse daily I ended up taking myself to A and E. probably not the best move but the 6 hour visit at least occupied my mind. They said could be possible infection and I left with some antibiotics.
The day arrived to see the specialist. He provided a quick examination and then I sat back at his desk whilst he began typing what seemed to be long essay. This was my first inclination good news was likely not coming my way. He called his colleague at the other city hospital and explained he had a patient who needed an urgent ultra sound, blood test and chest X Rays carried out same day. I thank this doctor so much for his decisive actions that day. Off I went for a long day of been tested. Reporting the excessive weight loss I had been having lately put a worried look on most faces. Went for the ultrasound and a lump was found but nothing conclusive said at this point. Had chest X Ray then waited back in the ward waiting room for a few hours for the results to come. The nurse came and asked me to follow her to a consultation room. This was the moment I knew the news was not going to be good. In the room the urologist explained I had suspected testicular cancer and would need an urgent operation for urgent removal of the offending member, which in my case was the right one. He explained testicular cancer is one of the most treatable with the highest success rates even if its spread to other places in the body but as of now the chest X Ray was clear. Asked if I had any questions the only one was how long is recovery and how painful would it be. The doctor must have thought I was a total p***y but the reason was that I care for my dad who hates me fussing and loves to maintain his independence as much as he can, but I do all the shopping etc and any of the heavy tasks and I wanted to make sure I would be able to look after myself and not be out of action too long. I was given leaflets and l left the hospital. First call was to bro who agreed to come down to the flat where me and dad lived. I tend to have had enough bad luck in my life that I personally took the news on the chin pretty well. Hardest part of the day was breaking the news to the old man