TCRC Testimonials! |
- What follows are some of the unsolicited letters that we have received since we started the site. |
"I had TC in 1981 with obviously good results. Your page is great, just thought I'd share that response with you. There is a notable lack of awareness on the part of men about this subject. I've personally known 3 other young men who have had it (all good recoveries) and had to answer all of the same questions for them as you have tried to address on your page. Excellent job. Gold star for you!"
"Thanks for this site. It has been a fantastic resource to me and my entire family. I had my orchiectomy March 25th, and am currently undergoing 20 sessions of radiation therapy for stage 2A seminoma.
With your help, and the help of the many others who have contributed to your site, I have been able to prepare -- mentally, at work and at home -- for each stage of curing my cancer. Your work meant that my wife was with me at the urologists when he determined I'd have surgery the next day, and it meant that I could get my work and family in order for the week I spent at about 25-50 percent power.
I would be happy to share my story, etc. if it would be valuable. And I would be glad to hear from others who have -- or might have TC."
"I just wanted to say Thank You to all those who have posted something on here. I am 29 and will be having my surgery April 5th and the opinions and "war stories" have helped me out GREATLY! I feel alone in this situation and it is starting to really get to me. The posting from others have helped me realize that I am really not alone and that there are others out there who have gone before me and felt the same way I do right now. I don't know what to say, feel or do, besides vast amounts of research. These people who have gone through it help others, especially me, in ways they could never imagine!"
"Well done! More info here than I've ever seen--and I've been around this "scene" for 22 years!"
"This site is great! It has really helped my husband and I through a tough time. We were able to talk with the oncologists in an informed way and to make an educated decision about treatment. I know it is a lot of work to keep the site up, and all of your dedication is most appreciated."
"Just wanted to thank you for all of the information you have made available on TCRC. I found out I have a testicular mass a few weeks ago and when the doctor mentioned cancer he had me scared to death. The information you have provided has allowed me to go into this with a much more positive informed outlook. By the time I met with a urologist, I sat there nodding my head in complete understanding of the information he was giving me.
Thanks for the peace of mind."
"You have no idea what your site re: testicular cancer has meant to me. My youngest son diagnosed with TC five years ago, and an almost hopeless journey for me re: awareness, with little interest or response - except for duke university; also involved in TC awareness. Thank you for an incredible and informative site - it just doesn't get better. Know too well how TC affects all of these very young men. Many thanks!! Am so grateful."
"I was doing some online research for an anatomy and staging lecture on TC and came across your page. The links are wonderful, the jokes are awful. What a fabulous resource. Keep up the good work!"
"My husband found the lump last year. He had an orchiectomy and RPLNP immediately. Nine months later - the markers are going up - it looks like he is headed for chemo. Thanks for the site - I read it crying as I picture what he will be going through in the upcoming weeks. ..I appreciate the tips on what he will want to (or not want to) eat etc. - it looks like I will through the coffee pot out for awhile.
Again, I can't thank you guys enough for the site....it has provided me with info that I can't get elsewhere - particularly on what he may feel and need in terms of support. He's not ready to "talk" about it yet, but he may be ready for a personal history afterwards!
You are great!"
"I just recently went to see a urologist. I found a small lump and thought I had cancer.
As it turns out I am VERY lucky. It was just an infection. I just wanted to say thank you, everyone for all of your stories and advice. Even though I don't have this, I feel like I have had it, at least for a month or so.
My prayers go out to everyone here and PLEASE keep up the good work. Your comments and thoughts made me more relaxed. I felt like I knew at least what I was up against. Before that I was completely lost."
"I just wanted to say thankyou. I was recently, (today) diagnosed with 'some type of seminoma'. To say I was shaken is an understatement. I am still afraid, but feel much better after spending time on your site. You should be commended for the compassion and understanding your site reflects, as well as the educational strength."
"I guess when I was going through all the shit, I felt that I was going through it all by myself. Sure there were others around but nobody really knew how I felt. I knew noone who had been through the same situation. Until TC-NET entered my life i kind of felt as though I was the only one in the whole world. Now I feel that I am part of a group, all understanding of what it really feels like. I guess if there was any group I had to join, I'm glad it was this one."
"It was a real help to find this site and to get the kind of information available here, not to mention the human support side. You have created something much bigger than you will ever know. THANK YOU!!
I elected to go the surveillance route after I had my orch and was diagnosed with stage 1 seminoma this past December. I had not found TC-net at that point in time. When I landed in FL at my new job and ran across a reference to the TC-NET on Dr. Weil's web site, it was just what the Dr. had ordered (pun intended!). I found all kinds of information about TC and treatments I had no other place to get. Before getting here I was groping in the dark picking up bits of information as I could. Now, thanks to all of the participants, answers are readily available and together we usually come away with a good understanding of what to expect and share experiences.
The key word there is Together. Chris and Doug both of you are great!! You keep this forum happening. I also want to recognize everyone who participates. By taking just a moment of your time to post a response it helps us all. Yes there are differences of opinion but we can all see things from many viewpoints. Especially the "chicks" who provide some tremendous insight on how this male disease effects them and their loved ones."
"This group and the web site have been one of my main sources of strength since I was diagnosed. In particular, the attitude and tone here are always upbeat and positive, and that's a big help. When I get a little scared or depressed, It's nice to see that someone else has gone through the same thing and is still around to help the rest of us doing it for the first time. This group is a stark contrast to the "support" group I found on usenet. That place was full of desperate people asking about herbal therapies and other quacky stuff. A real downer.
I guess part of the difference is that we are lucky to have the most curable of cancers and we never get that desperate. I have to give credit to you guys (and gals) though. IMHO, a positive attitude is a big part of the cure, and your attitude here has helped me stay on the bright side.
Thanks to Chris for doing the work, and thanks to everybody else for the experience and perspective."
"This too is a small note of appreciation ! Had I not found this site, I would still be wondering around in the dark too. It was truely a breath of fresh air to not only locate others with similiar problems but to find the frankness and utter honesty so readily displayed. I have had several debates with my physician ( which I have won by the way ) as a direct result of information recieved from this site!"
"Your well-researched replies on TCRC issues are mighty quick, always relevant, and incisively to the point. One of the main reasons I keep checking the TC-Net digests at least once a week is to see if you've hammered any nails answering the mails, debunking myths and made-up fears about TC, whipping out the ball-peen of facts to supplant rectally extracted unsupported speculation. "If it smells like..."
Just wanted to let you know your efforts are appreciated out here in the hinterlands. Keep up the great work!"
"I am a final year Nursing student at La Trobe University, Bendigo in Victoria, Australia. I just wanted to let you know how informative and interesting your web site is. I am currently doing an assignment about TC and found your site to be one of the best ones available, especially for the person who has been diagnosed. It not only shows the "scary" side of TC but also shows that there can be a light at the end of the tunnel with some humour thrown in. Congratulations...."
"I have just discovered that I neglected to write back and thank you for your extremely helpful message to me, as well as for your work with a website that is nothing less than a gift from God. My medical adventures since my first message have had consistently optimistic outcomes, and I am confident that I'll get through this with almost no long-term consequences. But there are no words to describe the wonderful effect that your message and your web page have on a terrified person who has just been told within the last couple of hours, "You have cancer." Keep up the good fight, my friend."
"Back to work at last, after 9 months of treatment. Looking back I really do not know how I would have coped without the support of the TC-NET, Doug in particular was a rock and I am sure many on this web listing would agree, at times when I was dipping under water he gave me the push to fresh air, for all you did Doug, I thank you. It is funny that you can make virtual friends, people that you have never met, or spoken to yet through the media of the Internet a bond exists."
"Thanks again for all your help. You have been my best source of information througout. I don't know how you do it, but you are helping many of us get through the toughest periods in our lives."
"I was just browsing the web for general information about men's health issues and came across your site. I learned more from it on this incredibly important topic in half an hour than I'd learned in my whole life -- and I was really touched by the stories you and others told, as well as the determination and the positive humor. It should be required reading in high school health classes -- to make people more aware for their own sake and others. Way to go."
"Thank you for the informative website i am new to the internet so I happened along your site while looking for a little information on the subject matter, it has made up my mind to go and see a doctor about it. I just want you to know mostly on behalf on my wife and little baby that the information WAS THE deciding factor for me to go and see the doc. My wife also just saw something on 20/20 on the tele so I decided to check out some stuff and I came across your site. So once again thanks, will let you know how it goes."
"Doug, I must say, on behalf of my family, thanks for such a helpful (and humorous, where appropriate) site. My brother-in-law just turned 27 and found a lump on Monday of this past week. He has had a CT and biopsy, and the results are due tomorrow. But all the docs are saying it's 95% sure to be testicular cancer. He, and the rest of us, are scared and have been trying to find out everything we can about this disease in this short period of time. He doesn't have a computer with internet capabilities, and so I took my laptop to his house and we found your site thru Yahoo. Suffice to say that he now knows much more than he did, and I expect he will visit your site many more times in the future. If the diagnosis is what we've been told to expect, he will be coming to Toronto for treatment, and will be sure to have access. Again, thanks for the info and for the humor. Please keep up the good work."
"I have been on the list for a while now, I had surgery May 6, 1999, seminoma stage I. The first site I found when i found my lump was TCRC, I can't tell you how much that helped me. I was getting ready to graduate from college, after six long years, and the second I found the lump I knew deep down inside it was TC. The personal stories, the common questions to ask, and everything on the site was very valuable to me. I just wanted to take time to thank you, I sent Chris an e-mail with my story and thanked him, but I wanted to let you know as well. Your insite and help is an inspiration to all that you come in contact with. You said in one of your posts I believe it was the one about survivors guilt, that you sometimes feel bad that you give advice about chemo, etc because you choose survellance. You have learned so much about this disease it is great that you share your opinions with other, continue this please.
My job has me move often, about every three months, my goal is to educate people on TC as I go along. I am 24 and most of the people I meet are right around my age I feel that if I can help one person with the little knowledge that I have then something good came out of this ordeal.
I am starting to get long winded so I will let you go. I just wanted to thank you for the site and all the information you provide there and on the list. As a computer professional, your site is one of the most valuable I have ever come across. To say it saved my life would probably not be an understatement."
"I wanted to recognize your outstanding efforts with the acor.org site. We at drkoop.com believe that the best prescription is knowledge. Clearly, your commitment to education on TC is a valuable addition to the Internet health space.
Your website tackles a personal, difficult subject with a rare and refreshing blend of levity and humor. Again, great job."
"I wanted to take a minute and say thanks for your hard work on this page. The things I hear from everyone and the few people I've found either on the exact schedule as me or post treatment have been a real Godsend. I don't think I would be in this good state of mind without everyone to correspond with, it really helps."
"I went to the doctor Friday afternoon because of flu symptoms and while I was there had him check an unusually firm testicle. I called the doctor back to check on a sonar scan that was done and the nurse told me she had me scheduled for surgery Tuesday. I picked myself right back up off the floor and said maybe I should talk to the doctor because this was the first I had heard of surgery or anything. WOW! Now I get to sit through a whole weekend without any answers/questions.....Thanks for your info. I have a nice list of intelligent questions to ask the doc now. In this situation part of the problem is not knowing what to ask."
"I know it has been a while but on one lonely desolate day in July of 1999 you answered my email which gave me the health I enjoy each and every day. I was diagnosed with stage 4 testicular cancer on April 17, 1999. My original BEP regimen worked fine for a while. Then my doctor recommended a fifth round of the same chemotherapy. Luckily Lance Armstrong was tearing up the Tour de France enabling me to find out about his foundation which put me in touch with you. I wrote you an email, you called me within hours providing me with hope and the number of Dr. Raghaven and Dr. Skinner at USC Norris Cancer Center, who saw me within 48 hours and changed my chemo regimen bringing my tumor markers withing a normal range after 3 rounds preparing me for the RPLND surgery done by Dr. Donald G. Skinner on November 16, 1999. I am going for my 2nd check-up on April 3rd. I hope the best for you and your family. Without you calling me that day in July, I am really not sure where I would be right now."
