Survivorship & Support

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In addition to doctors and nurses, other members of the healthcare team are available to help you and your family with the medical, emotional, social, and financial issues surrounding a diagnosis of cancer. Memorial Sloan-Kettering's testicular cancer team includes doctors, psychologists, and social workers who provide a full range of supportive care.

Follow-Up Care

Following treatment, it is extremely important to continue seeing your doctor for follow-up appointments, and you should continue to perform regular self-examinations. If you detect any changes or experience new symptoms, contact your doctor right away.

Adjusting to Life After Treatment

Most men who are diagnosed with testicular cancer can expect to survive the disease. Because the majority of patients with testicular cancer are in their teens and twenties, undergoing treatment and dealing with possible side effects, such as fatigue, temporary physical limitations, and potential problems with ejaculation and fertility, may be overwhelming. To help patients adjust to life after treatment, Memorial Sloan-Kettering offers a wide range of inpatient and outpatient support services for testicular cancer survivors and their families as they manage the practical and emotional aspects of treatment and follow-up care.

Rehabilitation Therapy

Following testicular cancer treatment, a patient may notice changes in his strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance. These changes may be especially noticeable in patients who are young and otherwise healthy. Rehabilitation therapy can significantly improve a patient's ability to function and their quality of life. At Memorial Sloan-Kettering, physical therapists may be called upon by the medical team to design individualized exercise programs to increase patients' strength, endurance, and balance after treatment. They offer patients valuable techniques to increase mobility without increasing pain or discomfort after surgery. Therapists incorporate energy-conserving techniques in these treatments and provide patients with appropriate assistive devices to help decrease the fatigue they may experience during hospitalization and medical treatments.

See Rehabilitation for further information about our services, including appointment information.

Support Services

In addition to rehabilitation therapy, Memorial Sloan-Kettering offers a wide range of support services for patients, including the following:

• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Counseling Center

  Our Counseling Center offers individual, couples, and family counseling sessions to help patients and their families address the problems that they may encounter in adjusting to life during and after treatment.

• Living Beyond Cancer

  People facing the challenges of cancer survivorship can access a variety of support services through the Living Beyond Cancer section of our Web site. This section includes information about professionally led support groups and counseling; survivorship clinics to manage late effects of cancer and treatment; recommendations about screening and healthy living; and specialized services to address sexual and reproductive health. We also offer a range of resources to help survivors, families, and friends better understand the complex emotional and social issues that may arise following treatment.

  Additional services are offered through our Post-Treatment Resource Program, which provides a full range of educational support services, including individual and family counseling, periodic lectures or workshops to provide medical updates, and practical guidance on employment and insurance issues.

• Testicular Cancer Support Group

  Memorial Sloan-Kettering offers support groups to help patients and their families address the unique aspects of surviving testicular cancer treatment. Patients and survivors can participate in periodic group meetings, led by social workers, nurses, and peers, to discuss changes in physical functioning, appearance, lifestyle, altered self-image, fatigue, isolation, and concerns about the future. Attendees are encouraged to share concerns while gathering medical and rehabilitation information from healthcare staff. All upcoming meetings are listed on the Living Beyond Cancer calendar.

• Integrative Medicine Service

  Our Integrative Medicine Service is designed to enhance cancer patients' quality of life through healing regimens that address the body, mind, and spirit. Beneficial complementary therapies include various types of massage, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, meditation, visualization and other mind-body therapies, music therapy, and nutritional counseling, as well as classes such as yoga, t'ai chi, and chair aerobics.