Zero sperm count.... - Page 2

[pittnurse08]

cancer sucks... dh is a testicular cancer survivor and has been totally healthy since his retroperitoneal lymph node dissection in october of 2004. his cancer had spread to the lymph nodes, left lung, right kidney, and liver. he had 4 cycles of BEP which he tolerated very well, just had some fatigue and hair loss (fortunately i think he's pretty hot when bald). we've just recently started a fertility work up for him which has found that he had zero sperm in his semen analysis, but a retrograde ejaculation test found that there were some sperm in his urine... so now we just have to figure out how to get that where we want it (either with meds to reverse the retrograde, or having the RE process the sperm from the bladder so it can be used for IUI or IVF).

please feel free to ask any questions about our experience or you can pm me if you just want to chat.

take care,
rachel

[gumby74]

[kparker]

I just wanted to bump this thread and say I'm sorry to hear about what you and your DH are going through. I know the feeling!

Last fall my fiancé was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and when he went to bank sperm for our future family, he had zero sperm count. They performed the orchiectomy, and checked the offending testicle for sperm, but there was none at all. After he healed from the procedure, he tried banking again and there was nothing. The remaining testicle (which has a varicocele!) is just not doing anything. He can try to keep it pretty cool down there, or he can have a surgery to remove the extra veins, but he's a SERIOUS phobe when it comes to surgeries, needles, and all that. I dunno what to do.

We have yet to get a fertility check since his completion of radiation therapy because he's afraid of the same results. Unfortunately, he's probably right, but we're going to try naturally for a few months before we give up and go in for further analysis. We've already discussed using a sperm donor and even adopting, so we're very sad but at least mostly over the "omg, we can't have our own" lump.

We were very lucky that his cancer was a stage 1 seminoma, and so not yet spread beyond the testicle itself. I'm so sorry for everyone who has had to go through such stressful times fighting metastasis