It's the beginning of February 2019, I'm 34 years old, I'm in great shape, my lifestyle switches between work, sport and going out with friends. My partner and I are planning to have a baby. But for the past few weeks, while taking a shower, I've noticed that my left testicle feels firmer than usual. After lots of discussions and questions, I finally decided to see my doctor... it's amazing how we men can be so taboo about talking about and 'showing' our private parts. So off I went for the first check... not a word from the doctor... strange. "I'm referring you to a urologist, and you'll have an ultrasound beforehand". From then on, the medical steamroller started rolling: The ultrasound revealed the presence of a vascularised mass in the testicle. After several appointments with specialists, a plan was put in place: removal of the testicle as a first step.
It was only 15 February and I was already on the operating table. The prosthesis was fitted, and the diseased testicle was sent to the pathologist for diagnosis... 3 weeks of interminable waiting and the final decision: stage 2 cancer, presence of 2 types of cancerous cells, one of which is aggressive.
The oncologist gave me two possible solutions: either we leave it at that and set up active surveillance, with a risk of relapse of around 50%, or we move towards chemotherapy, increasing the chances of a cure to 97%. No hesitation: chemotherapy! I was offered a new treatment combining 3 molecules, which was effective but hard to take.
At the end of March, I started the 3-week cycle of chemotherapy. The side-effects came on quickly: loss of hair and taste, nausea, vomiting, aplasia, tinnitus... This bloody chemical cocktail not only attacked the cancer, but my whole body. In short, we stayed on course and the 97% was still in the back of my mind. I came out of this phase exhausted, literally drained, but with the satisfaction of having done everything necessary to rid myself of the crab.
5 years later, I've just been told that from a medical point of view, I'm cured!
Today, I'm the proud father of a little boy aged 2 and a half.
If one of my close friends hadn't grown a moustache in November 2018, I might not have been aware of the actions Movember is putting in place. As a Movember ambassador, he explained to me the importance of checking yourself, with the famous "Know Thy Nuts" campaign, and he described the actions put in place by the organisation. It was thanks to him and Movember’s communication on screening that I was checking myself in the shower and feeling this abnormal firmness. What's more, the funds invested by Movember in research enabled me to benefit from an innovative chemotherapy treatment.
Every day, I try to break the taboo around men's health, talk openly about my experience and encourage men to go for screenings.
For more information and support, visit our nuts & bolts website.