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Building the Life He Wants | Patient Stories

Rene Vazquez knew he wanted to have kids someday, but at the age of 26, he wasn’t there yet. When he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, Rene faced the possibility of losing the chance to one day have biological kids.Rene’s doctors brought up fertility as soon as he was diagnosed. He says the conversation made him realize how big an impact the cancer was going to have on his life. “That alone made me think, ‘This is really happening and I have to make these big decisions,’” he says. “I never thought I’d be going through something like this.”Rene worked with the Utah Center for Reproductive Medicine at the ������ο��Ƶ of Utah ������ο��Ƶ, which provides services such as sperm and egg freezing. Fertility specialists work with each patient as well as the patient’s oncologists to decide which option is best.After surgery and four cycles of chemotherapy, Rene is finished with treatment for now and will continue to visit Huntsman Cancer Institute for follow-up scans. Rene says “things have gotten a lot simpler” since his cancer diagnosis. “You start to really trim things down and understand what’s important in your life.”For him, that means doing the things he loves, spending time with family and friends, and having kids someday. “In the future, I really want to have a family,” Rene says. “I’m glad I was born in these times where we have the technology to preserve fertility and build the life you want.”