Testicular cancer under the spotlight
Movember out to ‘change the face of men’s health’
JUST over a month ago, Dave van Beuningen of Muizenberg started feeling a faint ache in one of his testes. Upon investigating, he felt that there was more to the pain than meets the eye. “I felt that it had gone hard. This got me very worried and I decided to do an internet search on what it could be.
“There were different explanations on what could have caused these symptoms,” he recalled.
After visiting his doctor, going for an ultrasound scan and later to the urologist, he was told that there was a 3cm cyst on his testes which could be testicular cancer.
“Just being told that it could be cancer was scary enough for me. I was young and healthy… there was no way I could have cancer.
“The urologist insisted that I go for surgery on the same day as he couldn’t do a biopsy in case the lump was cancerous. He feared that this could spread the cancer if he performs a biopsy,” he said.
Van Beuningen’s worst fears were confirmed last month after laboratory results confirmed that he had testicular cancer.
Fortunately for him, the cancer was detected early enough and a surgery would suffice, and he didn’t have to go for a more complicated treatment such as chemotherapy and radiation.
Testicular cancer and other men’s cancers are receiving attention this month as part of the Movember – an awareness campaign that is held every November to raise awareness about men’s health.
For the past 12 years, the Movember campaign has been responsible for the moustaches on millions of men’s faces around the world, all in a bid to raise funds for prostate and testicular cancer, as well as men’s mental health and physical inactivity.
It is an annual campaign in 21 countries to “change the face of men’s health”.
Yesterday was recognised as International Men’s Day, and Movember calls on men to get off the couch, get Move-ing, go for regular health checks and start talking about men’s health matters, such as testicular cancer.
Movember SA’s ambassador, Dr Darren Green, said while men often “brush issues about their health under the rug believing it is nothing, the key to the successful treatment of testicular cancer is the early detection of the disease”.
“Testicular cancer is a highly treatable type of cancer with a very good cure rate of about 95 percent – if it is caught early enough,” he said.
He said if men detected any lump, enlargement, hardness, pain or tenderness of the testicles or fluid build-up in the scrotum, they should pay attention.
“Not all lumps are cancerous, but if you find one, it’s important to be evaluated by a professional.”
The best way to be able to detect testicular cancer was “to have an awareness of your body and what is normal for you”.