Remembering Max Mallory on His Birthday - June 17

Max Mallory died at age 22 in 2016 of testicular cancer. Max's mom, Joyce Lofstrom, and podcast host of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer, remembers Max on his birthday, June 17. She shares recommendations for good health that are relevant to everyone.

Her recommendations include the following points. 

To men ages 15-40, check your testicles for lumps or anything unusual.

To men older than 40, check your testicles because some men past 40 have been diagnosed with testicular cancer. 

• Speak up, see a doctor, and talk to a health professional about what you found or felt when you checked your testicles.
• Advocate for your health when you see the doctor. Let them know how you feel and what you need. 
• Bring another person to appointments if you can't speak up or want another person to listen to the doctor's recommendations.
• Don't give up on testicular cancer because there are people, organizations, doctors, nurses, family, and friends who care and can help you get through any treatment.  

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

Transcript

Remembering Max Mallory on His Birthday - June 17

​[00:00:00] 

Introduction: Welcome to Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer, a podcast where testicular cancer survivors, caregivers, and others who have navigated the cancer journey share their stories. The podcast comes to you from the Max Mallory Foundation, a nonprofit family foundation focused on educating about testicular cancer in honor and in memory of Max Mallory, who died.

Introduction: In 2016, at the young age of 22 from testicular cancer, had he survived? Max wanted to help young adults with cancer. This podcast helps meet that goal. Here now is your host, Joyce Lofstrom, Max's mom, and a young adult cancer [00:01:00] survivor. 

Joyce Lofstrom: Hi, this is Joyce, and it's just me today. It's June 17th, 2025, and I wanted to record the podcast today for several reasons. One is I haven't done one in a while, so I wanted to get back with everyone who listens to our podcast. My second reason is that today is Max Mallory's birthday, and as you know, Max is our son and brother who died of testicular cancer on May 20th, 2016.

Joyce Lofstrom: And he would've been 32 today. And when I say we, it's his dad, Chuck Mallory, and his brother, John-Mark Mallory, whom I talk about when I say we. And so it's an honor to remember him this way and talk to everyone. And [00:02:00] so that's pretty much the purpose of this podcast.

Joyce Lofstrom: I'm fiddling with the equipment to make sure it's working correctly. And, it’s also my mom's birthday. My mother died in 1998. So I was doing this calculation before I got on the air here. And so she would've been 109, actually.

Joyce Lofstrom: We arranged it so that Max would be born on her birthday since I was having a C-section, and it worked out. I wanted to talk about some headlines around testicular cancer and remember Max.

Everyone who's listening, if you're touched by this disease, make sure any men around you know about testicular cancer. They can be young, middle-aged, and young men who can be teenagers up through 35 or 40.

Joyce Lofstrom: There are a few rare instances when older men are also diagnosed with testicular cancer. So check yourself with them. It's something that I've learned from talking to different survivors that no one ever told them. And now, here are a couple of things that I've just read lately that I thought might be of interest to all of you.

Joyce Lofstrom: This is a survey. It came out this week from the Ohio State University, Werner Medical Center. And they did a survey that showed that most Americans wrongly think that testicular cancer is an older man's issue. Despite that it commonly affects men ages 25 to 40. So that's an interesting statistic to think about.

Joyce Lofstrom: I think that's important because that's why a lot of men don't know about it, no one's talked about it to them. Cancer, if you just say that word, it's usually, oh, it's somebody older.

Joyce Lofstrom: It's nobody young, young being teenager or in their twenties. But it [00:04:00] is, and their survey said one in 10 correctly identified testicular cancer as the most common cancer to affect men under 40. So that's I think it's just interesting to think about – awareness.

Joyce Lofstrom: This survey was conducted via the web and telephone and administered in English. They had 1,008 respondents. It was conducted from May 2nd to May 5th, 2025. So it's very recent, a month ago. I just wonder, when you think about your awareness of testicular cancer, did you know about it?

Joyce Lofstrom: Is it something, a doctor, a pediatrician, or an internist, told you at any point to check your testicles for a lump or anything different that doesn't feel [00:05:00] right? So that's one thing. I think it's an important message, because it's still a message that people need to hear.

Joyce Lofstrom: I've talked to many. I'll say many people who had not heard of it, had not done anything. So that's one message for today: if you're listening, and you're a man and haven't, just do a monthly check. There's a lot of information on the web from the different testicular cancer groups that shows you how to do it with videos and shower cards you can put in the shower.

Joyce Lofstrom: So that's a message. And I think another message was just an article I saw a couple of days ago, and it was about twins who were both diagnosed with testicular cancer. And they had symptoms and were put off getting checked. And one of them had stage three [00:06:00] choriocarcinoma. The other twin's cancer was not as advanced.

Joyce Lofstrom: They're both fine. They're both in England. Both have families, children and so. That's kind of a genetic component to think about. And it doesn't happen with everybody. And we did have a guest, oh, it's been at least a couple of years now, who talked about some of the genetics around testicular cancer.

Joyce Lofstrom: But I guess my message is if you have a twin, a brother, it might be good to make sure that that person knows. To check if you were diagnosed with it. And even if you weren't, take time to know and report anything unusual to a doctor. I think sometimes that's the hardest thing to do.

Joyce Lofstrom: And I think that's true for anybody because you don't want to admit that something could be wrong. And I'll speak for myself [00:07:00] because I've had breast cancer, I've had thyroid cancer over the years, beginning when I was 25. And you know, after a while, especially with the thyroid cancer, they feel your neck.

Joyce Lofstrom: I feel this lump. I wanted to know what it was, but I also thought, oh, I don't want to go through any of this again, any surgery, any anything. And it's kind of that attitude of, if I don't say anything, maybe, you know, in a month or so it'll go away, which of course it didn't.

Joyce Lofstrom: And my thyroid cancer was caused by radiation when I was a teenager with zits, and that's not a treatment now. Thank goodness dermatologists don't do that. But back in the sixties and the seventies, they did at least where I was in Kansas City. So that's pretty much what caused the thyroid [00:08:00] cancer because they would radiate your face. They'd cover up your chest but not your neck. And so that's how it got to my neck. 

But I think once you speak up, much of that angst is gone because at least you'll have a solution in the works. So, another essential thing to think about.

Joyce Lofstrom: We've seen always in the news, but how athletes are covered, covered meaning in the news about their testicular cancer. And you know, that's one way awareness has become a little better because they will report - they being reporters, journalists - that so and so had testicular cancer and now he's fine. He went through this, whatever treatment, and he's back on the pitch or back hitting the ball in the baseball game or whatever. 

That's another [00:09:00] way to just know who's out there and see them as survivors. It's really important I think to show what can happen after you get through the treatment. 

There's a point too where you are just like, let it go. It's like, okay, he's back. He's been back for a year or six months and fine, it's in the past and move ahead is how I would think about it. But I'm not out there playing baseball either, so.

Another point just to think about as we talk about testicular cancer - things have changed dramatically. I know there's a lot of technology out there now in terms of robotic surgery, different ways to treat it and so forth, But, it really always comes back to the patient, the person with the disease being able to speak up and then also being able to have a doctor who will treat the disease and believe them [00:10:00] when they talk about it.

Joyce Lofstrom: And, if you've listened to any of our podcasts, one of the interviews I did was with a pilot who felt a lump. He was in the U.S. Army and went to see the doctor about a cut on his hand that he was afraid was going to be infected. And he goes, Oh, by the way, doc, I have this other situation.

Joyce Lofstrom: And he, you know, he said in the interview, if I hadn't had that seemingly infected finger, I would not have gone when I did. And so, listening to him and to other people and also seeing so many efforts going on about men's health -  another message would be to speak up. I had mentioned this earlier about the twins.

Joyce Lofstrom: In England, one of them had choriocarcinoma, very advanced, which [00:11:00] is what Max had my son. And he didn't have a lump because he had an undescended testicle that we were told never existed. So don't worry about it, which was wrong information. His symptoms were lower back pain. He didn't feel well.

Joyce Lofstrom: Lost some weight. And you know, think about how many times all of us, it's like, oh, I was working out, or I lifted a box funny. Or there's so many things that can cause lower back pain. You know what? And so I think that's what he thought. That's what we thought. Until it wasn't until he came home and the pain was so intense, he went on his own to the emergency room.

Joyce Lofstrom: You don't want to keep running to the doctor - I think I have this, I think I have that, but it's worth it. And it, it also may take some convincing to get 00:12:00 the doctor to listen to you and to suggest another step, like a scan of some sort to confirm what you are experiencing.. And so it comes back to patient advocacy and being able to talk about your own health, what you need, why you need it, and when you need it. And if you can't do that, which is a hard thing to do, bring somebody with you who can. Again, this is basic advice for anybody, not just men with testicular cancer.

But sometimes when you're nervous about something, you go to the doctor. Even if you have a written list of questions, which is another recommendation, you don't hear what's said. But if you have another person there, which I have done with different visits, you know, that person can take notes, be your advocate, and be the person to ask some questions and make sure you know what's happening.

Joyce Lofstrom: [00:13:00] So those are just as I think about today with Max, what he went through and how it turned out. But the point is - that's so important for any cancer. Different support groups will help men find whatever they need, the right doctor or support person who's been through the same kind of cancer that you could talk to about the situation.

Joyce Lofstrom: When you think about your health, remember to do that. Remember to call on those types of resources. Look them up online. We have them on our website, the Max Mallory Foundation. If you just Google testicular cancer, you'll see different organizations with the same information and support groups. They have remote services that can help you if you live somewhere where those services aren't available in person. 

So I guess today's message is to take care of yourself and be aware. And I'll end with a kind of personal note here. I don't know if you can see it, if the lighting's good enough, but the jacket I have on is my mother's wedding jacket from 1947.

Joyce Lofstrom: It's a pinstripe suit. I have on the jacket that I've kept over the years. She was petite, but I can wear it. It's a very attractive shade of blue. The purple T-shirt, I'll change my, is from a video game, it's Max's t-shirt that he wore when he had his internship senior year, and eventually a job with this organization in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where he went to school.

Joyce Lofstrom: And it's an honor to both of them, a remembrance. And that's pretty much it. We just wanted to make sure that you know Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer is here. And we [00:15:00] hope that our podcasts have been helpful. 

Just take care of yourself and enjoy the summer. So, that’s it. 

Closing: Thank you for watching this episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe to our program on your favorite podcast directory. You can also visit the Max Mallory Foundation at www.maxmalloryfoundation.com to listen to previous podcast episodes or donate to the Foundation. Join us again next time for another episode of Don't Give Up on Testicular Cancer.