Anaheim Dad Ignored Insidious Signs Of Testicular Cancer: ‘I Can’t Let My Life End So Soon’

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — February is National Cancer Prevention Month and we are focusing on testicular cancer.

According to data, 8,000 to 10,000 men are diagnosed with testicular cancer every year.

It is one of the most common types of cancer in young men, but it also has one of the highest cure rates. It is important to know the warning signs. A local man in his 20s was reluctant to see his doctor and the result was frightening.

Common symptoms of testicular cancer are often a lump, swelling, or pain, but 29-year-old Christian Diaz, from Anaheim, doesn’t recall having any symptoms.

“I didn’t actually have any,” he said.

Although he had back pain, he ignored her.

Diaz was about to become a first-time father and had applied for a second job that required a physical exam.

“You saw some unusual areas on my chest x-ray at the borders,” he said.

He went to get tested.

A few days after the birth of his daughter Ellie, doctors admitted him to the hospital for immediate treatment for stage 3 testicular cancer.

“I can’t let my life end so short because we just had a baby. Like my wife and I, I wanted to enjoy it. I felt like that was almost being taken from me,” Diaz said.

urologist dr Mehrdad Alemozaffar of Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center said Diaz’s testicular cancer had spread through the lymph nodes.

“It actually spread through his stomach, through his chest and up to his neck,” the doctor said.

Alemozaffar was one of many doctors who had to remove tumors on Diaz’s neck, chest, abdomen and spine. He also lost a kidney.

“Not entirely uncommon for patients at this advanced stage, but it can happen,” Alemozaffar said.

Testicular cancer is the most common type of cancer in men between the ages of 15 and 35. The cause is unknown, but doctors say it can be completely cured if caught early.

“It’s important for men to be aware that this can happen, and it happens especially in young men who, to be honest, don’t usually see a doctor. We want to make sure patients do self-exams, you know? To be seen regularly by the doctors,” Alemozaffar said.

After a year and a half of grueling surgery and chemotherapy, doctors are very optimistic about Diaz’s prognosis. He missed the first 18 months of his daughter’s life and doesn’t want other men to have to go through what he did.

“Don’t take it for granted, it’s always better to look at,” he said. “In the beginning it was my wife who pushed me to go to the doctor. So I tell everyone she basically saved my life.”