Ross-on-Wye testicular cancer survivor urges other men to talk
A man who has lost two testicles to cancer is urging more men to check themselves for signs of the disease.Russ Penwell, now 43, from Ross-on-Wye, was first diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 28.Mr Penwell said checking for signs of cancer was as important as waking up in the morning, adding: "What's a little fumble in the shower for two minutes, it's nothing. Everybody knows themselves. If something's not right, go to the doctors."He said people needed to stop being so shy about it and talk about it.
Mr Penwell said he caught his cancer early both times, so he had a "best-case scenario."He said he had always been motivated, confident and outgoing but his initial discovery that he had cancer made him feel "on a back step" and feeling for the first time in his life that he didn't really know how to deal with it.But he was fortunate to have lifelong friends who he calls his brothers, he said, who supported him.
Roller coaster journey
Discovering he had cancer for a second time changed his life.Mr Penwell said he ended up having testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) - going from injections every 10 weeks to daily sachets of gel - and "it had been a rollercoaster".But he said: "Four years later, I've only just got to a level, or taking the levels of TRT, that I actually feel a little bit human now. I don't feel sluggish. I don't feel depressed. I don't feel unmotivated."
His message to other men is "live life to the fullest", he said."Talk to each other. Check yourselves. Don't waste a minute," he saidAccording to the NHS, testicular cancer is most common cancer in men aged 15 to 49.
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