Before he left Ada, Ohio for Harvard last fall, Daniel J. Hruschka '96 says his dad showed him a pamphlet to read.

"It was on testicular cancer," he says. "I said, 'Sure Dad' and just put it on the counter."

But three weeks into the fall term, Hruschka says he began to feel sick and went to UHS for a check-up.

"The doctor said it was epididymitis (inflammation of the tissue above the testicular region)," Hruschka says. "But I went back two weeks later, because it wasn't going away."

Hruschka says he talked to another doctor, who said it might be a benign tumor and recommended he go to Beth Israel Hospital.

"They did an ultrasound on me," he says. "Halfway through, the guy turned the screen away from me, and then left the room."

"When he came back, he said, 'Dan, it doesn't look benign, it looks like it's malignant."

That night at Beth Israel, Hruschka had emergency surgery to remove the tumor. Three weeks later, he began the first of his four chemotherapy treatments, which occurred every three weeks and lasted for five days, Hruschka says.

Hruschka has been cured of the cancer, but he says his unique Harvardexperience has deeply affected his outlook. Oneside effect of the treatment is nausea, Hruschkasays.

"Imagine having a hangover 10 times worse thanthe worst hangover you ever had, five days in arow," he says.

"But now I can deal with any hangover," headds.

Another side effect of the chemotherapy is hairloss, which Hruschka says he dealt with by shavinghis hair at the beginning. Cabot House MasterJurij Striedter says this made Hruschka well-knownthroughout the house.

"His shaved head makes him remarkable, and thestudents know each other well enough to say, whois this guy?" Striedter says.

Hruschka says his hat collection increasedsignificantly as a result.

"I have seven hats knitted by my mom, and I'vegotten at least eight bandanna or hat gifts fromfriends," he says.

Cabot House tutor Hiteshkumar Hathi says thatHruschka gave gifts as well.