Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Matthew 10:28

CEDAR FALLS - On the outside Shane Fuller looked like a normal, healthy 16-year-old.

He played football and basketball. He hung out with friends and teased his two sisters.

But inside his body, trouble brewed for this Cedar Falls sophomore.

It started with a pain in his testicles, which he pushed off as the result of an unintentional elbowing during basketball practice. It returned a few more times over several weeks, but each time it receded in just a few hours.

The pain came back March 30 with a vengeance. And this time, it didn't go away.

"When I woke up the next morning and it still hurt, I knew something was probably wrong," Fuller said.

He had stayed the night at a friend's house and made a quick call to his mom to talk about seeing a doctor.

"After I hung up the phone I had this sense that this was going to be something big," said Kay, his mother. "I was dusting over there and I stopped and prayed. I just asked that if something was there that the doctors would find it and pursue it."

Though it was a Saturday morning Shane got in for an appointment at Cedar Valley Medical Specialists. There, the doctor sent him for an ultrasound. He knew there was something there, but was hoping it was only an infection. Or maybe a blood clot.

Less than a week later the urologist uttered one word that sent the Fullers' world spinning.

Cancer.

"His jaw dropped. I felt like throwing up, but Kay was right there. She didn't lose it for a minute," said John, Shane's father and senior pastor at Prairie Lakes Church.

Two days later Shane was on the operating table while a surgeon removed one testis.

But Shane's fight wasn't over. A scan showed lymph nodes in his abdomen. Doctors then sent him to the Mayo Clinic where surgeons removed those lymph nodes from his body.

That surgery reduced the chance of recurrence from 40 percent to about 1 percent and eliminated the need for chemotherapy or radiation, Kay said.

The Fullers said it was their family, friends and faith that pulled them through the entire ordeal.

"I think if I hadn't had God in my life, there is no way I wouldn't have been depressed," Shane said.

Instead, Shane was the one lifting the spirits of the rest of his family. John said he was impressed with the strength his son showed just hours after the initial diagnosis.

"He came to me and said 'God's got a plan for me.' That blew me away," John said.

Though still on the mend - it will take at least six weeks to recover from his second surgery - Shane is already talking about how to educate others about the need to check yourself and speak up about any pains. John feels satisfied knowing his son was comfortable enough with his body and his family to speak out immediately. Others, like cyclist Lance Armstrong, go years before talking about the pain or changes with their doctors.

This summer Shane will begin his crusade to educate others about the disease - which affects men age 20 to 39 according to MedLine Plus, a Web site hosted by the National Institutes of Health. He and his friends will lead the survivors lap at this year's Relay for Life at Hawkeye Community College. Friends of the family are also working to get Shane some facetime with Armstrong during his RAGBRAI stop in Cedar Falls.

His family will help him in that fight, but are also focusing their efforts on paying forward the graciousness of their family and friends during this rough patch. Shane's friends have been at his side since his diagnosis. The Fullers friends have brought them food, cleaned their home while they were in Minnesota and even helped plan Shane's older sister Ally's graduation party.

"I am asking God everyday to open my eyes to what I can do for someone else," Kay said.

Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1520 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.