With the help of Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy, Bakersfield College graduate Rudy Hernandez has been trying to get a bill passed to designate a Testicular Cancer Month.

Hernandez was diagnosed with testicular cancer in April 2004. He has been in remission for 14 months. Just like the breast cancer awareness movement is encouraging women to get checked for early detection, the testicular cancer awareness movement should get men into the exam rooms before it’s too late, Hernandez said.

“Without Assemblyman McCarthy, none of this would have been possible,” he said.

“The resolution is that the Testicular Cancer Month will be in October, through the bill being passed in the state Assembly.”

Hernandez said the bill will bring awareness as well as encouragement to medical workers to administer exams and educate their patients. Kaiser Permanente is going to be the first hospital to administer these exams and provide information on this type of cancer.

“There is no cause of this cancer known to date,” Hernandez said.

He said it isn’t tied to anything like tobacco or alcohol use, and there is no way to prevent it. Any man can get testicular cancer and not know he has it until it’s too late.

“It affects over 7,000 men in the U.S.,” said Hernandez.

Hundreds or even thousands of them will die from it, mainly because of late detection.

Early detection is the only defense against this type of cancer, according to Hernandez. That is why he is trying to organize awareness.

Hernandez is currently working on his master’s degree in social work at Cal State-Bakersfield.

He wants to help “more and more patients” and said that his new career goal is “a direct result of me having the cancer.”

He said, “It has changed my life for the better.”

Hernandez has a bachelor’s degree in communication with a minor in political science. Upon graduating with a master’s, he wants to become a medical social worker in a hospital.

He is currently an intern at Mercy Hospital, working with a wide variety of patients, including those affected by cancer.

“Whether they are the patient or the loved one who has cancer, I commend them for their courage and express my deepest regards for battling this difficult disease,” Hernandez said.