Managing testicular cancer demands resilience that men often don't realize they possess. Michael J. Rovito, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Central Florida, adds another factor to resilience: connectedness.

He shares some insights from his investigatory project on connectedness or disconnection, which could be defined, he says, as "no one really knows me."
This feeling of social isolation becomes even more palpable for young men navigating testicular cancer. Dr. Rovito talks about the challenges young people face, often without the realization they are disconnected from people and social interactions.

A familiar voice on the Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer podcast, Dr. Rovito, has shared his research outcomes and interests before with our listeners. He specializes in testicular cancer self-examination and testicular cancer in general, male health, behavioral change, and informative research that includes theory, instrument development, and intervention design. He is also a Certified Health Education Specialist.

Learn more about the Male Wellness Collective, a 501(c)(3) led by
Kathy Rovito, Ph.D.

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Michael A. Hoyt, PhD, is a professor of population health and disease prevention at the University of California - Irvine, Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health. He is an expert in biobehavioral cancer survivorship research and a leader in behavioral medicine and clinical health psychology.

Dr. Hoyt discusses how the biological side of a disease or chronic disease intersects with the behavioral side of our body. He started his dissertation research to understand how men regulate their emotions when they have cancer. He expanded his research to study where biology fits into the psychological interactions men experience with cancer.

In this podcast episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer, Dr. Hoyt shares his research outcomes on life after testicular cancer. His research discussions with young men who survived testicular cancer found one question posed most often by them, "Am I doing okay?" Learn more about his research on that question in the podcast from the Max Mallory Foundation.

Learn more about Dr. Hoyt's testicular cancer research and call for participants on his lab's website at bmed.publichealth.uci.edu

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On November 12, 2016, Roshan Karunaratne's brother died in his arms due to stage 4 testicular cancer. Shehan was only 28 years of age. Roshan watched his older brother suffer from the simple fact that he didn't go to the doctor early enough. For Roshan, this journey also meant his life was about to change. After 18 months of hardcore chemotherapy, his brother died.

As Roshan explains on his Movember page, "I swore never to let another man die too young if I had anything to do with it."

Roshan tells more about his brother's experience with testicular cancer and his role as a caregiver in this podcast episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer from the Max Mallory Foundation.

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Jim Hohman had a terrible cough after he ran the 1986 Boston Marathon. He went to the doctor, who also decided to conduct a general physical. That exam saved his life, Jim says, because the doctor found a lump on his testicle. He visited the urologist on Saturday and his orchiectomy surgery on Monday. After a few months, his blood tests showed a potential return of the cancer. It did return, and Jim managed chemo treatments.

He shares his story of running the 1988 Boston Marathon - after treatment for testicular cancer, getting married, having a daughter, raising his daughter as a single dad, managing a career, volunteering at the local YMCA and other organizations...and enjoying life.

Listen to previous Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer podcast episodes from the Max Mallory Foundation.

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Join Andy Hood, an avid runner who used his testicular cancer diagnosis as a positive, next step as a runner. While he has never competed in or run a marathon, he has been running for years at the same 26-mile distance on trails around his home in North Devon in the United Kingdom.

He is the father of three boys, and at age 48, he learned he had testicular cancer. After an orchiectomy and chemotherapy, he came back, he says, as Andy 2.0 ready to run on the beautiful trails he knows and at the same time, raise awareness about testicular cancer.

Listen to Andy, known as runningwestwardho on Instagram, and his positive approach to testicular cancer on this episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer from the Max Mallory Foundation.

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Host Joyce Lofstrom talks with Alex Tothill-Brown, a 10-year testicular cancer survivor. He shares his story of finding a lump on his testicle during his college years and then navigating the Canadian healthcare system for outstanding care.

His journey covers the different treatments for metastasis to his lungs and brain, as doctors gave him a 30% chance of survival.

Listen to this episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer, a podcast from the Max Mallory Foundation.

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Hear from Michael J. Rovito, Ph.D., and his research on the use of humor in discussions about testicular cancer. Dr. Rovito is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Central Florida. He is a certified health education specialist. His work specializes in testicular self-examination and testicular cancer, male health behavioral change, and formative research, including theory, instrument development, and intervention design.

Dr. Rovito talks with host Joyce Lofstrom about his research paper, Humor-Based Messaging in Testicular Cancer Awareness Campaigns: A Comparative Critical Review, published in the November/December 2023 edition of the American Journal of Men's Health.

This discussion gets to how people discuss men's health, in general, and testicular cancer, specifically. Sometimes, humor works, but basically, it comes down to basic communication. The context and the audience matter when talking with humor - or not - about testicular cancer...

Hear more from Dr. Rpvito in this episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer, the first 2024 podcast from the Max Mallory Foundation.

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Chris Ho survived testicular cancer twice, losing both testicles to the disease. He shares the path he navigated to learn gratitude, become a certified coach, enjoy fatherhood with his wife and his two sons, and be open to what life might offer.

In this podcast, he details his journey that began in 2013 with his first diagnosis of testicular cancer. At the same time, he learned his wife was pregnant with their first son. His father shared that he had Stage 4 lung cancer in 2016 and then passed in 2018 after meeting his first grandson.

Chris received his second diagnosis in 2020 with surgery to remove his second testicle.

Learn how Chris navigated his life after testicular cancer, including insights on his career, and his family with a second son born via IVF treatment in 2021. He tells listeners about his job with FranklinCovey in Canada and then the start of his business Conscious Studio.

The bottom line is that Chris strives to live his life and help others to live with purpose.

Enjoy this episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer from the Max Mallory Foundation.

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