Testicular Cancer Survivor
Marcus's Story
You're at that vulnerable age, wondering what could happen to you. So naturally when you're in the shower, you just start to wash certain parts a little more carefully. And I was in the shower one day, washing the inevitable area, and I found a little bump there. It was so instantaneous - that I knew something wasn't right with me. And what's the likelihood? My brother had testicular cancer (in 2008), and I get it a year later.
Within a couple of days I found myself on the surgery table, going through the same thing as my brother. The difference was that my treatment wasn't for removal, but to go through the chemotherapy route.
I was the athlete; you take care of your body, you exercise a lot, and you're proud of the way you look - and so I feared the big surgery. But you do what you can - if the doctor tells you to drink five gallons of gasoline to get rid of this, you would probably do it. So I ended up going through what was supposed to be the four round chemotherapy route, and ended up just doing one round.
It's quite an experience to go through something like that; the list of pills you have to take; everything is disgusting, food doesn't taste good; my temperature would spike; you're itchy; you start to lose hair, your face becomes a little pale... to experience those types of physical changes every morning, it was kind of shocking at first. But I was prepared for it. I was hairless Marcus for quite a few weeks.
I did really well on my treatment, physically speaking. But the process of what it did to my ears - there was this ringing that started two days into my treatment, and it started escalating - known as tinnitus, it was getting worse. After my three weeks they did some studies and tests. The doctor said that if I carried on with chemotherapy, I'm either going to be severely hearing impaired or deaf by the end of my treatment. That's when they take alternative routes, and thank God, because that's when I had my first kid. The thought of hearing your kids laugh, hearing your kids cry, having conversations with your wife... I'm never going to hear that. And that's when it really hit me, that wow, I have something wrong with me here.
Everything stopped on the chemo front, and I started doing radiation therapy."
I was always the one who documented my previous track and field workouts, so I did the same with this book. I noted all of my doctor appointments, what nurse I had to see that day, or anything to do with cancer. It all went into this little book. It was quite an ordeal.
This book, I really enjoyed doing it because I was fascinated with when you start at beginning of a season to as the season progresses, with burnout and fatigue, and even the positive things. This book kind of followed the same concept - it really put things into perspective, with what time frame I'm going to be looking at, people that help you along the way, how I felt. On a day to day basis, I wrote what I felt and what I did that day.
I realized how strong of a person I am, going through something like that. Having a good support group is great, but I'm also a tough a competitor.
I also labeled a file folder - all of my receipts and paperwork I ever needed is in it - and it says, "just another bump."
I tell people that. It's just another bump. I think I had a very optimistic viewpoint of it, and I think my sports have carved me to be more resilient - it's like bouncing back after a bad workout.
We all have our bad days, and while this bad day would last for a year, I knew it would pass. There's a lot more to look forward to.
