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Anyone considered bilateral orchiectomy: Why or why not?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 5 hours ago | Replies (61)Comment receiving replies
My first cancer (2001) took my left testicle. Now it's aggressive early prostate cancer. Given the side effects of suggested medication, I am considering having the other testicle removed. I read that the survival rate is about the same, but I think my quality of life might be better this way.
Anyone with comments about the down side of orchiectomy? Some places I read of simple removal by a cut in the scrotum, which seems a lot simpler than the radical orchiectomy I had in 2001. That entailed cutting through the abdomen, and took some time to heal.
Replies to "My first cancer (2001) took my left testicle. Now it's aggressive early prostate cancer. Given the..."
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@dale1618
Well, it does sound like a good answer. There are issues with doing that. Removing both testicles will eliminate testosterone for life. Many prostate cancer patients only need to eliminate their testosterone for a year or two, They can then get it back and restore their energy and any other side effects they’ve had from low testosterone. Are you sure that you never need to have your testosterone back that your cancer is so aggressive that you will be on ADT for life? That did happen in my case because I have a genetic problem, but most people can get off ADT and get their testosterone back.
When you have no testosterone, it doesn’t matter whether you are on ADT or have no testicles, You will have the side effects that people have with very low testosterone. Those include
Hot flashes
Fatigue
Muscle deterioration
Bone weakening
Brain fog
Depression
Weight gain
Joint pain
Difficulty in breathing
Not all of these side effects occur to everyone on the drugs. Most of them are just things you have to be aware of and circumvent. I run on the track twice a day, 1 mile at least, to help prevent bone weakening, fatigue and muscle deterioration. I also go to the gym three days a week (usually) and spend an hour with all different types of weight exercises. One thing that happens is people get a beer belly from the muscle deterioration, I do a lot of sit-ups to try andoffset that.
In my experience, they do not cut the scrotum to remove a testicle they go into the stomach next to the penis and remove it that way. I suppose they could remove it directly through the scrotum, but for some reason that isn’t the technique I’ve seen done.