Before your operation for testicular cancer

Before surgery, you have tests to check your fitness and you meet members of your treatment team. You usually go into hospital on the morning of your operation.

The length of your hospital stay depends on what operation you have.

Pre assessment clinic

Your pre assessment appointment prepares you for your operation. This usually happens in the 2 weeks before your surgery.

At your appointment the pre assessment team may:

ask you questions about your health and any medicines you are taking
tell you when to stop eating and drinking before your operation
tell you if you need to stop taking any medicines before the operation
check your weight, blood pressure, pulse and temperature
ask what help and support you have at home

The pre assessment team will tell you how to prepare for your operation. What you need to do depends on what operation you are having.

They may also give you a leaflet about breathing and leg exercises to do after your operation. This is to help prevent chest infections and blood clots.

It helps to write down any questions you have and take them with you. The more you know about what will happen, the less frightening it will seem. You can ask more questions when you go into hospital so don’t worry if you forget to ask some.

Who you might meet before your operation

You usually meet several members of your healthcare team. They all have an important role in your care.

Nurse or healthcare assistant

They will check your:

general health
weight
blood pressure and pulse
temperature

The nurse asks you questions to check your fitness for the operation. They can organise any further tests you might need. They ask about any medicines you are taking and give you information about what to expect when you come into hospital for the operation.

They also check what help and support you have to see what you will need when you go home.

The anaesthetist

The anaesthetist gives you the anaesthetic and they look after you during the operation. The anaesthetic is the medicine that keeps you asleep during your operation. They make sure you’re fit enough for the surgery.

The clinical nurse specialist (CNS)

Your clinical nurse specialist (CNS) is a qualified nurse who has specialist knowledge of testicular cancer. They help to organise care between doctors and the other health professionals you need to see. They also support you through your treatment, and make sure you have the information you need to understand your cancer and treatment.

The surgeon

A member of the surgical team will tell you about:

the operation you are going to have
the benefits of having surgery
the possible risks
what to expect afterwards

They'll also ask you to sign a consent form to agree to the operation, once they know you understand what's involved.

The physiotherapist

The physiotherapist assesses how well you can move around. They let the doctors know if there is anything that could affect your recovery.

The physiotherapist also teaches you leg and breathing exercises to do after your operation to help with recovery. Learning how to do the exercises beforehand makes it easier afterwards.

Tests to check you are fit for surgery

You have tests before your operation to check:

your fitness for an anaesthetic, if you need one
that you’ll make a good recovery from surgery

You might have some or all of the following tests:

blood tests to check your general health and how well your kidneys are working
a swab test to rule out some infections
an ECG to check that your heart is healthy
breathing tests (called lung function tests)
an echocardiogram
a chest x-ray to check that your lungs are healthy
a cardio pulmonary exercise test (which checks your heart and lung function when you're resting and exercising)

Learning breathing and leg exercises

Breathing exercises help to stop you from getting a chest infection after surgery. If you smoke, it helps if you can stop at least a few weeks before your operation.

Leg exercises help to stop blood clots forming in your legs. You might also have medicines to stop the blood from clotting. You have them as small injections under the skin.

You start the injections after your operation. You might also wear compression stockings and pumps on your calves or feet to help the circulation.

Your nurse and physiotherapist will get you up out of bed quite quickly after your surgery. This is to help prevent chest infections and blood clots forming.

This 3-minute video shows you how to do the breathing and leg exercises.

Content not working due to cookie settings.

Manage your cookie settings here

Transcript

Download transcript [pdf]

Breathing and circulation exercises after surgery

These exercises help prevent you developing a chest infection or blood clots in your legs after surgery. These problems are more likely when you are not moving around as you would normally.

You can do these breathing exercises while sitting up in a chair or in a bed or whilst lying down.

Relax your shoulders and upper chest.

Take a slow, deep, comfortable breath in and hold for a couple of seconds, then slowly breathe out.

Repeat this 3 times.

You can start these breathing exercises as soon as you come round from your anaesthetic.

You should try to do them every hour when awake until you are fully mobile.

If you need to cough, support your wound with your arms, a pillow or a rolled up towel.

If you are struggling to clear any phlegm, try a huff. This is where you breathe out in a short, sharp manner as if you were trying to steam up a mirror.

You should move about as soon as possible after your operation. But while you are not as mobile, try to keep your legs moving to encourage better circulation.

You can do these exercises in a bed or in a chair.

One foot at a time point your toes away from you then pull your toes towards your chin.

Try to do 10 of these on both feet at least 2-3 times an hour.

The next exercise is circling your ankles. One at time circle your ankles, clockwise and then anticlockwise. Repeat this 10 times with each ankle 2-3 times an hour.

Going into hospital

You’ll probably go into hospital on the day of your operation.

What to take with you

Take in:

pyjamas
underwear
dressing gown
slippers
contact lenses, solution, glasses and a case
wash bag – flannel, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap
razor
towel
small amount of money
medicines you normally take
magazines, books
headphones and music to listen to
a tablet or smartphone for web browsing, entertainment and phone calls

Time in hospital

The length of your stay depends on the type of operation you have and your recovery.

After surgery to remove your testicle, you can usually go home later that day. But might need to stay in hospital overnight.

After surgery to remove lymph nodes from your stomach, you will need to stay in hospital longer. Your surgeon will tell you more about this.

Family and friends

Before you go into hospital, it might be worth checking:

whether the ward is allowing visitors
if they have set visiting times
the best number for friends and family to phone, to find out how you are

The letter you receive before your operation may contain this information. But if not, you can phone the ward or hospital reception to find out.

You can use your mobile phone in hospital. But there may be some time before and after your operation when you won’t have your mobile nearby. And you may not feel like talking.

Before you go into hospital

It’s worth sorting out a few things before you go into hospital. These might include:

taking time off work
care for children or other loved ones
care for your pets
care for your house
cancelling your milk or newspapers