From Beach Volleyball to Testicular Cancer - A Survivor's Story - Episode #19

Grant O'Gorman represents Canada as a beach volleyball player; he's been playing the sport for more than a decade.  He is also a testicular cancer survivor who benefited from the worldwide break in 2020 sporting events due to the coronavirus. Listen to Grant's story and his efforts to raise awareness about testicular cancer on this episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer from the Max Mallory Foundation.

Transcript

From Beach Volleyball to Testicular Cancer - A Survivor's Story - Episode #19

Joyce Lofstrom

Welcome to Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer podcast. I'm your host, Joyce Lofstrom, a young adult and adult cancer survivor, and Max's mom.

With me today is Grant O'Gorman. He is a testicular cancer survivor. He's also an athlete, a beach volleyball athlete that will have some information to share with us about his career. But first, I'd just like to introduce and welcome Grant. So thank you for being with me today.

Grant O'Gorman

Thanks for having me, Joyce.

Joyce Lofstrom

So why don't you begin, just tell us your story, anything you'd like to share, and I'll turn it over to you.

Grant O'Gorman

Well, my name's Grant O'Gorman. I'm a professional volleyball player for Team Canada, beach volleyball. And last year I had found out that I had testicular cancer, and I got surgery to get it removed. Yeah, and I'm healthy now, I'm happy now, and things are okay.

Joyce Lofstrom

So can you tell us a little bit about just the journey with the cancer, how you found it, what you did?

Grant O'Gorman

So in 2019, in the summer, I was playing in the world championships in Hamburg, Germany. And my nipple felt a little weird. I thought maybe I dove for a ball and scratched on the sideline or something and didn't really think too much of it. And then a month later, I noticed my nipple was getting a bit bigger. And I squeezed it out of curiosity, and some liquid came out. And I knew this probably wasn't okay, but it didn't really affect my play, so I didn't care that much about it. But when I told my fiancée Isabella about it, she told me to go to the doctor right away. And, you know, it took a couple months to figure out what was going on, actually five or six, and then they found out it was testicular cancer.

Joyce Lofstrom

So what happened then?

Grant O'Gorman

So once I found out it was testicular cancer, I scheduled surgery for three weeks from that day and I got it removed. And that's good. I mean, that's kind of the big step I think all the young men with testicular cancer have to face and then act on.

Joyce Lofstrom

I know you had some choices in terms of the next step in your treatment. Can you tell us what you chose and why?

Grant O'Gorman

Yeah. So they offered chemotherapy or radiation or just surveillance. And because I'm so young, the chemotherapy and radiation would have harmful effects later in my life, no matter what, but the surveillance, uh, I could, you know, not have any effects. I could just monitor it. And if it comes back, then, then we changed the course of action, but it was the right choice for me.

Joyce Lofstrom

Yeah, and I think that's important because there's so many stages of any cancer, including testicular cancer. So you were lucky in that you were able to choose that. And as you said, just go on and watch it and see what happens. And if you need to do something else, you will.

Grant O'Gorman

Exactly.

Joyce Lofstrom

So tell us a little bit about your career as a professional beach volleyball player and any thoughts that you have on how this diagnosis affected just your thoughts about your career or what could happen?

Grant O'Gorman

Well, I've been playing and representing, I've been representing Canada since 2010. And I found out about the testicular cancer in 2020. So I've already been playing for a long time. I've been established on the world tour, but, uh, I was actually fortunate that, you know, the tour stopped because of the coronavirus. So I was allowed to take a year off to recover, which was great for me. But during the process of finding out and doing the surgery, all I thought to myself is, let me play again. Let me be strong still. Let me do what I love to do. Let me survive. I didn't know the severity of the testicular cancer. And yeah, it was a very scary and uncertain time for me.

Joyce Lofstrom

I can imagine. And I think that's an experience that many of us cancer survivors have felt as well. You mentioned that you were able to take a year off due to the virus. I think that's probably a lucky thing that happened for you. So I'm glad that you were able to have that year and [then] continue.

Grant O'Gorman

Well, we were trying to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics last year, and then they got postponed to 2021. So now I actually have a chance to potentially go. Whereas last year, I wouldn't have been able to recover in time.

Joyce Lofstrom

Well, let's just segue to that for a moment. Tell us about what's going on with that, what you have to do to qualify, and when is it happening, and so forth.

Grant O'Gorman

Yeah. So the Tokyo Olympics is at the end of July. Our best qualification chance is in Mexico in June. And we need to win that tournament with another Canadian team. And then if Canada wins that, then we play the other Canadian team in an Olympic trial and the winner of that goes to Tokyo. So now the tournaments I'm going to are basically preparation for that big event called the Continental Cup.

Joyce Lofstrom

Okay. Well, I wish you good luck on that too. So there's two Canadian teams it sounds like. So one of the teams will go.

Grant O'Gorman

Yeah. Well, we have to win that tournament to beat the other teams.

Joyce Lofstrom

Tell us about--what do you think your biggest challenge was during your whole cancer journey?

Grant O'Gorman

Well, my cancer journey was different. I feel like I was lucky because I caught it early, but also it was difficult because of the coronavirus. I couldn't see family. I couldn't see many friends. We didn't have much help,It was just a tough situation.

Joyce Lofstrom

How about Bella? Because I know just reading about you and Bella and watching your YouTube videos, which I think are really very welcoming and fun to watch, she was very influential in just getting to the doctor and being with you throughout the treatment. Can you talk about that a little bit with us?

Grant O'Gorman

Yeah, well, being an athlete, I always feel strong, like a superhero. And like I said, the nipple didn't affect my performance at all. So I didn't think too much about it. If I can still play it, then I'm healthy. But she said, no, we got to figure this out. She pushed me to go and I wouldn't have gone without her. And I'm very thankful. And sometimes I say she saved me.  I think that's probably true--just getting there in time because I know the other young men I've talked with, this cancer moves very rapidly. And so waiting is dangerous.

Joyce Lofstrom

So I'm glad that you were able to get there. One of my questions was around the genetics of cancer. And I think, you know, I'm always the kind of person as, I want to know why this happened to me or why this happened to my son, Max. And I know you have, some would have a genetic, I'll say link, but that's not the right word, genetic history, I guess, in your family with your dad. Can you talk a little bit about just that and what you think about the genetic possibility?

Grant O'Gorman

Both my parents dealt with cancer and have passed. But actually, last week I went to a geneticist.

Joyce Lofstrom

Oh, good.

Grant O'Gorman

We did all the tests, and they said there were no issues with my genes to pass on the likelihood of getting cancer. It was just sort of a random event. So that's a good thing for me.

Joyce Lofstrom

Well, that's interesting, Grant, because I have done that, too. I've been to a geneticist, and I think it's worth doing. Can you just tell listeners about the process? It's pretty much a conversation, isn't it, when you go to a geneticist? They ask questions about your background and your family history?

Grant O'Gorman

Yeah, the geneticist does a family map. They see where things could be linked.  And then they also do, I think it was a blood test that I did and they checked my DNA.

Joyce Lofstrom

Okay. Well, I think that's good then. So that answers that question. I guess one of my questions too, I always ask the people I talk with is what advice do you have for anyone, any young man who might be listening and thinks that he might have testicular cancer or it's going through treatment?

Grant O'Gorman

You know, it's a very vulnerable part of your body. And it's nothing to be embarrassed about, it's nothing to be shy about. It's your health, it's your life, you need to take care of it. If something's off, go see a doctor. There's no reason to be embarrassed or shy.

Joyce Lofstrom

Yep, I agree. I know too you've been active with Movember and giving back to build awareness about testicular cancer. Can you tell us a little bit about some of your activities with that?

Grant O'Gorman

Well, I reached out to them a couple months after my surgery and told them my situation and asked if I can help put their logo on my shorts or do some public speaking or anything like that. I'm working with them. We're trying to figure out what the best situation is right now in Brazil, so I can't do much, but I look forward to that partnership.

Joyce Lofstrom

I think that's wonderful that you are doing that and are taking the time to work with them and give back. So I congratulate you on that. So my last question, you kind of answered it. You told us a little bit about your next step with the Olympic trials, but what's next for you? What's ahead in your life and anything you want to share?

Grant O'Gorman

Yeah, so right now I'm in Rio de Janeiro. I'm training here for three weeks and then I'll be going to Cancun, Mexico for about a month. The world tour is having three back-to-back tournaments so the athletes don't have to travel. It'll be called the Cancun Bubble and that will be where all the best teams in the world are preparing for the Olympics basically.

Joyce Lofstrom

Do you know if those games will be televised?

Grant O'Gorman

They'll probably be on YouTube.

Joyce Lofstrom

Okay. I'm only asking because I think we may all want to watch it.

Grant O'Gorman

So yeah, check that out. I think there's actually two other players in the world tour that have had testicular cancer.

Joyce Lofstrom

Really?

Grant O'Gorman

Yeah. One's American, Jacob [Gibb], and the other one,  I'm not sure exactly. I haven't spoken to him because language barriers are all tough.

Joyce LofstromOkay. Well, that's good to know then, to, I guess, be thinking of them, but maybe reach out to them as well. What does Jake play?

Grant O'Gorman

He plays for the USA. [Beach volleyball]. He plays in the same tournaments as me. And actually, when I was going through my process of getting the surgery, I actually called Jake, and he helped me out. He told me what happened with him, and it made me feel a little more comfortable.

Joyce Lofstrom

Oh, that's wonderful. I think that kind of networking and conversation is what helps anybody, no matter what situation you're in.

Grant O'Gorman

You know, I have watched a lot of beach volleyball. And can you just talk about how you, I guess, got into that, but it looks very difficult to play on the sand. I mean, I think, and I'm not an athlete by any means, so can you just share a little bit about that?

Grant O'Gorman

Well, I think any sport can be difficult. If you train a lot, then it gets easier, and I've trained a lot. I have to put many hours into it. But how it started was I loved playing volleyball in elementary school, and I ended up putting up a volleyball net in my front yard and my friends would come over and we'd play all the time. And just because we played more than other kids, we were pretty good. And in middle school, we ended up doing pretty well at the provincial championships. And I thought, oh, maybe I could play volleyball more seriously. And I joined a club volleyball team and that team actually was one of the best teams in the country for that age. And it just propelled me to be good at indoor volleyball. And one of my coaches was actually trying to go to the Olympics for beach volleyball in 2008, Aaron Kudu. And he pushed us all to go to the beach. He said, it'll help your indoor game. It's a great atmosphere. There's girls or guys, whatever you want. And so I did that. And I would take the bus to the beach all the time with my buddies. I just kept going and kept going and then I made the national team and then yeah just now it's my job.

Joyce Lofstrom

Yeah well that's wonderful. Well, Grant I really thank you for joining me today and taking the time and I know you're busy with your training and so I appreciate it and we'll be watching and hope you come back sometime down the road just to tell us more about what you're doing with you know raising awareness for testicular cancer.

Grant O'Gorman

Yeah well thanks for having me I would love to come back.

Joyce Lofstrom

I'm happy that you're doing this great work to spread awareness.

Grant O'Gorman

Thank you.

Joyce Lofstrom

Thanks so much for joining me today on Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer from the Max Mallory Foundation. We have a website and it's at maxmalloryfoundation.com where you can learn more about testicular cancer, donate and also send your ideas for guests on the podcast. And for spelling, Mallory is M-A-L-L-O-R-Y. Please join me next time for Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer.

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