I think I went into complete shock for a few minutes when Justin told me he has testicular cancer. My first thought was, “How are we going to tell my daughter Katy?” They are really good friends. My next thought was that he is so young and he and Mal are just about to get married and start their family. He can’t have cancer.

Cancer is scary for me; I lost my mom, my grandfather and my best friend all to cancer.

But, I also have my dad, my sister and other friends that are survivors of cancer. So as these thoughts flew back and forth in my mind, the question became, “What is the course of action to beat this? What does he need us to do to help him?” Because Justin is Justin, he is strong enough to beat this. He is “my fav” and I am “Mama Bear” and nothing, not him moving to Stafford or even cancer is going to change that! We will do whatever needs to be done to beat it!

As she said, Crissa is my Mama Bear. At my old school, when I screwed up anything, she’d fix it for me. She also was nice enough to lend me her daughter to do all my paperwork!

Testicular cancer isn’t just affecting me; it’s affecting those closest to me. Every Saturday, one of my friends or family members will be sharing about their reactions to my diagnosis. I hope these posts serve as a reminder to talk to the men in your life about performing regular self-checks and their health in general. Together, we can lessen the impact of testicular cancer. Check out Healthy But Aware posts here.

This post originally appeared on A Ballsy Sense of Tumor. It is republished with permission.