Testicular Cancer Foundation

Did you know we have an app for #testicularcancer? Visit app.testicularcancer.org. #TheCojoneClub #testicularcancerawareness

@tony_cerino @TCSociety @StupidCancer 🫡

I also wanted to highlight a few great foundations to follow @TCancer @TestesCancer @TCSociety @StupidCancer

This week, thirty-three years ago A baseball season, a diagnosis, and the week that split my life in two. open.substack.com/pub/tonycerino… It was a Thursday night in late May 1993. The ACC championship game. The conference had existed since 1986, and our school had never won it. I started the game. The other team put up two in the first. I settled in. The lineup did the work behind me. We won eight to five. I went 8-3 in the season. The team met at home plate in a pile, and I was in it. A few days later, I pitched Game 1 of the state tournament and won that one too. 9-3. I was the number one starter for one of the strongest programs in Connecticut, a junior, in the middle of the best run of my life. There were college scouts at games. There were people who thought I could play somewhere after high school. I thought so too. That was this week, thirty-three years ago. I do not remember the exact date I found the lump. I remember it was the last week of May. I remember a shower I had taken a thousand times and an ache that was not supposed to be there. I checked. There was something small and hard. I knew immediately it was not right. The ER said it was probably an infection and sent me home with antibiotics and a follow-up. Five days later, I drove myself to that follow-up appointment in my father’s Buick. A urologist I had never met sat across a wooden desk from me and said the word cancer out loud. I was alone in the room. I sat in the parking lot for a few minutes before I picked up the phone and called my mother. The orchiectomy was scheduled for the following Monday. That Monday was also the day of the state tournament quarterfinal. Our team’s biggest game of the season. The original date had been rained out, and the rain date was the same morning as my surgery. The next game after my last shutout. I was supposed to pitch it. Instead, I was on an operating table. The day before, I told my team what I wanted them to do. Win the state championship. I do not remember saying it clearly. I remember being scared and tired and trying to sound like the captain of the staff instead of a teenager who was about to lose a testicle. I told the guys I would see them after. I told the senior pitcher starting in my place that he had this. He told me later he had wanted to wear my number 13 for the game and could not get it in time. They played without me on Monday afternoon. We were the eleventh seed. The other team was ranked third. We won, 5-4, on a two-out, two-run double in the sixth. The senior who took the ball in my place pitched seven innings. The win was dedicated to me. Every game from then on would be. I found out from a hospital bed, one testicle lighter, that we had won. The next game was the next day. Tuesday. The state semifinal. The other team was undefeated, twenty-five and zero entering the game, thirty-one straight wins, and defending state champions. I went. I was one day out of cancer surgery. I had a wound in my lower abdomen made by a urologist’s scalpel. I was on pain medication. I limped into the dugout, sat down on the bench, and watched. We jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first. The game was in our hands. They came back. A run in the first. Another in the third. Another in the fourth. They won 7-4. Their thirty-second straight win.

The Testicular Cancer Foundation is the leading non-profit for testicular cancer, which is the most common cancer in young men. They run education, awareness, and survivor support programs that reach guys at every stage of the journey. For thousands of men, TCF is the first place they turn after a diagnosis. To scale with their growing volume of constituent conversations, they built the TC Navigator on Chatbase. It's trained on TCF's clinical content and walks people through self-exams, treatment options, recovery, survivorship, and how to get involved with TCF programs. Kenny Kane, CEO of TCF: "The Chatbase agent is like having a full-time employee. It's really allowed us to scale our impact and help more people." Thank you to the TCF team for having us at the Testicular Cancer Foundation Summit this year. It was a privilege to be in the room with the survivors, clinicians, and advocates driving this work forward.

So proud to be working with @chatbase to save lives @TCancer. #testicularcancer #testicularcancerawareness

We do not currently have any fundraisers on crypto platforms. If you see an account with our logo, it is not our account. Learn more: testicularcancer.org/cryptocurrency

@ballmaxxing_ If this is a legitimate fundraiser, please reach out to info@tcancer.org to share more about it.

Ballmaxxing is the new wave, join it. 100% of fees directed to testicular cancer. 5qViCyVdaQQVPtLFwsNE2QbD6cCVQXzi2Muk9Qtbpump testicularcancer.org

@MensHlthNetwork Thank you @MensHlthNetwork for having us and for shedding light on #testicularcancerawarenessmonth

THANK YOU so much for joining us today, and all that you do for #MensHealth. Please keep up this energy year-round for the sake of men everywhere, and together, we will beat testicular cancer. #BallChat #KnowYourBalls #TesticularCancer

Q10: What resources are there for men and boys to learn more about testicular cancer or receive support battling the disease? #BallChat #KnowYourBalls #TesticularCancer

@MensHlthNetwork There are incredible resources for TC. @TCancer and other groups participating in this #BallChat are incredible groups that are changing the face of the disease and offering support to the TC Community. Reach out to us for more info or to get involved!

Q9: What role can women play in a guy's battle with testicular cancer? #BallChat #KnowYourBalls #TesticularCancer

@MensHlthNetwork A9: Women can and do play a vital role! Having a caregiver and support system is vital in a patient's experience with TC.

@TCSociety A5: A simple monthly exam is the best way to screen for early detection.

A5: One can get a monthly text reminder with a link to instructions on how to do testicular self-exams by texting SELFEXAM to 22999 #BallChat #KnowYourBalls #testicularcancer

#BallChat is back and better than ever! On 4/21 @ 2 pm ET join @MensHlthNetwork @TCancer @preventcancer @Movember @APHAMensHealth @Globalmenhealth @selfcare4males and more for the Testicular Cancer Awareness Twitter Chat! #TesticularCancer #MensHealth #KnowYourBalls

When we come together as a collective that is when we affect CHANGE! We can beat this! #tcfsummit #movethetrainforward #freezetime #icanbeatthis Thank you to @FourSeasons for helping to make this event happen!!!

Excited to announce our 2021 TCF SUMMIT, being held in Las Vegas, NV April 9-11 2021. All Caregivers, Patients, and Survivors welcome! Travel Scholarships are available! Register / Learn more - testicularcancer.org/summit

Dont forget to #CheckYourBalls this holiday season! #TesticularCancer is 99% beatable when detected early!

Support TCF and have fun in the process. Join Beard Patrol! It's only $25. beardpatrol.org

Join our friends @TriageCancer for a Free webinar on information about returning to work after COVID-19, health insurance, consumer assistance programs, & more: August 19, 11am CT. Free contact hour/CE available for nurses and social workers who attend.

Join us tomorrow at 6pm CST for another TCF Happy Hour Zoom Call! We know how hard self-isolation can be during these times, hop on and say hi! Time: Wednesday, July 22nd @ 6pm CST Join Zoom Meeting us02web.zoom.us/j/86390204768?… Meeting ID: 863 9020 4768 Passcode: 3U425q