“When I was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer back in March 1989, I didn’t have an outlet to discuss what I was confronting. There wasn’t a support group or a nonprofit where I had an opportunity to listen, connect and contribute what I was enduring. On occasion, I would meet a fellow survivor who wished me well on the journey to recovery, albeit whispering or pulling me to the side. There was such a stigma of shame or embarrassment and only made me feel that more insecure about my diagnosis. It wasn’t until I was part of the TCF Speakers Bureau that I had a collective group of guys who had experienced what I went through, obviously some had endured much more than I had faced. TCF gave me the opportunity to personify the disease in a positive light vs feeling inadequate and alone. I met survivors who had expressed what I had felt all along but I never had the opportunity to examine those feelings up close and personal with other survivors.
I am honored to be associated with brotherhood of TCF that broaches the subject that some people still feel awkward to discuss. It is my hope through my story, that I am able to connect with a family or young man and save a life or perhaps convey that this disease does not make any one person less of a boy or man.”
-Trey Velasco
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glSejlFHpd0?rel=0&showinfo=0]
