After surgery for testicular cancer

Your recovery depends on the type of surgery you have. And your general health. 

After surgery to remove the testicle, most men can go back to normal activities after 2 weeks. But removing lymph nodes from the stomach (abdomen) is a major operation. Your hospital stay and recovery time will be longer. 

After removing a testicle (orchidectomy)

When you wake up

You wake up in the recovery area next to the operating theatres.

At first you’ll be wearing a mask or have small tubes into your nose (nasal cannulae) to give you oxygen. You might feel dizzy and sluggish to begin with.

You have a blood pressure cuff on your arm and a little clip on your finger to measure your pulse and oxygen level.

Once you are more awake, your nurse will take you back to the ward. They will measure your blood pressure and check your dressings regularly.

Pain

Your groin and scrotum may be uncomfortable for a week or so. You might need to take mild painkillers.

Your wound

You have a few stitches in your groin. You might have an appointment for the nurse to remove your stitches after about a week. Or you might have stitches that dissolve on their own instead. It can take up to 2 weeks for the stitches to dissolve.

Going home

You can usually go home later that day but might need to stay in hospital overnight.

Making progress

Most men can go back to normal activities, including work, after 2 weeks. But you might need to avoid heavy lifting and strenuous exercise for a month. 

Sex and having children (fertility)

Having one testicle removed won’t affect your ability to get an erection. For most men it won’t affect your ability to have children (fertility). But for some men, the remaining testicle might not work so well. This could reduce your fertility.

After removing lymph nodes or secondary cancer in the lungs

Surgery to remove lymph nodes at the back of your stomach (abdomen) is called a retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND). 

Sometimes testicular cancer can spread to the lungs. This is called secondary cancer. You might have surgery to remove secondary lung cancer. 

These are both bigger operations than having surgery to remove your testicle. Your hospital stay and recovery time will be longer.  

When you wake up

After a big operation, you may wake up in the intensive care unit or a high dependency recovery unit. You usually move back to the ward within a day or so.

In intensive care you have one to one nursing care. In the high dependency unit you have very close nursing care. Your surgeon and anaesthetist review you regularly and watch your progress closely.

These units are busy and often noisy places that some people find strange and disorientating. You'll feel drowsy because of the anaesthetic and painkillers.

Tubes and drains

When you wake up, you’ll have several tubes in you. This can be frightening, so it helps to know what they’re for.

You may have:

• drips (intravenous infusions) to give you fluids until you are eating and drinking again
• a tube into your bladder (catheter) to measure how much urine you pass
• wound drains to drain any blood or fluid
• a nasogastric tube down your nose and into your stomach to drain it and stop you feeling sick
• a small tube into an artery to check your blood pressure

You may also have:

• a blood pressure cuff on your arm
• a clip on your finger to measure your pulse
• a pump containing painkillers going into your drip
• a hand controlled pump to give yourself extra painkillers

You might also have an oxygen mask on.

After surgery to your lung

You have a tube into your chest for a few days. The tube connects to a suction bottle. It is there to help your lung expand (inflate) again. Surgery to the chest always makes the lung collapse but it can be expanded (reinflated) over a couple of days.

Your wound

You have dressings over your wounds. The number and position of your wounds depends on what type of surgery you have.

After a couple of days your nurse changes the dressings and cleans your wounds. The wound drains will be left in until they stop draining fluid. Your nurse can usually take out the wound drains 1 to 2 days after your operation. 

You might have stitches that gradually dissolve, so the nurse doesn't need to take them out. Other types of stitches or clips stay in for at least 7 to 10 days. Your nurse may take them out before you go home. Or a nurse at your GP surgery or a district nurse can usually remove them.

Before you go home, the nurse gives you information about how to care for the wound.

Pain

Your wound will be sore or painful at first but your nurse will give you painkillers.

Immediately after surgery you might have painkillers through a drip into the bloodstream that you control. This is called patient controlled analgesia (PCA).

Or you might have painkillers through a small thin tube that is put into your back. This tube is connected to a pump that gives you a constant dose of painkillers. This is called an epidural.

You get painkillers to take home. Follow the instructions your nurse gives you about how often and when to take them. Contact your doctor if you still have pain or if it gets worse.

Getting up and going home

You can usually start to move around after a couple of days. You will be able to go home after about 3 to 5ays.

It can take a few weeks for the wound to fully heal. And you will need to avoid strenuous exercise and heavy lifting for at least 6 weeks. You might need to wait longer than this after lung surgery. Your surgeon will give you instructions about this. 

Find out about possible problems after surgery

There is a risk of problems or complications after any operation. Many problems are minor but some can be more serious. 

Possible problems after testicular cancer surgery depend on which type of operation you have.

You’ll have follow up appointments to check your recovery and sort out any problems. They‘re also your opportunity to raise any concerns you have about your progress.