In December last year i was diagnosed with testicular cancer ,had one testicle removed and went through chemotherapy and am now on surveillance for any possible relapse , before having cancer i
was diagnosed with secondary Hypogonadism and was on trt for a year and half then stopped for 6 month before having cancer because my blood tests showed everything is good ,i had a great help from ksman and he explained a’lot ,but my mistake was trusting my endo who didn’t know shit ,now after i finished chemo am dealing again with low t ,and i was healthy person before cancer but now i gained a’lot of weight , so now i need all the help i can get to get back on trt but correctly ,am going to do blood tests this week and i want to know what what is necessary to test and what’s not in my case
Read the stickies bud. If you haven’t got labs in a while get everything you can. There is a lab work sticky.
Also read the advice for new guys sticky.
A lot of good info in all the stickies 
With your history, you need to be concerned with stress levels and cortisol.
And that might involve rT3 that can mess up otherwise good thyroid function.
Read the thyroid basics sticky, look at your oral body temperatures and iodine intake history.
You need good T, cortisol and thyroid function. If you can’t get on TRT, make sure the other hormone systems are supporting your health. Those systems can drive weight gain.
If the cancer was confined to the testes, there is no reason to avoid TRT.
New labs would be good.
Ok so i read the stickys and am going to test the following :
tt,ft,lh,fsh,e2,tsh,cortisol ,rt3 t3 ,t4,Prolactin
do i need to conisder anything else? ,and yes the cancer was confined to the testes,so i guess i don’t have any problems :),u think i finished chemo and now things going to be easier but i guess i have a long road ahead of me regarding trt and thyroid issues ,if only i can get a single break in this life 
A little about myself first, I am in my fourth year of remission; I had a non-seminomatous germ cell tumor, predominately embryonal carcinoma. (I had the left testis removed, and if you don’t mind me telling me which one you had removed I’d be interested because, from what I’ve seen, most guys I know have lost the left one. Seriously, of the nine guys I’ve asked, all but one lost ol’ lefty! But if you’re not comfortable talking about it, feel free to ignore the question - I’m just trying to compile some data.) I didn’t find out I had low testosterone until I checked the box on my tumor-marker lab slip on a hunch since I noticed that I hadn’t had my levels tested since the operation. The rest, as they say, is history. A full set of labs later and here I am.
Make sure your Oncologist knows that if/when you start TRT that you are taking hCG as part of your TRT protocol because bhCG is one of the blood markers they do as part of the monitoring protocol, and taking hCG will give you an elevated score and give you a false positive - indicating that your cancer has returned (even though it hasn’t). My oncologist and I just keep an eye on my bhCG levels to see if they go beyond my new “normal” levels. Before starting hCG my bhCG test always came back as “undetectable” but now comes back at around 5 every time.
Also make absolutely sure that you get hCG if you get on TRT. Since you only have the one testicle left, you only have one testicle producing several hormones that are important for health and well-being. I opted for the prosthetic testicle to replace the one they took out, and nothing sucked more than before I started hCG and I was having shrinkage and retraction on one side and not on the other - not great for the self-image!
Just in case your doctor didn’t give you a copy, here is a link to a thread I made for the protocol for CT Scans/Blood Work/X-Rays for post-cancer monitoring: HCG Effect On Tumor Marker Blood Test and Testicular Cancer Monitoring Protocol - Testosterone Replacement - Forums - T Nation
You’re off TRT completely right now, correct? If this is the case, the goal here is to figure out whether you are Primary or Secondary and what your treatment options are. The labs you listed are the correct ones to get and will give you the information you need to press on. It couldn’t hurt to get your Vitamin D levels checked (almost everyone is deficient at one point or another), as well as Ferritin to rule out Iron deficiency which can happen when you go through chemo - though it’s not completely necessary (especially if you get on testosterone, as testosterone will cure anemia in a heart-beat). Make sure you get your labs done at 8am EVERY TIME. Consistency is key - If you don’t get it done at the same time every time you can’t accurately assess the results.
It’s a long journey my friend, but hang in there!
Make sure to post labs as soon as you get them! I’m really looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
Good luck!
First of all thank you for responding , i have read some of your post and they are really informative :), i have also been diagnosed with 95%embryonal carcinoma and %5 yolk sack , and i had the left testicle removed ,and you are correct i think most of us had the left one removed ,but i think it decrease your risk of having cancer again on the right one as i have been told
And as for trt before i had cancer i was diagnosed with secondary Hypogonadism ,so i have some blood test’s before i had the surgery ,am getting the new test’s this week and will post them :),now regarding hcg my previous endo didn’t want me to use it ,and i know he was wrong ,and now i am going to use a proper trt protocol even if i have to go against all stupid doc’s out here, i will let my Oncologist knows that am using it ,as u said in ur thread if the ct scan clear and all the other blood test are good and in range then it wont be an indicator that its cancer again ,at the moment am off trt ,i will get vitamin D also tested,and will post them soon :),and if you don’t mind me asking did u went through chemo or not ?and whats ur opinion about aas after cancer ?do u think is it worth the risk after what we have been through ?
Thnaks again and yeah its a long journey but we have to make as enjoyable as we can
I had my right testicle removed and was diagnosed with non-seminoma. I guess I’m one of the rare ones that lost rightie
[quote]fras kass wrote:
Ok so i read the stickys and am going to test the following :
tt,ft,lh,fsh,e2,tsh,cortisol ,rt3 t3 ,t4,Prolactin
do i need to conisder anything else? ,and yes the cancer was confined to the testes,so i guess i don’t have any problems :),u think i finished chemo and now things going to be easier but i guess i have a long road ahead of me regarding trt and thyroid issues ,if only i can get a single break in this life
[/quote]
Suggest:
tt,ft,lh,fsh,e2,tsh,cortisol,rt3, t3, t4,Prolactin
tt,ft,lh,fsh,e2,tsh,cortisol,rt3,Ft3,Ft4,Prolactin
[quote]OrangeWolverine wrote:
I had my right testicle removed and was diagnosed with non-seminoma. I guess I’m one of the rare ones that lost rightie :)[/quote]
No TC brother, your not even close to making “the rare ones” when it comes to loss. Try loosing both. Life’s a bitch sometimes.
[quote]fras kass wrote:
In December last year i was diagnosed with testicular cancer ,had one testicle removed and went through chemotherapy and am now on surveillance for any possible relapse , before having cancer i
was diagnosed with secondary Hypogonadism and was on trt for a year and half then stopped for 6 month before having cancer because my blood tests showed everything is good ,i had a great help from ksman and he explained a’lot ,but my mistake was trusting my endo who didn’t know shit ,now after i finished chemo am dealing again with low t ,and i was healthy person before cancer but now i gained a’lot of weight , so now i need all the help i can get to get back on trt but correctly ,am going to do blood tests this week and i want to know what what is necessary to test and what’s not in my case [/quote]
They should have never stopped your TRT? I started with a similar medical situation to yours. I benefited from the advice here - but have settled on my own protocol, which my body seems to like, which is once a week injections with .25mg Arimidex chaser at time of injection. My total T, free T and E2 levels are now the best they have been in a long while. You do need to shop different doctors. My endo Doc gave me tamoxifen for a while to deal with E2, but refused airmidex. He is fine with me having higher T and Free T levels. My urologist was fine to give me tons of arimiex but pushed pellets and was fine with lower T levels.
[quote]RoyBatty wrote:
[quote]OrangeWolverine wrote:
I had my right testicle removed and was diagnosed with non-seminoma. I guess I’m one of the rare ones that lost rightie :)[/quote]
No TC brother, your not even close to making “the rare ones” when it comes to loss. Try loosing both. Life’s a bitch sometimes.[/quote]
I did lose both. Somehow the growth in my right testicle caused atrophy in my left and killed it. I still have it, but it doesn’t produce sperm or test. I also went through chemo. Is that enough loss for you?
OrangeWolverine : i guess u are 
Ksman : thank you for correcting me ,will keep you posted : )
[quote]RoyBatty wrote:
[quote]OrangeWolverine wrote:
I had my right testicle removed and was diagnosed with non-seminoma. I guess I’m one of the rare ones that lost rightie :)[/quote]
No TC brother, your not even close to making “the rare ones” when it comes to loss. Try loosing both. Life’s a bitch sometimes.[/quote]
am sorry about that brotha :(, yeah tell me about it ,but i guess we are fortunate to have a form of cancer that have a high cure rates :),i mean when i used to take chemo in the hospital i used to see alot of people especially young children with terminal cancer and still smiling ,after that you start to appreciate everything as long as ur alive and breathing
[quote]RoyBatty wrote:
[quote]fras kass wrote:
In December last year i was diagnosed with testicular cancer ,had one testicle removed and went through chemotherapy and am now on surveillance for any possible relapse , before having cancer i
was diagnosed with secondary Hypogonadism and was on trt for a year and half then stopped for 6 month before having cancer because my blood tests showed everything is good ,i had a great help from ksman and he explained a’lot ,but my mistake was trusting my endo who didn’t know shit ,now after i finished chemo am dealing again with low t ,and i was healthy person before cancer but now i gained a’lot of weight , so now i need all the help i can get to get back on trt but correctly ,am going to do blood tests this week and i want to know what what is necessary to test and what’s not in my case [/quote]
They should have never stopped your TRT? I started with a similar medical situation to yours. I benefited from the advice here - but have settled on my own protocol, which my body seems to like, which is once a week injections with .25mg Arimidex chaser at time of injection. My total T, free T and E2 levels are now the best they have been in a long while. You do need to shop different doctors. My endo Doc gave me tamoxifen for a while to deal with E2, but refused airmidex. He is fine with me having higher T and Free T levels. My urologist was fine to give me tons of arimiex but pushed pellets and was fine with lower T levels.
[/quote]
yeah i know they should have let me continue :(,but what i learned is that most of doctors here are greedy assholes who only wants money ,at the moment am looking for a new one that actually cares about his patients ,this time i am going to play different 
[quote]OrangeWolverine wrote:
[quote]RoyBatty wrote:
[quote]OrangeWolverine wrote:
I had my right testicle removed and was diagnosed with non-seminoma. I guess I’m one of the rare ones that lost rightie :)[/quote]
No TC brother, your not even close to making “the rare ones” when it comes to loss. Try loosing both. Life’s a bitch sometimes.[/quote]
I did lose both. Somehow the growth in my right testicle caused atrophy in my left and killed it. I still have it, but it doesn’t produce sperm or test. I also went through chemo. Is that enough loss for you?[/quote]
am also sorry about that,it’s the first time i heard of this sitiution ,what a life this is ,the things we have to deal with , i think chemo alone is one of the toughest things that a human being could deal with
[quote]OrangeWolverine wrote:
[quote]RoyBatty wrote:
[quote]OrangeWolverine wrote:
I had my right testicle removed and was diagnosed with non-seminoma. I guess I’m one of the rare ones that lost rightie :)[/quote]
No TC brother, your not even close to making “the rare ones” when it comes to loss. Try loosing both. Life’s a bitch sometimes.[/quote]
I did lose both. Somehow the growth in my right testicle caused atrophy in my left and killed it. I still have it, but it doesn’t produce sperm or test. I also went through chemo. Is that enough loss for you?[/quote]
I realize what I said come off wrong, been in a bad mood lately, I was like you as well for a long while, then cancer returned for me 4 months ago. I am tired of doctors saying rare and rarer in my case. Still having trouble dealing.
Spent a lot of time with other TC survivors lately learning about all sorts of other crap that can happen like retrograde ejaculation.
[quote]RoyBatty wrote:
[quote]OrangeWolverine wrote:
[quote]RoyBatty wrote:
[quote]OrangeWolverine wrote:
I had my right testicle removed and was diagnosed with non-seminoma. I guess I’m one of the rare ones that lost rightie :)[/quote]
No TC brother, your not even close to making “the rare ones” when it comes to loss. Try loosing both. Life’s a bitch sometimes.[/quote]
I did lose both. Somehow the growth in my right testicle caused atrophy in my left and killed it. I still have it, but it doesn’t produce sperm or test. I also went through chemo. Is that enough loss for you?[/quote]
I realize what I said come off wrong, been in a bad mood lately, I was like you as well for a long while, then cancer returned for me 4 months ago. I am tired of doctors saying rare and rarer in my case. Still having trouble dealing.
Spent a lot of time with other TC survivors lately learning about all sorts of other crap that can happen like retrograde ejaculation.
[/quote]
Stay strong brother. I’ve actually got bigger medical issues going on with other people in my family that put the TC in perspective a little bit. We are still here and healthy enough to enjoy life.
[quote]fras kass wrote:
First of all thank you for responding , i have read some of your post and they are really informative
[/quote]
Thanks!
[quote]fras kass wrote:
now regarding hcg my previous endo didn’t want me to use it ,and i know he was wrong ,and now i am going to use a proper trt protocol even if i have to go against all stupid doc’s out here, i will let my Oncologist knows that am using it ,as u said in ur thread if the ct scan clear and all the other blood test are good and in range then it wont be an indicator that its cancer again ,at the moment am off trt
[/quote]
Yeah, I don’t get why these doctors think that tumors that produce hCG make it so you can’t use hCG. It’s not the hCG that causes the tumors! It’s the tumors that cause the rise in hCG! Idiots…
[quote]fras kass wrote:
and if you don’t mind me asking did u went through chemo or not ?
[/quote]
I did not. We felt we caught it early enough so monitoring was sufficient. So far so good…
[quote]fras kass wrote:
and whats ur opinion about aas after cancer ?do u think is it worth the risk after what we have been through ?
[/quote]
This is just my opinion, and any decision you make should be well researched and planned out ahead of time: As long as you are healthy I personally don’t see an issue. I know a lot of guys who have had TC and have run cycles. Don’t mistake this as a go-ahead to do so - use your best judgment. AAS can make existing tumors grow more rapidly, but if you are tumor free that shouldn’t be an issue. I don’t cycle, not for moral reasons, I just don’t. But if I were to, I would wait until I hit that 5-year mark where they really consider you “cancer free”. It may be different in your case since you had to go through chemo; You may be one of those “10 year” people, I don’t know.
The best thing you could do is ask people who have had cancer who do/have done steroid cycles. There are plenty of them out there. Asking me will only get a layman’s opinion which isn’t worth much - it’s just speculation. The worst thing you could do is ask your doctor. You know he’s just going to say “no” and not give you any explanation.
[quote]RoyBatty wrote:
[quote]OrangeWolverine wrote:
I had my right testicle removed and was diagnosed with non-seminoma. I guess I’m one of the rare ones that lost rightie :)[/quote]
No TC brother, your not even close to making “the rare ones” when it comes to loss. Try loosing both. Life’s a bitch sometimes.[/quote]
He was saying he was one of the “rare ones” who lost the right one instead of the left one, in response to my earlier comment that, in my experience, it was most TC patients that lose the left testicle. We all know it is much more rare for someone to lose both testicles than it is to lose one or the other.
I hope this clears things up. We’ve all been through a ton of shit, and I don’t think any of us can say any of it is “worse” than anyone else’s. We’re all here to band together and help each other through difficult health problems, not argue about who life has fucked over the most. I hope we can put this all behind us. Sorry for sparking an argument through this misunderstanding guys.