Before Lance Armstrong and Tom Green, There Was Me

This Sunday, Sept. 18, marks my 26^th anniversary being cancer free.

Only a year out of NYU, I got testicular cancer. It was the summer of 1985 and I was working as a long-term temp at the World Trade Center and I was not feeling well. I was overheated and put some weight on, and this was unknowingly from all the estrogen in my body from the tumor I did not know about.

In July, I planned my first trip ever to go to the West Coast. At the last minute, I asked my mom to come with me. It was a pivotal turning point when we got to Los Angeles. My mom immediately called my brother and sister and told them they had to come out.

A few days later, there we were, the four of us at the Century Plaza Hotel. Out of the 10 days, we spent four  nights at . It was the hey day of the standup comedy scene. We went to the Main Room and saw Louie Anderson and Sam Kiniston. The room was packed each night and filled with Hollywood celebs. In the back of the room one night was Clint Eastwood and Richard Pryor. And when we walked down Rodeo Drive one afternoon, we saw Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O’Neal.

It was a really hot summer here and my impression was that it was a really fun place. Upon my return to New York City, I became increasingly concerned as I went to my doctor again.

By the time Labor Day Weekend rolled around, I headed to my hometown near Atlantic City, New Jersey. And there to my surprise in the Atlantic City Press Sunday newspaper was an article entitled: “Testicular Cancer in Young Men: Signs and Symptoms.” Well, after I read this article, I was sure this is what I had.

I had my first diagnosis in midtown and then I quickly had a second opinion with the chief surgeon of Urology at Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Hospital. “This is malignant and has to be removed immediately,” the doctor told me. So three days later, I was in surgery. I had three types of malignant cancer.

I woke up in the recovery room, which was a really big room with other cancer patients on gurneys with shower caps on their heads. The woman near me had just had her breasts removed.

During my stay at the hospital, some friends came to visit and other friends stayed away as I am sure they were afraid they would catch my cancer.

During the time of my surgery and recovery, hurricane Gloria was making its way up the coast to New York. I remember seeing the news on TV in my hospital room and some people at a shelter to escape the storm were playing the Laura Branigan disco song "Gloria" on the boom box to pass the time.

When I was getting released from the hospital, the storm had diminished and the sun was just breaking through the cloudy sky. I could see the New York City skyline and it was really beautiful.