Booklet: What You Need to Know about Testicular Cancer

Adjusting to the Disease

When people have cancer, life can change--for them and for the people who care about them. These changes in daily life can be difficult to handle. When a man learns that he has testicular cancer, it's natural to have many different and sometimes confusing emotions.

At times, patients and family members may be frightened, angry, or depressed. Their feelings may vary from hope to despair or from courage to fear. Patients are usually better able to handle these feelings if they talk about their illness and share their feelings with family members and friends.

Concerns about the future--as well as about medical tests and treatments, hospital stays, medical bills, and sexuality--are common. Talking with doctors, nurses, or other members of the health care team may help ease fear and confusion. Patients should ask questions about their disease and its treatment and take an active part in decisions about their medical care. Patients and family members often find it helpful to write down questions as they think of them to prepare for the next visit to the doctor. Taking notes during talks with the doctor can be a useful aid to memory. Patients should ask the doctor to repeat or explain anything that is not clear.

Most people want to know what kind of cancer they have, how it can be treated, and how successful the treatment is likely to be. The following are some other questions patients might want to ask the doctor:

• What are the expected benefits of treatment?
• What are the risks and side effects of treatment?
• Will my sex life change?
• Will I be able to father children?
• Is it possible to keep working during treatment?
• Will changes in my normal daily activities be required?
• How often are checkups needed?

The patient's doctor is the best person to answer questions and give advice about working or other activities. If it is hard to talk with the doctor about feelings and other very personal matters, patients may find it helpful to talk with others facing similar problems. This kind of help is available through support groups, such as those described in the next section. If the patient or his family finds that emotional problems become too hard to handle, a mental health counselor may be able to help.

The public library is a good source of books and articles on living with cancer. Also, cancer patients and their families and friends can find helpful suggestions in the NCI booklets in the Other Booklets section.

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