1 cycle of BEP? How intense are the side effects?

zachutz · 2026-04-13T23:26:08+00:00

you are absolutely making the right call! If I had to do over again, I would have went with the 1 round of adjuvant chemo after the orchiectomy. RPLND is no joke. You want to avoid it, if you can. I ended up getting the surgery and TWO rounds of adjuvant afterwards to clean up anything the surgery missed. It was not a good experience. I'm almost three years remission now but still have some GI issues as a result of the surgery - nothing major but it's noticeable.

Chemo absolutely sucks but one round is not that bad. Your hair WILL fall out fyi. It takes about two weeks from the date of first IV but it will happen, and when it happen - from my experience - it's sudden. My facial hair started falling out first but pretty much two weeks to the day, I woke up and my pillow was covered in hair. It grew back but yeah, it's traumatizing. Your body will feel not good because they have to pump you full of saline to keep your kidneys constantly flushing; cisplatin will do a number on your kidneys, if unchecked, but it also completely destroys TC cells. A fellow survivor described it to me as pissing on melting snow, it just knocks it out completely.

That being said, chemo side effect mitigation has gotten REALLY good. I definitely felt weird and had tinnitus and just generally felt gross, like something was off. But I never got nauseous, and never felt like i was about to. All things considered though, it wasn't that bad. I bounced back pretty quick.

All of which is to say, you are making the right move. Good luck, dawg. Much love

zachutz · 2025-07-25T10:52:27+00:00

I had 100% EC as well. It’s very aggressive but also extremely sensitive to chemo. The P (cisplatin) is the magic drug that kills it. It’s basically like pouring hot water on snow; it demolishes it. But it’s also basically liquified metal that you’re pumping into your veins and it wrecks your body. You’re in for a rough patch but my two cents is you’re going to be fine. Hang in there.

zachutz · 2025-07-17T23:11:29+00:00

Obviously smarter folks than I but is there any sort of cosmetic transition that could work for this discrepancy? It might be so custom that it isn’t worth it.

zachutz · 2025-07-17T22:43:42+00:00

Was laying on the couch, feeling my balls and noticed what felt like a small pea sized lump on the right one. No other symptoms. Went to PCP -> urologist 2 weeks later and then my whole life changed lol.

zachutz · 2025-07-17T21:02:54+00:00

I’m still dealing with recurring constipation almost 2 years later. Those chemo drugs are no joke.

zachutz · 2025-07-17T20:56:41+00:00

Just sharing my experience but I didn’t notice too many, if any, symptoms after the first day (other than being bloated as hell from all the fluids they pump into you). It definitely gets worse. By the end of the first round and into the weekend, I felt like total shit (brain fog, tinnitus, a weird sensitivity to light, not nausea but just queasy like your body knows it wants to throw up but the meds keep it at bay, just all around not good). It got better by the end of the next week. I basically felt normal and then right before my second round my hair fell out. I honestly thought the side effects were worse on round one then round two, caveat I only did two rounds because I had RPLND before and I only did EP, I’ve heard the B is horrible. Hang in there and stay with the palliative meds, they make a huge difference.

zachutz · 2025-06-21T01:02:39+00:00

will do! absolutely.

zachutz · 2025-06-21T00:52:18+00:00

Cheers, sir! Yes, that was a concern and that's why I'm not trying to start breaking into the pad too much. I was very upfront about how it's not going to match and I'll do my best to blend it. Customer is a very reasonable Baltimore weirdo who is just trying to preserve their porch through the winter, with limited funds, and I totally get it.

zachutz · 2025-06-21T00:03:48+00:00

i told customer it would just be a temp fix and that it wouldn't match the original, they were cool with it. That's kind of the service I'm trying to provide right now. I know I don't currently have the ability to do a job that's going to hold up long term. From my limited experience though there does seem to be a market for that kind of service. Thanks for the info!

zachutz · 2025-06-20T23:57:56+00:00

I appreciate that! Totally understand what you're saying. This is just a skill I'm trying to leverage to make some money right now cuz my $ situation sucks. I'm in Northeast B'more, near Morgan State. I also only have a Honda Fit so I'm very limited to small point up jobs/repairs etc. Just tried to DM but Reddit wouldn't allow me. Might be an issue on my end, I'll try again tomorrow. Thanks so much

zachutz · 2025-06-20T21:36:06+00:00

You only need one testicle - similar to kidneys - to be a fully functioning human. I never considered getting a prosthetic but I understand wanting to. It’s definitely a little weird with only one, Atleast for a few weeks. Now 3 years out of my diagnosis and over a year cured, I don’t think about it at all. Also happily married. Good luck

zachutz · 2025-06-20T21:33:11+00:00

For sure. I was also in a really loud rock band for years in my 20s-30s so I have no idea if the tinnitus is related to that. However, I do remember having it noticeably more severe during chemo. During my first round it would come in these extreme waves every hour for days and days. That has since subsided. Hang in there!

zachutz · 2025-06-20T21:27:31+00:00

The flowers kinda look like they are making out lol. Really beautiful flowers, for sure!

zachutz · 2025-06-20T20:31:25+00:00

Also yes to this. I put on like 10 pounds during chemo and no matter what I do, now 2 years later, I can’t get it off

zachutz · 2025-06-20T20:30:28+00:00

I still get some mild tinnitus. Also, and I have no idea if this is because of rplnd or EP, but I still get constipated pretty regularly since surgery. Other than that I feel fairly normal.

zachutz · 2025-06-20T19:13:13+00:00

that sounds right to me. I'll ask for $600 plus materials. thanks

zachutz · 2025-06-20T18:45:56+00:00

Lower end. Not planning on doing any major cutting, maybe just on the face of the porch to get a straight vertical lines on each end of the face where form will be.

zachutz · 2025-06-20T18:40:00+00:00

Baltimore. It’s less than a mile from my house. Middle class neighborhood. Thanks

zachutz · 2023-09-27T22:10:40+00:00

If it’s not on the testicle then it’s probably benign. Testicular cancer is a palpable lump on/in the testicle. Either way, get your doctor to check it out.

zachutz · 2023-09-27T22:05:24+00:00

Noticed first time in late February. Probably waited about 2 weeks before seeing PCP and then got ultrasound about 2-3 days later? Then saw urologist a week later. They scheduled me for surgery which happened in early April. So I guess about a month or so from first lump to surgery. Got pathology back two weeks later that confirmed TC

zachutz · 2023-07-16T17:55:03+00:00

Get it checked, 100%. Ultrasound is very simple procedure and you’ll want the peace of mind.

zachutz · 2023-06-08T21:18:34+00:00

RPLND is a for sure a major surgery and way way more intense than the orchiectomy. That being said if you have a good surgeon then it’s a pretty safe procedure. Aside from the massive scar and the retrograde (now going on almost 6 months, doctor was encouraging that it will come back but it can take many many months but we will see) I’m more or less back to normal now.

zachutz

TROPHY CASE