By Douglas V. Gibbs
I am not one to run to the doctor for every ailment. I don't even take pills for headaches unless those headaches get to the point where they are throbbing and I can't seem to function with them. However, with the knowledge that years ago my son, when he was twenty, had testicular cancer, the moment my left testicle began bothering me, I wasted no time. For my son, the cancer was removed, after he waited way too long to have it checked out, and so far since then he has fortunately remained cancer-free.
Last Tuesday evening when I got home after teaching a Constitution Class in Murrieta, I felt some discomfort on the left side of that same region. I had a vasectomy in 2007, and at that time a cyst was bothering me on the left side as well, but the doctor said it will come and go, and to not worry about it. As predicted, it comes and goes, usually not very uncomfortable unless the area receives pressure from an external force.
When I told my wife of my discomfort last Tuesday, she took a look by squeezing it like a ripe tomato. I about leaped out of my shoes in pain. On Wednesday we set up an appointment for me to see the family doctor on Thursday afternoon. He has been our doctor for a long time. He was our daughter's pediatrician, and she is now married with two children.
All day Thursday I had a "kicked in the groin" feeling, making work a difficult endeavor. Other drivers noticed my difficulties, and asked what was up. Being the honest person, I told one person what was going on, and before I knew it everyone was getting me on the radio to wish me good luck.
The doctor mostly asked questions, and then immediately referred me to various tests, ultrasounds, and X-Rays, not only for the discomfort in the left testicle, but for some chronic back pain I have been experiencing. The urine sample came back with a little blood in it, and the ultrasound revealed a possibility there was some kind of restriction to blood circulation in that region. More tests were applied on Friday.
This morning I saw a urologist. She checked the region for herself, gave me a prostate exam, and then told me that from all she could see, things were normal. I am healthy, and based on what little information she had, she believes a disc in my back may be pinching a nerve that has a direct line to my testicles.
So, in other words, the kicked in the groin feeling I have been having is literally a pain in the back.
Motrin, and taking it easy, was the recommendation.
The discomfort has steadily lessened since Tuesday, and is now nothing more than a distant and faint whisper of discomfort.
A fellow trucker told me it will be fine, until I get back into my big rig, spend another 12 hours behind the wheel, and resume bouncing around like a rodeo cowboy in the seat of the old 18 wheeler.
But for those that have known about my difficulties, God's Grace has determined it should only be a scare, and nothing more.
Well, at least I don't have to get another prostate exam for a while.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
A few years ago, a buddy of mine had pains in his leg that were the result of a pinched nerve in his back. Similar to your problem, just to a different body part.
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