Silence is testicular cancer's number one ally, doctors say

It began with what they thought was acid reflux.

In summer 2021, Tryston Crawford had just graduated from Clemson University and life stretched out ahead of him. But in the fall, things changed.

Tryston began experiencing bouts of acid reflux and shedding weight.

From left to right on the back row: Kevin and Tryston Crawford.
From left to right on the front row: Melissa, Kaden and Addison Crawford. Photo provided by the Crawford family.

“We got him some reflux medicine and we kept an eye on him for a week,” said Kevin Crawford, Tryston’s dad. “Then it impacted his appetite and we noticed that he was losing weight. Tryston was a big boy. He was 6’5, 300 (pounds), so if he loses 10 pounds or so, you don’t really notice it.”

A few weeks later, they learned it wasn’t acid reflux — it was stage 3 testicular cancer that had spread to Tryston’s stomach, liver, back and lymp nodes.

He died Nov. 13, days after turning 23.

Identifying the cancer

According to the American Cancer Society, around one in 250 American men are diagnosed with testicular cancer each year. In 2021, Tryston was one of those men. Prior to his diagnosis Tryston’s parents said that they were not particularly familiar with testicular cancer or how to screen for it.

“When you hear about testicular cancer, it’s really, really aggressive but it’s treatable if you catch it at the right point,” Kevin Crawford said. “The problem is we didn’t get catch it at the right point. Starting at age 13, boys are supposed to start doing self-checks. My advice would be if you go through something like this, make sure you have a group or a church you are connected with for support. One of the things we have been overwhelmed with is support from our network of people.”

While breast, colon and prostrate cancers have recommended annual screenings for men and women in certain groups, testicular cancer does not, said Bon Secours St. Francis Health System Greenville’s urologic oncologist Dr. William Lowrance.

“The focus is on awareness so that teenagers and young male adults know that if they feel something abnormal or a lump or swelling on their scrotum, they know they need to get it checked,” he said.

Lowrance said normalizing the conversation around the disease is a key component in the battle against it.

“Often times there is a delay in diagnosis of testicular cancer because young men are often embarrassed about going to the doctor and seeing about it,” he said. “The more you talk about it, the more you normalize it, the easier it is to be comfortable with.”

For more information, visit cancer.org/cancer/testicular-cancer. To learn more about what the Crawford family is doing to keep Tryston’s story alive, visit facebook.com/Trystons-Hope-105336365313391.

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