My name is Billy. I’ve started this go fund me for the most selfless person I have ever had the privilege of knowing, and he is also my brother! Here is what he has to say…..

PLEASE READ PSA

In the famous words of The Fresh Prince of Bel Aire… This is the story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down.

Let's start with a little back story. Summer 2022 I decided to start to get healthy again after covid forced me to get off track and buy what I could find and not what was always good for me. I bought a bunch of supplements. One of which was a probiotic, lactobacillus reuteri to be exact. One of the side effects was increased testicle size. I tell you this because it played into my ignorance of my condition. At the same time I was experiencing lower back pain, which is something that has happened throughout my career in the trades. Another ignorant moment. I was also hypersensitive to my testicles, trying to avoid even the slightest contact with anything. My daughter or dog sitting on my lap, how I sat, getting in and out of cars, really anything that could cause any pressure on my testicle.

I finally admitted to myself that something was wrong, but I assumed it was bacterial related since I was taking so many supplements and maybe it was flushing the waste through my system causing an infection. So in September of 2022 I went to the local urgent care expecting to get an antibiotic. But things didn't go as planned. The first person I saw had a heavy look on his face, and nothing was prescribed. He didn’t tell me anything significant really but just that I needed to go to the emergency room. So I went and waited my turn to see a doctor. The doctor examined me and again another heavy look came upon his face, but this time I was informed there was a mass in my testicle. I then had to get an ultrasound to confirm the news. And it was conclusive, my right testicle had an abnormal growth.

I was then referred to a urologist to have a consultation. The consultation went more like an informative meeting where I was told what was happening next versus a real conversation. I was now in the thick of finding out if I had cancer or if I was losing a testicle for another reason. My surgery was a day surgery where they put me under and removed the growth and some spermatic cord to rule out spreading of any cancer cells.

All of that was sent to a lab. When the results came back it was confirmed that I had cancer. But there was no spreading beyond the mass. I was then directed to an oncologist. Who explained to me that it was 3% cancerous and anything above 1% is required to have treatment. He then gave me a couple of survival rate numbers to contemplate but told me he would advise against chemo. 90% survival with monitoring or 98% with chemo. I had to weigh both options and looked to my family for advice. We figured that the complications of chemo outweighed the benefit of 8%, so I chose monitoring. This entire time my blood work tumor markings never showed any signs of cancer.

This is also what prompted our decision to move closer home. I came to the realization that living over an hour away from any family would be difficult if my wife needed any support. So we quickly sold our house and moved closer.

Things were going fine and everything was becoming routine. I decided before last summer that any oncologist can monitor my situation, so that I could get treatment closer to home. Doing this put off any CT scans for longer than my previous oncologist suggested but I was fine, my blood work told me so.

Finally I was able to get my CT scan. A little birthday present from the doctors to me, they scheduled it for Dec 26, which is my birthday. Bummed a little about that I still didn’t think anything of it. That was until the 27th when I received a call from my oncologists office asking if I could come in on the 29th to talk about results. I knew instantly it probably wasn’t good because my last oncologist never made a special appointment.

I was then told that my cancer had returned, but this time it is in my lymph nodes in my abdominal area about the size of a lima bean. After meeting with a new urologist in the area he mentioned a rescan in February and further action after that. My oncologist was not on board, although essentially that's how it went down. She then had me have a consultation with a urologist who specializes in a robotic procedure to remove the growth. But he said that anything over 20mm was only 50% effective, mine was at 28mm in December. So ultimately it was chemo time.

After all my pretests to confirm I am healthy enough to take the drugs that will kill the cancer, I was finally given a date. Unfortunately the day I arrived I had a head cold and was postponed for a week. After psyching myself up to go through with all of this it was definitely a let down. But I finally started my treatment on March 4th.

My days are filled with lethargy, my wife has seen me cry more in the past couple weeks than in our previous 25 years together. It has been overwhelming beyond belief. I have always been the one who will figure out a way to get things done without the help of others. It is completely humbling to have to ask for help.

The support I get is tremendous, I never realized how much people truly cared until the last two weeks. From my own family to my inlaws the support just keeps pouring in and I am truly blessed. I know I will look back on this in the future and think about the shitty experience I have gone through, but as of now the connections and support I have made I will cherish for years to come.

Although I could have caught this a little sooner if I didn’t change doctors I feel everything happens for a reason. I could not have gone through all of this while my wife was still pregnant with our second child. The delay has benefitted us so that she can help me in my time of need.

I really hope you read this to the end. If you are ever feeling heaviness in your groin or easily get that sensation that someone has hit you there, please get checked. Don’t be a man about it, this can spread and get much worse. I am thankful I went when I did and that I finally got my CT scan in December. It has been caught early both times for me, and my prognosis is good. Time will tell, but I believe I will beat this. I just want others to know so they can make the right decision before it's too late.

I should have told this story sooner but didn’t feel being monitored for cancer was dramatic enough. Also most males probably don’t want to admit when a part of that area has been removed. I also considered waiting until next month since April is testicular cancer awareness month but I feel this could benefit someone now. My hope is that if even one person gets looked at because of reading this that I did my part.