Prevent Cancer Foundation Blog

Like many young men, my testicular cancer diagnosis came out of thin air. I had no symptoms and thought I was a healthy, twenty-six-year old, juggling a job and working on my MBA when I suddenly had a pain in my left testicle that made me drop to my knees. It felt as if someone taken a dagger and shish kebabed me. At first, my doctor misdiagnosed it as an infection. But after a couple weeks ...

I was diagnosed with testicular cancer on June 19, 2008. Due to my very fortunate early detection, I was able to go on two weeks later to fulfill my dream of making the US Olympic Swim Team. The detection of my cancer started one night while I was reading in bed. Just before turning the light out I thought I noticed something that shouldn’t be there. I went on to perform a self exam, to ...

The strongest predictor of how long a new-born baby is destined to live is not whether they’re born in a city or in a rural area, their nationality, or the color of their skin.  It’s whether they are born male or female.  Men live about 5 fewer years than women. Are men just genetically predisposed to earlier and more death?  Or could a change in behavior result in mitigation of this risk? I refuse to accept ...

In June, 2008, young Olympic hopeful Eric Shanteau was diagnosed with testicular cancer, just days before the U.S. Olympic swim trials. Earlier that spring, Eric had suspected a problem, and with the encouragement of friends and family, he visited his health care provider at the age of 24. Since Eric’s cancer was caught early due to his screening, perhaps even within the first weeks of appearing and had not spread, his doctors cleared him to ...