5 Years Ago, a Testicular Cancer Diagnosis Changed My Life Forever

Five years ago, I had what was not even arguably the most difficult day of my life to date. September 11 of all days. We should have known just by that.

For months prior to that day, I had been experiencing symptoms of something. Some swelling and discomfort. But not having insurance, I just tried different things at home.

Until it started getting worse.

So the evening of September 10, 2012, we decided I would go up to the ER to be checked out. This is how the following day went.

8 a.m. — Wife takes my son up to drop him off at the primary school.

9 a.m. — We watch my daughter walk with her class down to Head Start.

9:10 a.m. — Get in the car to go to Abingdon.

9:50 a.m. — We arrive in Abingdon at the ER and check in.

10:37 a.m. — The doctor comes in to the exam room and does a physical examination. An ultrasound is ordered.

11:00 a.m. — I go to the ultrasound room. The tech does her thing and the whole time has a serious and disconcerting look on her face.

11:37 a.m. — I am ordered to have a CT scan done. My wife leaves the hospital because it’s time to get my daughter from Head Start. She decides to go ahead and pick up our son as well because we knew it was going to be a while before I would get out of there.

1:17 p.m. — ER doc returns to my room. She sits down and asks where my wife is. “She had to go pick up the kids,” I inform her.

1:19 p.m. — After all the medical jargon is spit out she looks at me and says, “Mr. Taylor, your ultrasound showed a large mass within the left testicle. The following CT confirmed multiple masses within the abdomen, the lymph nodes and in your lungs. Mr. Taylor, I’m not an oncologist, but there is enough evidence to show it’s cancer. And it doesn’t look good. In my opinion, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”

That was five years ago now. Five long, tough, rocky years. So much has happened since the day that would forever change the course of my life story.

Five years that went by in a flash, while at the same time seeming to have taken decades.

Five years and a whole lifetime of difference.

I’ve watched myself bounce back from the toughest thing in my life. Watched my mother struggle with her own diagnosis, treatment and life after cancer. Learned of my dad’s near brush with cancer. I watched countless online friends go through the struggles, and numerous ones lost their lives.

Five years have brought a world from the brink of prosperity to the brink of destruction. Lives from the bottom to the top and from the top to rock bottom. So, what have the last five years held for me?

Back to school.

In 2015 I entered a classroom for the first time in 13 years and began my journey to become a college graduate. I had dropped out of college before in 2001 and in 2002. In May of this year, with my wife, kids, mom, dad, sister and niece in the crowd, I walked across the stage, Magna Cum Laude, and received my degree.

Two years of hard work — both being a full-time dad and a full-time student, combined with all the ins and outs of taking care of a house.

Starting over in the work force.

I left my old job in 2012, just months ahead of my diagnosis. So, five years had passed since the last time I had clocked in at a job. In July of this year I began a new job, and a new path to an IT career. Landing with one of the better companies in town and have enjoyed (mostly) every moment of it.

Nerves that almost had me sick to my stomach the first day have now gave way to forming friendships with those I work with, and finding my way into a new work family.

Dealing with demons.

I write every now and then about mental illness and my own life living with it. It had been years since I had last acknowledged my demons. In 2014 I made the decision that to better myself and be better for those I share my life with, I would seek the help I needed to get back on track. I have no shame in the fact I take medicine daily or the fact that I off and on see a therapist.

I do what I have to do for myself and my family.

The last five years have also brought around their fair share of struggles, too. Not everything since February of 2013 has been completely peachy.

Outlasting the long lasting side-effects.

Nobody told me how long the side-effects of treatment would last once it was over. Fatigue, stomach issues, neuropathy… it took many years to get back to my new normal and even feel like it wasn’t still something that was happening to me. Still to this day, I deal with many of the same side-effects.

Of course, these things get better with time, but I can’t wait until it’s all over.

Balancing life and recovery.

Life never slowed down for my cancer. The kids still had school. They needed dinner to be cooked. In the years following, there was not time for me to simply recover. They grew up, my wife worked and I had responsibilities to keep. Balancing it all was a major act of will-power, and to this day, remains so.

Five years can feel like a lifetime. They can feel like just yesterday. They can be the many stories of triumph and shortcoming.

Five years can be the difference between where you are and where you end up.

Five years since my life changed forever.

And in some ways, it is still changing my life. Except now, I get the option of how it does.

This post was originally published on ThisIsJohnnyT.com.

We want to hear your story. Become a Mighty contributor here.

 Thinkstock photo by herreid