pissed off

brianthebard

I was going to post anonymously, but sure I've already mentioned one of my ball's didn't drop so it would be fairly obvious who's posting.
Basically I had an undescended testes that wasn't caught until a school exam (a medical one!) when I was 9 or 10, and I then had surgery for it. I thought all was well until zaph posted a link to vhi on the topic. turns out that

If a testis is undescended, tissue changes occur that can affect sperm production. A baby boy with an undescended testicle can start to lose the ability to make sperm by 12 months of age.

that's like 9 years or reduced sperm ability?? no one ever told me this, or thought to even tell me when I turned 18 and might understand what that meant, if I didn't when I had the op. furthermore no one ever told me I had a hugely increased risk or cancer, or that

Children who have a history of an undescended testicle should have lifelong testicular examinations after puberty to screen for malignancy.

Is this another example of the hse not providing a service it should? I'm not the only one I'm sure. If people want to vent about their own medical history, stuff they weren't told that they felt they should, etc, that would be cool. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to think or do at this stage, although I'll probably start by getting an online fertility kit when I put money in my account or buy a 3v voucher, and go from there.

I hate to end on a pun but there are few feelings worse than impotent rage. even if I do go to a doctor and get checked out, it won't make things any better. to add to my general feelings of having a faulty body,I have a herniated disc. I hate feeling like an invalid, having to walk and sit and lift things a certain way and not being able to turn around without hurting myself. Its so dumb.
Man this has turned into a bit of a rant, I guess if its gone too PI a mod might move it? I think it might be valid as a cautionary tale to look into any sort of injury or past medical experience? who knows what risks we might be faced with because of something we thought was cured a decade or more ago?

LegacyUser

I also had an undescended testis, believe it or not I only found out when I went for a medical exam for a job at the age of 24. I had to get it removed as the Dr said there could be a chance of malignancy.

LegacyUser

Hi Brian,

I've been in a similar situation myself and did some research. Because one of the testes was undescended and as such was exposed to more heat then the other it can lose some of its fertility, however the descended one tends to compensate and most research done to date seems to show now difference in fertility between men with both testes descended and men with one.

There is a higher risk of malignancy however and you should always be on the lookout for anything abnormal.

Hope this has helped put your mind at ease bit.