A serious message to my wang-owning friends.

[twicketface]

Guys, consider the following scenario.

You wake up to find a gun to your head. The guy holding it there says that he is going to shoot you and kill you on the spot. There is, however, one way that you can avoid death.

You ask him what it is.

He tells you that you have to let a stranger feel your balls.



Obviously, you let the stranger feel your balls.

But this isn't what some guys do. They are too embarrassed.

And they die.

This isn't as insane as it sounds.

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men. Far too many times, cases are only reported when they have become advanced. The men do not want to admit that there is anything wrong. They put off the visit to the doctor. Sometimes, they are just too shy to let a stranger feel their balls.

96 per cent of the time, testicular cancer can be treated, if it is caught in time. Let me repeat that: 96 per cent. Those are very, very good odds. But you have to check, and you have to be prepared to go and have an examination.

Check your balls regularly and if you find anything out of the ordinary, act on it.

I'm telling you this because today, I had my bollocks examined by my doctor. There was a painful swelling in them. As it turns out, I'm fine. It's just an inflammation in the pipes. (Please refrain from comments along the lines of 'it was probably just overuse' - now really isn't the time, thanks.)

You know what? It really wasn't that difficult to do.

My doctor and I talked about it. She told me that testicular cancer kills many young men just because they don't want to face up to the possibility of being ill. Even if they find a lump, they put off visiting until it's too late.

That kind of denial, that kind of shyness, can kill you. It can also cost you your testicles, even if it doesn't cost you your life.

So, if I can do it, and post about it, then you guys can all do it. Check regularly and if you have the slightest concern, just take a deep breath and call the doctor.

Thanks for your attention.

Note: copied from someone else's journal, as I do not have 'bollocks'.

Comments

[drainbead.livejournal.com]

Wow.

I hear you on men not going to the doctor. It's hard to understand that, as a female. Patrick is at the doctor right now getting his first physical in years. He's only doing it at all because he recently had a gout attack and he wants a wart removed. If he's healthy, he doesn't go. The doctor is to fix problems that already exist. And a lot of men think that way.

I read an article once about how men are reluctant to go to the doctor. It used to be that they would only go if two things happened. First, they have something happening that's causing them actual pain. Second, they have a buddy diagnosed with something bad. Otherwise, they didn't go at all. Now, there's now a third reason--men are going in so they can get a Viagra prescription. And often, during the physical exam, other health problems are discovered. The article was all about how an unintended effect of the Viagra revolution is that more men are getting earlier medical care for potentially bad health issues. It was actually more interesting than I'm making it sound, trust me.

[twicketface.livejournal.com]

I just edited the post to say that I was not the original author of the piece, but I think the message is still important.

That does sound like an interesting article - and it makes a lot of sense. No sense getting a titanium erection if using it means unleashing a heart attack.

And the way I see it - if you're already paying for insurance, why not utilize it?

[htothem.livejournal.com]

Also, testicular cancer can cause you to get bitchtits like Meatloaf in Fight Club.

This isn't related but is funny. I had a friend in HS who's balltubes (I'm sure they have a name, but I'm a girl so I don't care) crossed themselves over. He had to have an operation to straighten his balls back out and went through the rest of HS known as Twistacles.

[twicketface.livejournal.com]

I need to watch that movie again. I just read Palahniuk's "Guts" (http://www.seizureandy.com/stuff/guts.html) during lunch. Good read, but not when food was involved.

I've heard that having twisted balltubes is ridiculously painful.

[htothem.livejournal.com]

I believe he would agree with the painful part. Again, because I'm a girl, I think of all ball related stuff as painful.

Fight Club is an awesome read. It's just like the book only you get the cool points from asking "but have you read the book?"

[twicketface.livejournal.com]

You get double cool points if you've read The Princess Bride.

[htothem.livejournal.com]

And if I haven't, I just get regular cool points, right?

[twicketface.livejournal.com]

That's correct, but you should remedy that situation soon. It's well worth it.

[reject.livejournal.com]

ball tubes? come on.

vas deferens.

[htothem.livejournal.com]

I thought vas deferens only referred to that channel when it was in the penis (the winky hole). I'm drawing my knowledge purely off of sex ed from 8th grade though.

[reject.livejournal.com]

the winky hole is the urethra though.

i could be wrong, as i'm drawing my knowledge off eighth grade sex ed as well.

so to settle matters:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vas_deferens

[htothem.livejournal.com]

That is totally going to be the first thing I do now that I have your address!

[twicketface.livejournal.com]

Mitten and Snowball have both been now set to High Alert.

[htothem.livejournal.com]

That is so adorable it makes me want to barf.

[mysti.livejournal.com]

I had to let some stranger feel my balls today. My boobies, too! :-\

[twicketface.livejournal.com]

I paid some guy to put his fingers up my ass about a year ago. Sure, he says he was a doctor, but his van was pretty dirty...

[xjustinx.livejournal.com]

well i guess i'm in the clear, i'm a strong proponent of FORCING strangers to feel my balls

[twicketface.livejournal.com]

Never change.

[dudepower1982.livejournal.com]

What age range have they found that the cancer begins to develop in young men?

[reject.livejournal.com]

One of my friend's roommates in college got testicular cancer. He was like twenty-one or twenty-two ...

[twicketface.livejournal.com]

I think it can be as soon as early twenties.

[mcfumunda.livejournal.com]

Can we get back to the part about strangers rubbing my balls?

[twicketface.livejournal.com]

Just powder up first. Let's not be gross about it.