St. Luke's nurse combines love of hockey with experience to shine light on men's health

When he first received the news, Dexter Loder felt as if he was living in a nightmare.

A year later, he considers himself lucky.

Loder has experienced a wide range of emotions since his cancer diagnosis, but he wants people to hear his story because he thinks it could change some lives.

In October 2023, Loder noticed a small lump on his testicle.

“At first I thought it was just a cyst or something,” he said.

It was the kind of thing that some people might ignore.

But Loder is a registered nurse in the emergency department at St. Luke’s Boise. He had heard too many stories about patients ignoring warning signs about their personal health.

“If you think something might be going on, sometimes it’s normal and sometimes it’s not,” Loder said. “But what are you going to lose if you go and get something checked out?”

Loder was diagnosed with testicular seminoma, a malignant tumor.

“I consider myself pretty lucky because I caught it early,” Loder said. “I had my surgery and only did one round of chemo … and I never had to stay in the hospital.”

Loder was happy to learn his cancer was highly treatable – but early detection is key. In fact, the cure rate is close to 100% when the disease is caught early and hasn’t spread outside of the testicle.

And that’s a message Loder wanted to spread.

After giving it some thought, Loder realized he had the perfect audience for that message. Loder is a huge fan of the Idaho Steelheads – in fact he received his diagnosis just before he was due to go to a game. He’s a season-ticket holder who has become recognizable at games because, well, he dresses up in a fish costume.

“When I look around the arena, it’s the prime demographic,” he said. “It felt like a natural progression to try to work with the Steelheads. They really do a lot of good work with awareness.”

In fact, St. Luke’s and the Steelheads are longtime partners. Through their popular Pink in the Rink, other jersey auctions and fundraisers, the Steelheads and St. Luke’s have raised more than $300,000 toward cancer research and treatment in Idaho.

“Any time we can partner with St. Luke’s and give back we’re happy to do it,” Steelheads president Eric Trapp said. “St. Luke’s Sports Medicine has provided us with our doctors since day one of the franchise (1997). St. Luke’s is a great partner, they’re also just a large part of our community.”

With the help of Steelheads general manager Steven Anderson, Loder set up a small booth at a recent Steelheads game and handed out pamphlets with information about men’s health.

Every year, the Steelheads help raise awareness through “Movember,” a monthlong event in November that encourages men to grow mustaches or facial hair to raise awareness and money for men’s health issues.

As part of Movember campaign this year, Anderson raised money through ticket sales and the Steelheads will be selling T-shirts this month that feature a caricature of Steelheads broadcaster Cam McGuire wearing a fish suit with a mustache.

“I love the Steelheads, and I’m a big fan,” Loder said. “So, I appreciate their help. When I try to raise awareness I really tell people they need to advocate for themselves. If I didn’t work in health care I might not have known how serious this could have been for me.”

To read more about Loder’s story and ways to contribute to men's health efforts, click here.